


Photography Composition - Your Photo as a Story

Photo composition rules

Tips for beginners

Photo composition software

you look like an orator who cannot manage words."
Leonardo da Vinci

Photo Composition Rules

What is a photograph? It is a story. What is a story? It is is a series of sentences connected to each other. The same is true about photography. To create a photograph, it is not enough just to take an image of something. The first impression from a photograph is determined by the composition balance of an image.

To increase the expressiveness of your digital pictures, apply the picture composition rules while taking the photos or modeling their edges.

Rule of Thirds



Your landscapes will be optimally pleasing to the eye if you apply the Rule of Thirds when you place your horizon line.
If the area of interest is land or water, the horizon line will usually be two-thirds up from the bottom. Alternately, if the sky is the area of emphasis, the horizon line may be one-third up from the bottom, leaving the sky to take up the top two-thirds of the picture:



Golden Section Rule




Diagonal Rule




Linear elements, such as roads, waterways, and fences placed diagonally, are generally perceived as more dynamic than horizontally placed ones:



Tips for Beginners

       Hold your camera at the main object's level. Taking a picture from above or below brings in the photo an element of exertion.

       Ordinarily, the main source of light should be placed behind you. To take a picture with the light between you and the object is the task for a specialist.

       Use a dark background for taking a picture of a light object, or, alternatively, a light background for doing so of a dark object. Note though, that the absolutely white background causes flare effect that leads to reducing the contrast of a taken picture.

       When the main object of an image is located on the long shot, the whole image will look better if the foreground objects will be taken into the image as well.

       A space in a shot should be reserved in front of an actually or potentially moving object.

       Don't be afraid of breaking rules! As Edward Weston said, "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk."


Photo Composition Software

  Photo Print Pilot - Photo printing software

The Photo Print Pilot software allows you to compose a photo and to print only the selected area of the image. More information...


Composition Pilot - Make Your Stories Come True!

How can we increase the expressive qualities of a photo? It took humans thousands years to develop the principles of picture composition. You can learn some of the most important ones by taking a few minutes to read this article.
With the Composition Pilot software you will be able to apply the "golden rules" of composition to your images. The program will help you find the most harmonious way of arranging objects in your digital pictures. Make your stories come true!

The program will be released shortly.


The Two Pilots team wishes you having excellent photos!

See also our line of digital photo software.



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