Photography Explained Podcast

🎙️Finding Your Best Angle, Simple Tips for Better Composition 🖼️

• Rick McEvoy • Episode 214

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The Secret to Amazing Photos Isn't a Camera. It's How You Use Your Eyes. ✨
Have you ever wondered what separates a simple snapshot from a truly captivating photograph? It’s all about composition—the art of purposefully arranging everything within your photo frame to guide the viewer's eye and tell a clear story. In this episode, your host, Rick, demystifies this powerful photographic tool, sharing five simple, practical, and highly effective tips to help you move beyond taking a picture to "making" a picture that truly stands out.

You'll discover why composition is the single most important element in photography, why it's not a complex art theory, and how to create images that are more dynamic, clear, and visually appealing.

Five Tips for Better Photographic Composition 🎯
In this episode, Rick shares his five top tips, simplifying how you think about arranging elements to instantly improve your work:

  • 1. The Rule of Thirds: Your fundamental composition guide. Imagine your frame divided into a nine-box grid. Learn how to use this simple grid to place subjects off-center, creating more visual interest and balance. For landscapes, simply placing your horizon on the top or bottom third makes a massive, massive difference to your photo. It's the one rule you should always use! 📏
  • 2. Leading Lines: Go on a “visual journey.” Find natural or man-made lines in your scene (like winding paths, rivers, or fences) to add depth and direct attention toward your main subject. They create a powerful journey for the eye, making your photo more impactful in a world of endless scrolling. 🛣️
  • 3. Natural Framing: Use your environment to compose. Discover how arches, doorways, windows, or even a gnarled tree branch can frame your subject. By shooting through these elements, you create a natural border that draws attention to what’s inside, giving the viewer a sense of looking into a scene rather than just at it. 🌳
  • 4. Change Your Angle: Break predictability. Don’t just shoot from eye level—it's the most common viewpoint. Experiment by getting low to the ground or climbing somewhere high with a simple accessory like a painter's pole to get an expansive view. Changing your perspective is one of the quickest ways to find a unique composition and transform the feeling of your photo. 🧗
  • 5. Simplicity & Negative Space: Less is often more. Sometimes the strongest compositions are the simplest. Learn how to create powerful, uncluttered images by focusing on your main subject and removing distractions. Negative space—the empty area around your subject, like a clear sky or calm water—gives your photo room to breathe and allows your subject to stand out. ☁️

The Practical Application in Your Photography 📸
You can apply these five simple composition rules with any camera, even your phone!

Your phone is an excellent tool for practicing because you always have it with you, and most built-in cameras have a grid overlay you can enable in the settings. That little grid is your best friend f

Check out my splendid course How To Become A Real Estate Photographer on my website Rick McEvoy Photography.com/courses

Check out my splendid course How To Become A Real Estate Photographer at Rick McEvoy Photography.com

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Get your question answered
This is what my podcast is all about: answering your photography questions. Just head over to my shiny new website to find out more about me, my podcast and my photography.

Thanks very much for listening

Cheers from me Rick

 What's the difference between a simple snapshot and a truly impactful photograph often comes down to how you arrange the elements within your frame. It's that simple. So today we're diving into the art of composition, showing you how to find that perfect angle and create photos that truly stand out.  Composition in photography is simply how you arrange everything within your photo frame.

It's about guiding the viewer's eye, creating balance, and telling a clear story. You can think of it like arranging furniture in a room. Well, that works for me. You place things purposefully to make the space inviting and functional.

And in photography we arrange subjects, lines, shapes, and colors to make our images strong and engaging.

It is a powerful, creative tool that helps you move beyond just taking a picture to actually making a picture, creating something special. Which is what we're all about, aren't we as photographers? Yes, we are. Rick.

Hello. Welcome to episode 214 of The Photography Explained Podcast. Title of this episode, Finding Your Best Angle, Simple Tips for Better Composition.

A very good morning, good afternoon, or indeed, good evening to you, wherever you are in the world, and whenever in the day you are listening to this splendid podcast episode.

I'm your host, Rick. Hi. And in each episode, that's a new bit, isn't it? I try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 27 minutes-ish, without the irrelevant details. Yes, really.

I'm a professionally qualified photographer based in England, with a lifetime of photographic experience, which I share with you in my splendid podcast.

Yep today we're mastering composition, and this is one of the most impactful ways to instantly improve your photos.

And there's a very simple logic behind this. Composition. It's what's in your photos. So composition must be the most important thing, surely, 'cause if what's in your photos rubbish, your photo's rubbish, isn't it?

Let's keep this simple, which is what I do in my podcast, obviously. So I'm gonna explore some simple, practical tips for finding your best angle and arranging elements effectively.

This is not complex art theory. Well, it wouldn't be from me, would it? No. It's about practical ways to make your photos more dynamic, clear and visually appealing. How utterly splendid, eh. Let's get into this.

