5 Free Guides on Five Different Composition Tools to Help You Compose Better Photos

There are many composition guidelines that you can use while framing a shot when photographing. They not only help you in subject placement inside the frame but also aid you in utilizing other composition elements like lines, patterns, shadows, color, perspective and much more, to achieve a stronger composition.

This post is a collection of free guides from Photzy on five specific composition tools – two of them in the video format and the others in the PDF format. If composition is something you'd like to improve upon, do check them out.

(Note- If you want to learn more about using composition to improve your photography and learn concepts that go beyond the basics, take a look at Kent DuFault's guide on advanced composition.)

1. How to Use Spot Color in Your Photographs

This guide by photographer Karthika Gupta discusses the spot coloring composition tool, that uses the available colors in a scene to compose a shot so that a particular color stands out from the rest of the frame. ‘Spot color' is different from selective coloring, which is a post-processing technique.

2. Using Shadows to Enhance Composition

In this guide, photographer David Veldman takes you through the various ways you can utilize shadows in your composition. Not only will you learn about the different kinds of shadows, but also how to use them to pull attention, create balance and much more.

3. Using Perspective to Create Dynamic Landscape Shots

Perspective is a critical part of composition and utilizing it wisely can result in a great photograph. If you like landscape photography, this guide by David Veldman will help you understand the different types of perspectives and how to alter your perspective creatively.

4. How to Use Leading Lines

Leading lines are a great composition tool that can help you direct the viewer's attention towards the subject of your photograph. In this video guide, photographer Jason Row talks about how to spot and use leading lines as a composition tool by way of examples from his own portfolio.

5. Using Negative Space for Composition

Negative space is the space surrounding the main object of the photo and can be used to convey size and shapes more effectively, and capture simple yet powerful images. Photographer Jason Row discusses how to recognize negative space within a scene and use it as a composition tool.

Improve Your Photography Composition

If you would like to improve your photography composition and learn concepts that go beyond the basics, we recommend Photzy’s best-selling guide Advanced Composition for an in-depth training on the subject. With this guide, you will learn how to see light, shadow, lines, curves, repetition, juxtaposition and much more, and also develop the skills of anticipation, pre-visualization and timing. Click here now to check it out.