Taking the Shot COMPOSITION

human eye naturally goes to areas of the photo where “thirds” grid lines intersect, the photographer chose to center the focus on the lower two intersecting points to make those butterflies as sharp as possible.

For our last example, let’s take a look at a more advanced technique to use when composing your photos. While the rule of thirds is arguably the simplest to adopt and the most flexible, another composition tool, known as “the golden ratio,” can yield impressive results. What’s more, it helps really hammer home the idea that photo composition is grounded in mathematics. This is certainly not the place to go into detail on the formulas and reasoning behind this “Fibonacci spiral,” so you’ll just have to trust us for the moment. Hopefully with a few examples of photographs you’ll see why this is so naturally pleasing to the eye.

From what you’re seeing initially, you’re probably thinking that the golden ratio is really just a more precise and exacting rule of thirds. This, in fact, is exactly what it is. However, don’t let this idea stifle your creativity, for, as you know, all rules are meant to be broken—right? Nevertheless, let’s take a look at a couple examples of how this spiral can yield pleasing composition. Here we have a beautiful scene of the Ranomafana cloud forest of Madagascar. It has all the elements of a great landscape shot—vivid color, a contrast in textures (between the flowing river and dotted leaves, branches and stones), and a balance between foreground elements (the pouring water and river rocks) and background elements (the jungle surrounding the river).