Right here are five top tips for better composition. Yep. Time for some practical photography tips to help you dear listener, consistently compose stronger, more engaging photos.

These tips will simplify how you think about arranging the elements within your frame and help you achieve professional results. And there's a big point in all of that. It's simplifying things 'cause there's so many considerations that you can apply to taking a photograph, and what I try and do is to simplify it down to the things that will help you.

That's the point of my podcast.

So tip one is the rule of thirds, which is your composition starting point. Well, it's mine anyway, so it might as well be yours, eh? Yeah the rule, the thirds, it's your fundamental composition guide. I talk about this quite a lot, so if you're a regular listener, forgive me, but this is so important, I'm happy to say it all over again.

Imagine your frame divided into nine equal boxes by two horizontal and two vertical lines. Instead of placing your main subject dead center try placing it where these lines intersect, or along one of the lines. This creates more visual interest and balance. And for landscapes, placing the horizon on the top or bottom, third, not in the middle, it makes a massive, massive difference.

It makes for a much more dynamic, much more pleasing image. It's a great starting point. It's easy to use and it instantly improves your photos. The rule of thirds is such a powerful rule. And the other thing that you can do is place things on the intersections where the lines meet. Those are points of interest, which are, they're, they're visually appealing to, to the human eye.

So rule of thirds. If you use one rule and one rule only, use that one. I use it all the time.

Tip two leading lines, guiding the viewer's eye. Leading lines are lines in your scene that can draw the viewer's eye typically towards your main subject or around your photo. I'm talking here about things like roads, paths, fences, rivers, walls, patterns, anything that's a line.  They add depth and they direct attention. So look for lines that start in the foreground and lead to something interest in the background. They create a journey for the eye, making your composition feel more dynamic and purposeful. And if you do that with a photo, people will spend longer time looking at them, and the photos will have more visual impact.

So yep in the world of endless scrolling of photos up and down, your photos will stand out more if you use leading lines well.

You gotta think about these things when you are using them. You don't just chuck a line in there and that's it, job done. The leading line needs to contribute to the composition. So everything I'm talking about here, all these things, they have to contribute in a positive way to the composition. And you can, oh, sorry. I'm going on there a bit aren't I, let's get through the five tips first and then I can have a little bit of a waffle. Marvelous.

Tip three, natural framing, use your environment to compose. Using natural elements in your scene to frame your subject, it's a powerful way to add depth and context. So what am I talking about here? Arches is an obvious one. Doorways is another. Windows. Tree branches. Trees. I use trees all the time to frame things.  So by shooting through or around these elements, you create a natural border that draws attention to what's inside. It adds a sense of looking into a scene rather than just at it. You are getting the viewer of the photograph involved in the photo. It's much more engaging.

So what are you doing by using the things within the composition as natural frames, you are naturally making a composition that's interesting. And there's something about looking inside something or being guided through something to look at the subject matter. It's another really effective, really powerful tool.

And I'm gonna stop there 'cause I was gonna waffle on again when I've got a script would you believe.

Tip four, change your angle, find your viewpoint.  Don't just shoot from eye level. I was gonna say, it's a very common mistake, but it's not a mistake, it's a natural thing to do. You stand normally, you bring your camera to your eye, or your phone. And you look through the viewfinder, or you squint at your screen and hope to see what it is you're taking a photograph of. No, I'm not a fan of taking photos with a phone over a camera. Well, I wouldn't be, I've got a camera, haven't I? Or three. So it's a completely natural thing to take photos from eye level.  And what you're doing there is you are taking photographs which will give a scene that's familiar to the person looking at your photo. 'cause they're used to looking at things obviously at eye level, unless your eyes are in your feet or your knees.

So one of the quickest ways to make photos more interesting, it's to change your physical position. So this is what you can do. You can get low to the ground, you can get low to the ground, or put your camera on it. And there are very simple accessories that we can use for this, and you can point your camera upwards.

And this can give you powerful, larger than life feel to a photo. Think about it. Put your camera on the ground, point it up. Your viewpoint's different. It's more interesting. And it's changing the perspective of things, how things relate, how they look. So you're transforming the feel of something.

And then there's getting up high. So my script says, climb something open brackets, safely, exclamation mark, close brackets, and shoot from above for an expansive view. One way that you can take photos from higher up is to get a painter's pole, and an adapter that screws into the tripod thread on the bottom of your camera and attaches to the pole. So with my pole, I can get my camera five meters above ground. Let's think about this. You're taking a photograph of a building. If you r at eye level, your camera will be tilted up. So you're gonna get the converging verticals and you're getting the perspective from eye level.

