Composition in Photography -

‍Our 7 Picks for the Best Video Tutorials

Composition.  There’s the Rule of Thirds,  the Bermuda Triangle,  the Fetuccini Spiral,  the Rubik’s Cube.    It’s all so daunting.

Mastering composition is the real challenge in photography. It's difficult for even the most seasoned photographers.

You have been looking for a good video tutorial to watch so that you can improve your understanding of composition.  That's why we have spent hours and hours scouring the World Wide Web for you, so that you don’t have to.  We’ve posted our seven favorite video-tutorials on the subject of composition. And just so you know, there were a ton of real losers that we had to suffer through.

You can search the internet for days and not find this much good S#*T about composition in one place.  We’re providing links to these videos for you to watch when you want.  Start and stop them at your will.  In between naps.  In between episodes of Tiger King.  In between being nagged by your shelter-in mates.  You don’t need to register, give up your email address, cell phone number or first born child to view any of these video tutorials.  

The videos we’ve selected will have many ideas in common, but presented indifferent ways with unique examples.

These are not in the order of what we love the most. We love all of our videos the same. And don’t ever forget that.  Don’t let video number 3 tell you that we love him more than number 7.  He’s a liar.  

1. Whet your appetite with this one

Five Portrait Composition Ideas (Not Rules)

Eric Floberg - 5 minutes

Funny and informative. Very short.   We plan on sending him some Preparation H.  You’ll see why.

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2. Don’t Be Scared.  He’s Probably a Very Nice Man  

Mastering Composition In Photography -9 Simple Tips

Nemanja Sekulic   -  6 minutes

Pretty sure that this guy was one of the villains in a recent James Bond movie.  Or at least he did the voice over.

Short, basic, and presented well.  It contains very good tips that you can easily apply to your photography.  

The video title, Mastering Composition, is a teeny bit overstated.  Well, it’s waaay overstated.  We guarantee that you won’t master composition after seeing a six minute video, but it is well worth watching.  We’ve included other video tutorials that can turn you into a master of composition.

This video is only six minutes long.  If you fall asleep during this one, there’s something wrong with you, and you should get checked for narcolepsy (but only after this pandemic thing settles down).

3. Where’s his juice box?

Eleven Best Photo Composition Rules for Beginners

Josh Katz -  14 minutes

Don’t let his youth fool you.  Josh does a great job presenting elements of composition, and seems experienced beyond his years.  True, his juice box and baggie of Goldfish crackers are probably just out of view in the video, but his information and presentation are very good.  For crying out loud (and maybe Josh does that when he doesn’t get his way) it’s only 14minutes. It’ll be easy to take in all the good information he provides before you start to nod off.  

4. Well organized, short and to the point, no frills

Top 10 Composition Tips

Chris Bray Photography -  16 minutes

Chris’s presentation is direct and easy to follow.  It covers some very good information and gives appropriate visual examples.  

Chris is not brimming with charisma, but he does drip with knowledge, experience and wisdom.  JEEZ, give the poor guy a break!  Don’t be so damned judgmental!  He’s not out to be your friend, he just wants you to become a better photographer.

5. You’ll feel like he’s in your living room

Composition and Seeing Well - The Great Courses

Joel Sartore - 30 minutes

This is an excellent video tutorial, different than all of the others.  Joel Sartore is a famous world-class photographer, yet very down to earth.  His presentation is effective, yet you’ll feel like he’s in your home having a conversation with you.  His courses cost $$$, and yet we found this one video on composition for free.  

You may have an ad pop up that tries to entice you to pay for the entire course on photography.  May we make a suggestion? If you have any money left after you’ve lost your job, and your investments plummeted, then spend it at Horn Photo!  We’d love to get some of your money!

Joel doesn’t cover the basic rules in the way that the other video tutorials do.  He shows you examples by setting up ordinary scenes with his family, and how by changing the composition, the shots become extraordinary.  

With that being said, don’t let the first few minutes of the video scare you away.  In the beginning, Joel shows some of the epic photographs that he took for National Geographic, and critiques them.   We don’t know about you, but we haven’t taken that many pictures of mountain goats in Nepal, or meals cooked on the open flame by native tribes in South America.  We might be able to rustle up photos of a coyote in Yosemite, or a backyard tri-tip barbecue with the cousins.

6. Born without volume control

Composition -Most Important Thing in Photography

Saurav Sinha - 10 minutes

This video contains basic information with a different approach than the other videos.  Saurav goes into more of a philosophical explanation as to why you need to think about composition.  We found that beneficial.  His examples are beautiful, and demonstrate the element that he is addressing.

Saurav Sinha was possibly born without a volume control dial on his voice.  He is enthusiastic, over caffeinated, and may leave you wanting to meditate or go into a quiet room for a few moments.   10 minutes is very do able.  If it were 30 minutes, you would be on edge.

7.  You can be a MASTER of composition.

Photography Composition

The Art of Photography

This is for those of you that have to shelter in place, have exhausted all of the binge worthy shows on cable, and want to learn something.  By the end of this nine-part series, you will be an expert on composition.  It’s just a matter of applying it. 

This series was created in 2012, but the elements of composition don’t change.

By watching this series, you will have mastered composition. Then you can bore the hell out of your friends and acquaintances at the next cocktail party you attend.  You won’t have to worry about people keeping socially distant from you when you blather on about all that you learned from this series.

This nine-part series of videos covers each element of composition in detail.  The videos are from nine minutes to 18 minutes long. Below is a link to video one, Photography Composition: Line.  It will take you to all of the videos in the series:

1.Line

2.Shape

3.Simplification and Negative Space

4.Rule of Odds

5.Rule of Thirds

6.Rule of Space

7.Sub-Framing in Visual Composition

8.Rhythm in Visual Composition

9.Tempo in Visual Composition and Photography

Bonus:  NO TALKING HEAD!

9 Photo Composition Tips

Steve McCurry - 3 minutes

Gotta love that! Steve McCurry’s photos speak for themselves.  This is a short slide show of his images demonstrating different elements of composition.   No matter how short your attention span is, you can tough this one out until the end.

We cannot:

Bring you popcorn and red vines.  Use Instacart for that stuff.  

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Stay at home!  Enjoy the video tutorials. Questions or comments? Then email jan@hornphoto.com

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