Capture with Purpose: IPhone’s 10 Commandments of Image Design

10 Photography Composition Rules for iPhone

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Capturing photographs with an iPhone have always been a favorite hobby of community at large. Well, who wouldn’t want to make use of its high quality camera and powerful functionalities to capture the most alluring view! Nevertheless, most of the people fail to take better photos since they don’t know some key photography rules. If you are one of those, all you need to have is little more knowledge on photography composition rules. In today’s post, we have collated 10 golden photography rules that will empower you to steal the view perfectly with your iPhone. So let’s explore and make your photos even more stunning.

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Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds consists of a set of guidelines to assist a photographer correctly position the subject in a particular scene. It is meant to draw the attention of the viewer directly towards the subject. According to this rule, the picture is divided into nine equal grids that break the entire image with two vertical and two horizontal lines into vertical and horizontal thirds. As per the Rule of Thirds, the subject should be placed at the intersecting points of the grids.

Leading Lines

Leading lines add depth and scale to an image by leading the eyes into an image. When you want to capture a road running between two rows of trees, a suspended wooden bridge vanishing at a distant point, leading lines make sure that the picture is taken in such a way that the viewer’s eyes would follow your direction (here, the way you guide them along the rows of trees or the bridge vanishing in the horizon). Leading lines create a great impact on the photographs that you click with your iPhone and don’t let the observer wander away from your subject. The leading lines can be diagonal, straight, zigzag, curvy, or radial.

Symmetry

For the perfect photo composition with an iPhone, one should understand what all make for the right composition. Photographers divide the frame they want to click into rough patterns and position the subject at the right place to get wonderful shots. Both man-made and natural symmetry and patterns represent eye-catching compositions. You can either take a shot following the symmetric patterns or break them to make the subject stand out by adding focal points and tension.

Framing

When we see a framed photograph, the frame brings out the beauty of the photograph. There are natural and man-made frames lying around. You just need to find that while clicking a picture. Framing the subject with such frames amplifies focus towards it, by isolating it from the world around. You can capture your subject through a hole, an arch, and different shapes and structures that you can visualize at that time.

Diagonals

Diagonals are an integral aspect of photography composition, as they determine the outcome of a picture you have clicked using your iPhone. Let’s get to know what the role of diagonals in a picture is and how it impacts the visual. As you know the Rules of Thirds is important and it positions the subject of interest at a corner over the grid outlay of a photograph. It sometimes might leave the other corner empty and unbalance the image. Using diagonals, you can position the main subject and diagonally move the less important subjects towards the other end to click the perfectly balanced shot.

Shape

Speaking of shape in photography composition sounds odd? ‘Rule of Thirds’ and ‘Leading Lines’ are not the only rules that make a photo composition. Line, shape, texture, form, space, color, and pattern also play a key role to make your iPhone photography a real treasure. Shape defines the two dimensional view of the subject and the entire scene as well. A well defined subject with a silhouette and backlighting or a black and white picture looks more appealing than a color picture where the shape of the subject or other objects is not prominent. Forms and shapes play an integral role in photography.

Leave Empty Space

You may wonder if I leave too much empty space in my photo contradicts the concept of ‘filling the frame’. But, it brings out the best for your iPhone photography when you have a strong subject in your scene. A clutter free and less distractive environment leads the viewers’ focus towards the main subject. You can think of clicking a giant statue against a clear blue sky, where the sky would act as a perfect background for the statue and render a clean look to the empty space.

The Direction of Subject

Like all the photography composition rules, it is important to take note of the direction of the subject in a photograph. This is known as the ‘Rule of Space’ and it leads the viewer towards the subject’s direction of motion. For example, if there is a person walking on the road, then there should be space ahead of him. If there is a person sitting in a bench or rock, he should be clicked facing into the frame, and there should be space in front of him. It will help the viewer’s eyes to go along with the direction he is facing and take notice of the other subjects such as, other people walking in front him, or any pet moving around etc.

Fill Your Frame

Making your subject stand out against the entire frame in a photograph creates more impact. You can easily obtain this goal with your iPhone by covering the entire frame with your subject. According to this amazing photography composition technique, all you have to do is move your iPhone closer to the subject and nullify the appearance of the surroundings to take a close shot. Like this, you are able to capture the intricate detailing of a leaf with its vivid colors and texture, the detailing and motif on a wall art and much more.

Break the Rules

Lastly, we would say that forget and break all the rules. Make use of the above mentioned rules in photography, but don’t let your heart stick to it. Explore, experiment and let your imaginations fly high to capture whatever you want and however you can that fills your soul. Photography is a passion and you must enjoy it.

Conclsion

Next time you are out to shoot something with your iPhone, try these photo composition rules and click mind blowing pictures. Though, these rules help you to get amazing iPhone pictures, learning to find the right subject and clicking with the right photo composition helps you more. With or without the rules, you have to keep a steady hand and a sharp eye for detail with patience if you want to click beautiful photographs with your iPhone.

Images come from the Internet

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

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