You get your camera higher up. Be it at floor level so that you are looking level with the first floor, which, which makes a massive difference 'cause we're not used to seeing buildings from that perspective. And your verticals are vertical, so you've got no keystoning, no converging verticals, or you go even higher and you're looking down on something.

It can absolutely transform a photograph of a building, make a massive difference, and you're also capturing things that you can't see from the ground. So it makes a huge difference.

And with landscapes, yeah, you can get a different perspective. You can include more of a foreground from a completely different perspective.

So painters pole, very effective and much cheaper than a drone. Yes, it is Rick. Of course it is. My painter's pole was about 25 quid and the adaptor was about 20 quid. Now granted that was. Well, it was at least a decade ago, but,  not expensive. Look after them, they last you a lifetime and they're a massive help to you.

And I've used my painters pole loads of the time.

So what else can we do? Well, you can get very close to your subject to fill the frame or you can step back for different context. Changing your perspective breaks predictability, and it helps you find unique compositions. This is finding your best angle.

This is also what I call walking, looking, and thinking. Yep. I talk about that a lot, don't I? And why not? 'cause it makes perfect sense.

Right. Tip five, simplicity and negative space. Less is often more.

Sometimes the strongest compositions are the simplest, and I would say most of the time not, sometimes, don't feel that you need to fill every corner of your frame. Simplicity means focusing on your main subject and removing distractions.

Now, negative space is the empty area around your subject, and when used effectively, it helps your subject stand out. It can make a massive difference and it prevents images from looking cluttered, which personally I hate.

Negative space. It can be a clear sky, a plain wall. Could be calm water. These are all powerful negative spaces, and they're natural too, they're in the composition that you're photographing. And what this does, it allows the viewer to concentrate on the subject matter of the photo 'cause the negative spaces, it's giving space for the subject to stand out. It's giving the photo room to breathe.

So often, what you leave outta a photo is as important as what you include in it.

I love using negative space. I hate cluttered photos. Cluttered photos for me are a no-no. So if you wanna go down the minimalist route, and I said that the first time then, which I'm quite impressed with, just give it a go and see what results you get.

You've got nothing to lose by trying have you. No you haven't.

So there you have it. Five simple, yet incredibly effective tips for finding your best angle and improving your photographic compositions. Practice these and you'll see a dramatic improvement in your photos. Well, you should do. 

Here's something for you to do dear listener.

Grab your camera, or your phone, and head out taking photos. Choose one subject. Whatever it is, choose one subject. It could be street lamp, it could be a tree, it could be a bin, could be anything. Apply these five tips.

Try composing with the rule of thirds - tip one.

Look for leading lines - tip two.

Find something to naturally frame your subject - tip three.

Experiment by getting high, low, and super close.

And finally, simplify your scene, focusing on your subject with clear negative space.

Take a photo for each tip and have a look at 'em.

They're not all gonna work for every subject. Sometimes the rule of thirds and negative space is all you need. But there's one thing that you do need to do.

You need to think before you take a photo. You need to think of these five things and decide which ones will work best for you and that photo that you're taking.

'cause our aim is dear listener. With every photo that we take, the aim is to get the best single photo that we can. And my aim is to get a photo that is better than one of the photos in a portfolio so I can replace it. That is my aim with every photo I take.

 What if I use a phone to take my photos?

Well, your phone is excellent for practicing composition. It's excellent 'cause you've always got it with you, it'll have loads of memory. You can take loads of photos and delete 'em if they're rubbish or you don't like 'em. And most phone cameras have a grid overlay, which you can enable in the settings. My iPhone has the three by three grid by default in the default camera app. So it's always there for me.

And that tells you something  about how important and how significant the rule the thirds is if Apple display it on the default camera app. So it's not just me making this up, is it Apple agree with me, don't they?  So your camera in your phone is probably starting you off with tip one, the rule the thirds, which is fantastic.

You can easily get low or high for tip four, even easier with a phone. Not as easy to see what you're taking the photograph of, to be fair.

And the built-in wide angle lens can help you with leading lines, and natural frames and also negative space. It's all about walking around, looking and thinking.  Before you take a photo, just think of these five things and if you can use one of them to make a better photo. We're all happy, aren't we?

What do I do?

As a professional, architectural and real estate photographer, that's me, hello. Composition is the absolute cornerstone of my work. Every single photo I take is carefully composed to guide the viewer's eye, highlight key features, and create visual appeal. My approach to composition, it boils down to these things.

Deliberate framing. I'm always looking for leading lines, natural frames, doorways, and windows. Well you'd hope so I'm photographing buildings aren't I? And strong geometric shapes to guide the viewer.

Precise positioning. I meticulously choose my camera angle and height, which for me, my default height is pretty much eye level 'cause I'm taking photographs of buildings for people, and people see buildings from eye level. But I also go high and low using my tripod and my painter's pole and other stuff. It depends on who I'm taking the photos for and why. If it's just for me, I'll be trying something funky.

