Learning how to compose your photographs can mean the difference between a so-so snapshot and a high quality picture. This article will give you useful composition tips for taking great digital pictures.

Filling the Frame & Clearing Clutter

There are exceptions to this as you'll see in a second, but generally filling the frame is one of the easiest things you can do to compose interesting photographs.

Often times, people try to squeeze too much in the picture and end up with a picture that has a cluttered background and turns out uninteresting.

For example, if you're taking a picture of your child on a swing in the backyard, fill the frame with your child and swing, and leave out the rest of the swing set, Uncle Ed at the barbecue, and the other kids doing cartwheels on the lawn.

Otherwise your child will be lost in the clutter and the picture won't capture the wonderful details of your child's fun flight through the air on the swing. You can always take a different picture of Uncle Ed flipping burgers so you can capture just him in the picture.

A nice thing about digital cameras is that after you take the picture you can check for clutter in playback mode. By checking the picture right away, you often can retake the picture and make it better by getting everyone smiling or removing clutter from the background like a lamp post or tree branch.

Sometimes leaving lots of empty space in the photo also works well. You might take a picture of something that fills two thirds of the photo for effect. Make sure to get close enough to your subject so they fill up at least a third of the viewfinder or frame. And that brings us to another important tip for taking digital pictures.

Rule of Thirds

Most snapshots have empty (or cluttered) space on either side of the subject, with the subject dead center. This happens because most people use digital compacts in autofocus mode and these cameras usually have a center-weighted focus.

Professionally taken photographs rarely have the subject in the center because they use manual focus (we'll look at a trick that digital compact users can sometimes use). If you have a DSLR you can also use this easy focusing trick.

One of the most popular composition techniques is the "Rule of Thirds". With this technique, the photographer has to visualize six evenly spaced lines breaking the viewfinder into nine even boxes. If you want to see gridlines in your preview screen, there are some cameras that have grid lines superimposed over your image to make it easy for using the rule of thirds.

Using this grid in preview mode – or your imagination – you can frame the composition so that the subject (whether an individual, group or object) is on one of the lines of the grid. And you don't need to line this up exactly. With a little practice, using the rule of thirds will become second nature.

Focus on Focusing

So, it's time to talk about how to get your subject in focus without placing them directly in the center of your picture. This technique works great for subjects that are not moving, like people sitting down or a picture of a statue or tree. Here is how you do it:

1. Using the viewfinder's focus point, move the camera until your subject is in the middle of the frame, and press the shutter release button half way down.

2. Wait for the green light to glow steadily signifying your focus is locked.

3. Keeping your finger on the shutter release button so it remains pressed only half way, move the camera until you have the composition you want.

4. Holding the camera steady, press the shutter the rest of the way.

5. Always wait for the green light because that is the camera's signal that it has taken the picture.

Extra Composition Tips for Taking Great Pictures

Focus on the the main point of interest of your subject. For example, with people and animals, this is usually the eyes because they are so expressive.

If you want your pictures to stand out, train your eye to look for photo opportunities with contrast. Contrast in a picture is good when the brights are bright and the dark colors are dark.

If you want to add interest to your photos, try using different angles for a new perspective. Get a different perspective by getting up high or lying down on the ground. It is best to vary the angle in which you take your pictures so you can show different perspectives and views.

Start using these tips and before long you'll be getting all kinds of compliments on your well composed pictures displayed on the wall.