4 Rules of Photography to Keep (and One to Break)

[nadimpr]

Art is never about rules. Whether a photographer is taking pictures for a newspaper, of a wedding or of their nephew playing soccer, they should feel free to take artistic license to capture the best photo possible.

But if you don't have a basis of understanding about the principles of photography, your images will be all over the place and not appealing to most viewers. The truth is, most great photographs share some common characteristics. We'll call those characteristics "rules," and when they're broken, it can either be disastrous (Exhibit A: The millions of bad photographs in the world) or it can elevate the photograph to another level (Exhibit B: The much smaller number of excellent photographs in existence). To get into the second group, you have to understand the rules and break them intentionally, with careful and deliberate intention.

Here are four such rules that are good to follow (but even better to break, when the opportunity presents itself):

Shoot with Your Light Source Behind You



Most of the time, to capture a good photograph, we're told to have the light on our subjects' face and expose to that. Thus, the sun or light source is at your back as a photographer, at a slight angle so that your subject is not blinking and staring straight into the sun. This gives you even light without shadows across your subjects.

But is it ever appropriate to shoot toward the sun? Of course. This is the rule I break most often. The sunlight may blow out the exposure on part of the image (and thus not be appropriate for newsprint, perhaps) but the ethereal, glowing light it casts the photo's subjects in is unmatchable. I adore this look and am always on the lookout for the right angle of the sun and ambient light to capture dreamy images like the one shown here.

Keep a Level Horizon


This rule is important, 99 percent of the time! A tilted horizon can make a photo look unprofessional, and worse, give viewers a disorienting headache. But occasionally, there's an opportunity to tilt the camera and capture a unique angle that a straightforward shot simply can't accomplish.

In this image, I capture the motion of arms in the air and the playful spirit of these happy bridesmaids in a manner that shows the true atmosphere of the moment rather than looking stiff and planned as a level horizon, straight ahead shot might have done. By tilting the camera ever so slightly (and shooting into the sun), I captured a keeper.

Source; https://www.nyip.edu/photo-articles/archive/4-rules-of-photography-to-keep-and-one-to-break