How To Use Your Gear To Improve Your Compositions

Photography Composition Tips and Techniques. This is the fourth in the series of episodes about how to take better photos. And this is the bit that I forgot from the last episode.

Camera settings – why are there so many? And gear. Photography gear. Why is there so much of it?

Well, I am not saying that you need more gear, but the different camera settings and different camera gear allow you to create better compositions, which means better photos.

And we all want this.

In this episode, I tell you.

• How different camera settings can improve your compositions.
• How different camera gear can improve your compositions.
• How camera sensor size affects the composition.
• Why the field of view is so important.
• What if I use a phone to take photos and not a camera?
• What if I use a film camera?
• And finally, what I do.

All explained in plain English, without the irrelevant detail, in less than 27 (ish) minutes!

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Transcript

Hi, and a very warm welcome to Episode 175 of the Photography Explained podcast. I’m your host, Rick, and in each episode, I will try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 27 minutes (ish) without the irrelevant details. I’m a professionally qualified photographer based in England with a lifetime of photographic experience, which I share with you in my podcast.

Here is the answery bit

You can change your compositions by using different camera settings and gear in different ways. Camera bodies and lenses allow you to change what you can capture, and changing camera settings can change how you capture a composition.

So, if you were wondering why there are so many camera settings and so many different bits of gear, read on.

Ok, I need to go back to the last episode here, Photography Composition Tips and Techniques. This is the bit that I remembered at the end of the last episode.

“And there is the camera stuff, too.

When I think of composition, I tend to forget the small matter of the camera and the different settings and what they can do to a composition. Here are a few things to think about - I will talk about these in another episode.

• Aperture
• Shutter speed
• Focal length
• Focal point
• Depth of field
• Wide angle lens
• Standard lens
• Telephoto lens
• Zoom lens

Actually, I might have to rethink - there might be another episode here on composition! I will record this episode and have a think.”

Which is where I am right now!

So, I will go through these one by one, explaining how they can affect the composition. And then there are a couple of other things that I want to pick up.

But, as I said earlier if you have been wondering why there are so many different camera settings and so much gear, this will begin to explain why. And no, you don't need all this gear; start with the camera settings and the game-changing moving and looking technique.

How can changing the aperture change the composition?

Simple. You can change what is in focus and what is not in focus. In simple terms,

The larger the aperture, as in the larger the opening in the lens, which unhelpfully is a lower aperture number, the less the depth of field.

The smaller the aperture, as in the smaller the opening in the lens, which unhelpfully is a larger aperture number, the more the depth of field.

Depth of field also varies with focal length, where things are in relation to each other and also to where you are focussing.

Photograph a person, use the maximum aperture, focus on people's eyes, and you should have the background all nice and blurry. An out-of-focus background can make the subject pop.

At the other extreme, using the minimum aperture, you will have the subject and the background in focus. 

What does shutter speed have to do with composition?

Strictly speaking, nothing.

Other than the fact that you can change the look of a photo by clever use of the shutter speed. Use a slow shutter speed to turn water into milky, whispery wonderfulness. Yes, long exposures can transform compositions by changing the very content of a photo.

Or move the camera while photographing something moving and blur everything but the subject matter - this is called panning. 

Use a really fast shutter speed to freeze the subject matter.

Using a fast enough shutter speed helps you take sharp photos. And correctly exposed photos, let's not forget.

So, shutter speed needs to be considered when thinking about composition.

How can depth of field change a composition?

This got covered under aperture. And will get covered again in the bit that I forgot.

Depth of field is a rubbish term. For depth of field, think depth of sharpness, which is the amount of a photo that is sharp from front to back. Forget the field.

Check out episodes 168, 169 and 170 for 29 other stupid photography terms I do not like and want to change, just like depth of field.

How changing the focal length changes the composition

The field of view you get with a camera and lens combination determines how much or how little of a scene you are capturing. The focal length changes the field of view, and the size of the camera sensor (the bit I forgot) also influences this. I will stick with full-frame cameras for now - more on that in a bit.

Wide-angle lenses and composition

A wide-angle lens has a focal length of less than 40-45mm on a full-frame camera. There is no formal definition of where a lens is wide angle. And I will stick with full frame for this and standard and telephoto.

