Composition is one of the key skills that photographers need to learn. It’s one thing to read articles and watch videos. But how do you remember what you learned, and internalize the lessons so you can put them into practice months from now when you’re out in the field?
The answer is to set yourself a series of composition challenges or assignments. Explore one aspect of photographic composition at a time, gradually adding new tools to your toolbox.
That’s why I wrote my latest ebook 100 Composition Assignments. The idea is to give you a year’s worth of assignments (nearly two years if you do one a week) to encourage you to explore all the different aspects of photographic composition.
The book is structured into 20 composition-related themes, with five assignments for each theme.
To give you a taste of what’s in the book here are 10 of my favorite assignments. The theme is listed in brackets after the assignment.
Assignment 6: Travel space (a sense of place)
When traveling to somewhere new and interesting there are often so many things to make photos of that you don’t know what to focus your attention on. You can end up with a lot of images, but none that work together or capture the spirit of the place.
It’s also tempting (depending on where you are going) to take photos of iconic locations that are popular on Instagram. But you will get more interesting results when you photograph the places that personally appeal to you.
Your brief for this assignment is to think about the spaces you come across on your journey and how people use them. Compositionally, think about how much space to leave around your subject. Is it best to get in close, or to include some of the surroundings?
Is it always necessary to include people in your photos? No, sometimes empty spaces say enough.
For example, I made the above photo in the Falkland Islands. What struck me was the dismal weather, the bleak landscape, and the utilitarian nature of the buildings. The remote house, with its weathered roof and metal walls, summed it up for me. I left space around the house to include the gray sky, the grass, and the electric cables.
Assignment 19: Architectural light (light and shadow)
Buildings are fabulous subjects on sunny days. As the sun moves across the sky it illuminates different sides of the building, giving you endless photographic possibilities.
As the light changes, so do the shadows. Photograph a building that is partly in sunlight, and partly in shadow. How do light and shadow reveal the shape and form of the building?
This brief encourages a bold, graphic approach to composition. Experiment and have fun with it. In the middle of the day, the sun comes from directly overhead. At dawn and dusk, the sun is low on the horizon so the light comes more from the side.
What compositional possibilities do these changes in light give you? Move around the building and see how the light changes the look of the building and the image.
Assignment 24: Shades of green (single color)
Working with a single color allows you to appreciate its various hues and shades.
Your brief for this assignment is to make a photo composed almost entirely of green.
The easiest way to do that is to take some photos in a garden or forest. You can experiment with adverse weather conditions and soft light by shooting in the rain, fog, or on a cloudy day. Use a polarizing filter, if you have one, to eliminate the light reflected by the leaves to intensify the colors.
Green is the color of nature, and it’s amazing how many shades of green you can find in the landscape.
Assignment 27: Red and green (color contrast)
Red and green is another interesting color combination you can use in your compositions. These are called complementary colors, they are opposite (or close to opposite) on the color wheel.
The choice of subject here is up to you. You’ll find red and green together in the man-made world, like in the photo below. But you’ll also find it in the natural world. If you’re into close-up or macro photography, a red flower against a green background also fits the brief perfectly.
As with all the assignments, why stop at one photo? See if you can create a set of three or six interesting images that go together. They don’t have to be made at the same time. It is an interesting way of putting photos of different subjects together, having them linked by the color treatment.
Assignment 34: Lonely landscape (mood)
How much thought do you give to the mood of your landscape photos? Landscapes can be attractive and inviting. They make you want to visit places. This is the sort of landscape you’ll see in a tourist brochure or calendar.
But your brief for this assignment is to do the opposite of that and capture a lonely landscape. You’re looking for an empty, desolate landscape, with a minimal touch of man. Look for empty spaces and ways to include them in your photo without making a boring composition.
Think about the emotional power of the color blue. It’s the color of loneliness, melancholy, and solitude. Photograph during the blue hour and use the natural blue color of the ambient light to create mood in your images.
Assignment 39: Statues (black & white)
Statues have lots of texture and are a great subject for black and white. Don’t forget you need tonal contrast and texture for black and white. For example, you could photograph a white statue lit by the sun against a deep blue sky.
A subject like this has a lot of graphic possibilities so be bold and adventurous in your composition. You can photograph the whole statue, or close in on just a part of it.
This is another brief that lends itself to a series of images. Return to the assignment whenever you find an interesting statue to photograph.
Assignment 48: Zippy diagonals (lines)
Diagonals are the most visually powerful type of line you can use in your compositions. They pull the eye through the photo, adding movement to static scenes and helping make sure there’s something interesting to look at in every corner of the frame.
Your brief is to make a photo that uses diagonal lines.
The photo below has multiple diagonal lines. The strongest ones are from the concrete ledge that takes your eye from the top left of the frame to the bottom right. The lines made by the incense sticks intersect the longer diagonal lines, adding a sense of dynamism to the composition.
Assignment 60: Sharp subject, blurred background (balance)
Most photographers are familiar with the technique of using a wide aperture and focusing on the subject so that you get a blurred background. It’s a great technique with prime lenses, and you can also make it work with zooms by selecting the longest focal length, and the widest aperture, and choosing a subject that is far away from the background.
Make a photo that shows a sharp subject against a blurred background. Think about the balance of the photo. How do the colors and tonal contrast in the scene affect the balance?
Does the viewer’s eye move back and forth between subject and background, or does one overpower the other?
Assignment 62: Divide the frame (a sense of depth)
Another technique you can use with landscape photos is to mentally divide the frame into three sections, foreground, middle ground, and background. You can think of them as three stripes on a flag, each one a distinct and separate part of the image.
The idea is to put something interesting in the foreground, and use the sky as the background, with whatever is in-between in the middle. The sections don’t have to be equal in size. It’s better to compose according to what’s in front of you.
How much foreground does the photo need? How much sky? What are the most interesting parts of the scene? The answers to these questions will help you find the best way to divide the frame.
Assignment 67: Man-made versus natural (contrast)
Now we’re into the conceptual contrasts. In this assignment, your brief is to juxtapose a man-made object with the natural world.
A plant climbing up the side of a building is an obvious example, but how far can you take it? As with all the assignments, try and look beyond the obvious.
For example, the idea of man-made versus natural suggests to me a further juxtaposition, that between the geometric shapes and hard surfaces of man-made objects and the organic, non-geometric shapes found in nature. You also have the order of a man-made building contrasted against the wild chaos of nature.
There are lots of ways you can go with this assignment, so have fun with it.
100 Creative Photography Assignments
Thanks for reading. I hope these assignments encourage you to go out and start developing your composition skills today!
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