Undoubtedly you’ve heard some photographer say that there are no rules in photography when it comes to the composition of pictures. Indeed I don’t like the word “rules” very much. It sounds as if you had to obey them at all times and under all conditions. And even worse, as if violations of it were punishable. Like violations of traffic regulations. Honestly, that would take all the fun out of photography.

Rules? What Rules?

“… what makes ‘composition’ such a difficult and esoteric subject … there are no ‘rules’ – or rather, most of the existing rules are not universally accepted.”

Andreas Feiniger, The Complete Photographer, Page 372

Please read Feininger’s statement very carefully. Especially the last part where he says “most of the existing rules are not universally accepted”. That obviously means that he believes that there are, after all, some rules that actualy are universally accepted. Wouldn’t you agree?

Before we turn to the generally accepted rules, we should first look at some of the rules that Feininger believes should not be considered rules at all. More than once in his many books he mentions the following non-rules:

  • The rule of thirds
  • The Golden Section or Golden Mean
  • leading lines lead the viewer’s eye to the centre of interest
  • S-Curves make intersting pictures
  • Opposed diagonals make interesting pictures
  • Repetition or pattern shots make interesting pictures
  • The horizon should never divide a photograph into two equal parts

Indeed you will find all of these allegedly important rules in any book on composition, even in our own books (if you never came across these rules just google them or ask me very nicely to write blog posts about it). However, without going into details, it is obvious, that sticking to these rules will not always and not necessarily result in an interesting photograph. Of course everybody can think of exeptions that will make a picture interesting and exiting because the photographer did not follow the rules or even did exactly the opposite. Or to quote the famous physicist Richard P. Feynman:

“If there are exeptions to a rule it is not a rule”

Richard P. Feynman

So we shouldn’t call them rules but rather “composition guidelines” which can be followed or completely ingnored. In this sense it is good to know about all those guidelines and may be to use them as a starting point. But there is no reason to always stick to them.

But Are There Hard and Fast Rules? At Least a Few?

Well, I’d say yes.

In all my years as a photographer I’ve experienced what I call “the seven deadly sins in photography” (why by all means it should be seven is beyond me … ). Ok, to call them deadly sins is perhaps a bit over the top. But I just can’t stand these mistakes whenever I see them in a photograph and I strongly recommend to avoid them.

And what are these seven mistakes? Sorry, guys, here is a little cliffhanger. You’ll have to wait for the next blogpost. In the meantime you can try to come up with your personal opinion of what to avoid at all costs. If you like you can leave your thoughts on this topic in the comments.