The smaller the number, the wider the field of view, the smaller things become, and things appear further away. This is how using a wide-angle lens affects the composition.

A 24mm focal length on a full-frame camera gives a horizontal angle of view of circa 74 degrees.

You might want to use a wide-angle lens for landscape photography. But don't let that restrict you from using other focal lengths - see so many choices and decisions to be made!

Composition and standard lenses

50mm on a full frame camera. Similar to how we see the world. And that is it, really. Use 50mm to create compositions with a very familiar perspective.

A 50mm focal length on a full-frame camera gives a horizontal angle of view of circa 40 degrees.

How a telephoto lens can change your composition

A telephoto lens (another stupid term) is a lens with a focal length of more than 60mm on a full-frame camera. There is no formal definition of where telephoto lenses are telephoto lenses, but they have a larger focal length than standard lenses. 

The larger the number, the narrower the field of view, the larger things become, and things also appear closer. This is how using a telephoto lens affects the composition.

A 200mm focal length on a full-frame camera gives a horizontal angle of view of circa 10 degrees.

Zoom lenses

Zoom lenses give you more than one focal length, allowing you to use all of the above without changing the lens. Depending on the focal lengths available, of course.

There are other specialist lenses, such as the macro lens, but I don't use these; they are subjects on their own for another time.

Here are the other things that I did not think of at the time

Focus point

Where you focus will have an impact on the composition. You have to think about this in terms of the aperture, focal length, where you are focussing, and the other stuff in the composition. We usually focus on the main subject in a photo. So you might want to try something different and see what you get. But you need to decide the point of interest in a photo.

But when you are taking a photo of a person, you need to focus on the eyes of your subject; they won't thank you if you do not do this. You have to put yourself in the viewer's eye; what would they think of what you are creating?

How the size of your camera sensor affects composition

The small matter of the size of the camera sensor and how it changes focal length and depth of field. A bit of a fundamental thing that I need to talk about.

Yes, the camera sensor size affects the composition in two ways.

Firstly, the size of the sensor has a direct impact on the effective focal length.

• Full frame camera - 50mm = 50mm
• Cropped sensor camera - 50mm = 75/ 80mm
• Micro four thirds camera - 50mm = 100mm

I know; it doesn't help us.

But the effective focal length determines that actual field of view - that is what matters - basically what you can see when you look through your viewfinder, what is in a photo. 

And you get less depth of field with a full-frame camera than you do with a cropped sensor camera, and less again than with a micro four thirds camera. 

I will touch on this and phones in a bit.

And the other things that I wanted to mention.

Tripod

How does a tripod affect the composition? Well, I am going to tell you. I use a tripod to help me get the best composition I can. It doesn't physically change the composition; I know that. But it does help me and slow me down. Taking photos with my camera on a tripod is a much more considered thing, and I take the time to get the best composition possible.

It also stops me from taking loads of photos from slightly different positions, helping me pretty much take one photo with the best composition I can. 

Aspect Ratio

This came into my head as I was writing this.

A DSLR, and indeed mirrorless cameras, have an aspect ratio of 3:2. Micro four thirds cameras have an aspect ratio of 4:3. These are similar, but slightly different. And you can change the aspect ratio in camera.

Change it to 1:1, and you are taking square photos - now that will impact the composition, won't it?

Great remembering, RIck.

The talky bit

I covered the moving around bit in the last episode, different angles, left, right, high, low and all that good stuff. The camera angle directly influences the composition. And there is gear that can help with the high bit. I have a painter's pole with an attachment that I can put my camera on, which means I can get my camera 5-6m above ground level without a drone, which can make a massive difference to a photo. This gives a different perspective and makes photos stand out when I use it, as most photos are taken at eye level.

But let's remember what is important here. And that is the final image. The photographic composition. What is in a photo. And what is not in a photo. Gear helps us to get to that point. That is the purpose of gear.

We start with a good composition, but we want to make a great composition. When you think you have a good composition, keep looking and see how to improve it. Gear certainly gives you more options, but it does not replace moving and looking. Well, I had to get that in somewhere.

Let's not get too hung up on advanced composition techniques either; let's not overthink this. I rarely change lenses; the gear I have is all I need. And I use the rule of thirds and a few other things to help me with my compositions. I follow simple photography composition principles, they do nicely for me.

