How To Improve Your Compositional Skills Through Analysis

Robert Rodriguez Jr / Issue No. 49 / July 22nd, 2024

If composition is the most important yet elusive skill in photography (and I definitely think it is), then building your "visual literacy" is one of the best investments you can make. It means building your competency and knowledge about the visual language of photography and art in general.

Analyzing an image to see what makes the composition work is an important part of that, and it's what we did in the last Creative Cafe. I only showed one image from one of the photographers I featured, so I wanted to share and analyze another one of his images here.

Charlie Waite is a British photographer I have long admired, known for his painterly style and powerful compositions. This image is a good example of strong visual design, beautiful use of backlighting to create depth and drama, and harmonious use of color throughout the frame.

I’m using different colored lines to differentiate between various principles of design. I suggest you read about each color first, then look at the original unmarked image above to appreciate the effect. Then read about the next colored line, and so on. Finally, look at the image again and see if you can appreciate how they all work together in unison to create the strength and drama of the image and how natural it feels once you understand the underlying structure.

Red lines with arrows: These represent the major leading lines in the image that lead you diagonally to the lone and distinctive silhouetted tree at the top of the tallest sunlit hill. Notice not only the lines created by the edges between shapes but also by the shadows next to light, and by the texture of the hillsides that move your eye up the frame. Both the bottom left and right are used powerfully without clutter or ambiguity.

Yellow lines: These highlight the major shapes in the image, all roughly triangular—again reinforcing diagonal movement. Also, notice these colorful shapes are separated by muted shapes that make those beautiful greens and yellows look even richer without looking overly saturated. Again, colors are relative, so less is often more.

Also, the foreground is pushed forward by juxtaposing it against a cooler background of distant mountains and sky. Notice how the soft yet distinct sky "supports" the foreground rather than competing with it, which often happens when the sky is overly dramatized, as we see so often online.

Blue lines: Here you see the grid of thirds and how it’s used without being obvious.

I’ve often said that having "one" of anything in your image is a recipe for distraction unless it can be balanced within the composition. Charlie places the tree just off-center to allow the lines to move you left and right as your eye climbs the frame, and it’s placed "below" the sky, which is critical to the whole image in my view. It lessens the visual weight of the tree (as opposed to having the sky behind, which would have made it too strong, in my opinion), allowing it to share the center of interest with the light.

In the end, the image for me is about the light and its interaction with all the different elements of the landscape, with the lone tree being a witness to it all, and expressed with beautiful subtlety.

I hope you enjoyed this composition analysis. Be sure to check out more of Charlie Waite's work on his website. He also has some great books you can find on Amazon.

From the Blog

I published another 'Capture to Print" article where I share the story behind an image, as well as a compositional analysis and my Lightroom and printing workflow. You can read it here: Capture to Print: Sky Mountains, NV. ​

Community

I've got a camera poll running at the Creative Path forum where I'm asking what types of cameras you're using. So far, mirrorless cameras are in the lead, with mobile phone cameras second. Take the poll and join the conversation. Vote here!​

Questions, comments, feedback? Please reply and share your thoughts, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for reading!

Robert :)

All images Copyright Charlie Waite