I've got no doubt like lying on the ground or or putting my camera on a little tiny tripod on the ground and tilting it up and getting some dramatic view. That's what I do, but I do it all with thought.

So what else do I think about? Well, there's clarity and simplicity. I hate clutter in photos. I like simplicity. If I'm photographing, I dunno, sunrise, if I can get three elements in a photo, that that quite often works for me. Or four. If you've got land, sea, sky, and tree. Photographing a building. I want the building and nothing else. I don't want any distracting elements and I like to use negative space to make the important parts of the photo stand out 'cause that's what we should be doing.

Then there's balance. Even with complex buildings, I always strive for visual balance. And I use the rule of thirds as a starting point for every composition. I'll say that again. I use the rule of third as a starting point for pretty much every composition. If it's a building, I use it to get the building in a logical place in the frame.

If it's a landscape, it's to get the horizon somewhere where I want it, which is on one of those two horizontal lines. And I use the four intersecting points to place points of interest. Like if I've got, oh, we'll go back to the, the sunrise I mentioned earlier where I've got the four elements I've got, I've got the sky, the sea, the land and a tree, it's, it's a thing I like to do. Now, I won't put the tree in the middle. I'll put the tree on one of the vertical lines and I'll put the horizon on one of the horizontal lines. And what you're doing is you're giving a nice structure to a photo that makes it pleasing and makes people like looking at them.

That's what I do.

And this isn't just theory, this is the practical application of everything that I do and everything that I've learned through countless professional shoots, numerous holidays, and numerous sunrises and sunsets and photos taken somewhere in the middle of all that little lot. I've taken a lot of photos in my life and this is what I've ended up with,  and these are the five things that I use to help me to get the best photos that I can dear listener. Mastering composition is key to transforming your photos from snapshots to compelling images. So remember.

Rule of thirds. Place subjects off center for better balance.

Leading lines. Use lines to guide the viewer's eye.

Natural framing. Frame your subject with environmental elements.

Change your angle. Don't just shoot at eye level. Get low, high, close, left, right, wherever. Look at different angles.

Simplicity and negative space. Focus on your subject by removing distractions.

Practice these simple tips consistently, and you'll dramatically improve your photos. You'll create photos that stand out. Your photos will improve, you'll take better photos. What is not to love? And don't forget this dear listener. None of this costs you anything other than time and thought and memory cards.

Right some thoughts from the last episode.  Your first steps into landscape photography. They're all about looking differently. Using the light, composing thoughtfully, and knowing a few key camera settings. And I really hope that you're already out exploring your local park or whatever there is near you, with a fresh pair of eyes. And you don't have to do this with your camera. You can do this just when you are walking around, when you're out and about. Keep on looking at things, keep on looking and learning.

That's what I do. I spend all my time, looking around trying to find things to take photos of. It's a, well, it's not a bit of an obsession. It's an absolute obsession. I'm always doing it. I love doing it. I love walking around looking, finding things to photograph. Right. Shut up, Rick. That's enough of that.

Next episode. Oh, bit of a change of direction. Understanding ISO when to crank it up and when to keep it low, and you know what I do.

Right. Okay. So now we've got a bit of a change to the script. Yes this is scripted, would you believe.  Now, I should say at this point that there is a script, but, I've never done an episode where I just read out the script. It's just helps me not to forget things 'cause I'm getting quite old. Let's not forget that. So I've redone this bit as it was getting far too long and far too many headings so this is it.

If you've enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any future ones. And for anything else, check out my website, Rick McEvoy Photography.com, where you can find out how to ask me a question, how to get a weekly email from me, how to get in touch, and you can find out more about my splendid podcast and all my other photography stuff, all on one website. Nice.

And you can text me directly from the podcast feed.

A couple of other things. One, I've got a YouTube channel. Just put Rick McEvoy into YouTube and you'll find me.

And one last thing. Check out my courses page where you'll find my splendid "How To Become A Real Estate Photographer" course. Rick McEvoy Photography.com/courses.

Okay then this episode was brought to you by, wait for it, a cheese and pickle sandwich and a Coke Zero, which I consumed before settling into my homemade acoustically cushioned recording emporium.

I've been Rick McAvoy. Thanks again very much for listening to my small but perfectly formed podcast, it says here, and for giving me 27 ish minutes of your valuable time. Now I say 27 minutes-ish. I reckon this episode's gonna be about 18 to 20 minutes long after I've edited out the mistakes and the other bad stuff.

That's because I had to go to the door and do a few other bits, like answer the phone during the recording. So I'm hoping 18 to 20 minutes, that was the plan before I started.  Right I'm done.  Thanks for listening.  Take care.  Stay safe. Cheers from me, Rick.

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