Do You Know the Elements?

When most people take pictures, they don't take into consideration the different elements that a picture can have. Three elements that I use are simplicity, the rule of thirds, and avoiding mergers. Below are examples of these three elements.

In this picture of my almost-3-year old maltese named Mercy, I use the element of simplicity because all you can mainly see are her eyes and nose. The picture is a close up that allows you to only see parts of her cute little face. This picture is simple yet still has character.



This picture may seem odd, but I used the rule of thirds to take this. The element allows you to focus the attention to a few certain areas. These shoes symbolize my everyday life. The shoes that are bigger and closer to the front show the biggest parts of my life which are school and work. The pair of shoes that are in the very back symbolize my most time-consuming part of life which is sports. Using a grid to take a picture helps to focus the attention which is what I had hoped to accomplish in this picture.



The last but certainly not least of the elements that I used is avoiding mergers. By making sure that your background is mainly a solid background, you can easily avoid mergers. The picture on the left shows how to not avoid mergers. My dog looks as if she has cords and part of a table growing off of her. Now in the picture on the right, I placed my dog in front of a chair that is one pattern instead of a bunch of different backgrounds.

 I hope that I have answered any questions about elements of a picture! Enjoy the art of picture taking!