Now it's time for some maths. Here are my composition formulas.

Rubbish compositions = rubbish photos. But better compositions = better photos.

What if I use my phone to take photos and not a camera?

Well, you have a lovely big screen, and if you have an iPhone, you have the rule of thirds built into the default camera app to help you. That lovely big screen helps, but I still struggle to get compositions right with my phone. But hopefully you don't. The horizontal lines help me get things level, and the vertical lines and intersections are essential in my compositions.

Use either the top third line or the bottom third line to put the horizon on; you have a better composition than placing it in the middle. And an average photograph becomes a good photograph.

As to the things that I have mentioned here, you have less choice than with a phone. Well, we would expect that. But you can get lenses that you can attach to a phone. And there are, of course, different lenses with phones these days. My iPhone 15 Pro has a focal length range from 13mm to 77mm, but we have to take that with a pinch of salt as this does not equate precisely to camera focal lengths, which is a shame.

I won't go into the numbers here - I started looking at them, but it got too complicated.

The field of view is the field of view, regardless of your device.

And I love how Apple uses 0.5x, 1x, 2x and 3x - this makes much more sense. They have added the focal lengths to these numbers, but you can ditch those numbers and stick with the 1x, etc, which works nicely for me.

Do we care about the focal length? I say no, and if all cameras had the same 0.5x, 1x, etc, relating to the actual focal length of that device, this would be a good thing.

With a phone, you can zoom in and out, so you can change the focal length and the field of view, but not much more. But you are starting from a wider angle, so the subject of your photo is further away.

Generally, apertures and shutter speeds are fixed, although I am sure some apps allow you to change these settings. But the main thing you can do to change your composition with your phone is to use the different focal lengths built in.

Beware of zooming in a lot, as there is a difference between using different lenses and using digital zooming. The iPhone 15 Pro has different zoom lenses, different focal lengths, and the ability to zoom in lots, but with the zoomy-in bit, you might lose sharpness and definition.

And if you zoom in loads, it is harder to compose as every tiny movement is exaggerated.

What if I use a film camera?

All of the above applies. And that is all I have to say.

What do I do?

I use a full-frame Canon 6D with my Canon 17-40mm lens. I usually have my camera on a tripod. And I use the 17mm focal length for most of my photos of buildings. I take the photos with my camera on a tripod and use aperture priority mode or Av. I try to come up with interesting compositions, as these are what get the viewer's attention.

I use Canon cameras for photos of buildings and Olympus cameras for my travel photography.

I mentioned my painter's pole, which gives a different point of view and is a great way to photograph houses from the first-floor level. And for tall buildings, all I can do is go wide and accept some leaning back, which I fix in Lightroom. And to do this, I get as far back as I can so there is some space in the photo to allow me to correct the lean.

I have a device called a Magic Arm, which I fix to steel columns when the light is low, I need some support, but there is physically no room for my tripod.

This is what I do.

And let's remember - composition is king.

Some thoughts from the last episode

Episode 174 was Photography Composition Tips and Techniques.

There I was, happily talking about photography composition techniques, chucking in tips and all sorts of good stuff. But I completely forgot the small matter of camera gear and settings, which made for this episode, which is a bonus to me. So those are my thoughts on the last episode.

Next episode of the Photography Explained Podcast?

How to take photos – getting started. I am excited to write and record this episode, which will hopefully help with one of the biggest problems - simply what to do. 

Ask me a question.

If you have a question you would like me to answer, email me at sales@rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk or head over to the podcast website photographyexplainedpodcast.com/start.

And if you want to say hi, please do – I love hearing from my listeners.

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OK - I am done.

This episode was brought to you by, erm, still being good, this episode was brought to you by good old-fashioned beans on toast with a bit of brown sauce but no cheese. And no crisps washed down with an ice-cold Diet Pepsi before I settled in my homemade, acoustically cushioned recording emporium. But no crisps.

I’ve been Rick McEvoy; 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. This episode will be about 23 minutes long after I have edited out the mistakes and other bad stuff.

I hope to see you on the next episode.

Take care and stay safe.

Cheers from me, Rick