composition: noun
the act or process of composing; arrangement into specific proportion or relation and especially into artistic form

Point of Focus

• When you look at a photo your eye is always drawn naturally towards the point that is most in focus first, even if this point is not the most obvious feature. Therefore it is very important to have the main subject in the sharpest focus, especially if there are other distractions, such as large foreground, background or side features, which are framing the main subject.
• In MacroMacro photography is close-up photography; lenses designed for macro use are usually at their sharpest at macro focus distances and are not quite as sharp at other focus distances. or closeup photography, a very wide lens apertureThe aperture of a lens determines the amount of light that passes through the lens to the film or digital sensor. On all camera lenses, aperture is calibrated using what are called f-stops. (also referred to as a low f–stop) is often used, giving a very shallow depth of fieldThe depth of field (DOF) is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image. For some images, such as landscapes, a large DOF may be appropriate, while for portraits, a small DOF may be more effective. and thus making the subject (maybe a butterfly on a leaf) nicely sharp, while making the leaf itself, being just that bit further away, automatically out of focus.
• In Landscape photography, on the other hand, it is generally desirable to have the whole photo in focus, which would mean using a small to medium aperture (high f–stop) to get a much greater depth of field. Then everything from the foreground to the horizon should be in focus.

Rule of Thirds

• This standard rule of photography governs the ideal positioning of subjects and lines in any given photographic image. On the two photos below you can see two horizontal and two vertical lines – these divide the image into thirds. For a pleasing composition the aim should be to get the main subject in one of the four positions where the lines intersectTwo lines intersect if they meet at a point., all of which are exactly one third in from any two edges. As you can see, the left-hand image below violates this rule, with the tractor closer to the middle, and thus appears less pleasing to the eye than the right-hand image.

• In addition, the horizon (if it appears) should line up with either the bottom or the top horizontal line - again, on the left-hand photo above you can see the image looks wrong with the horizon crossing close to halfway down, whereas the right-hand photo looks much better with the horizon in the proper place.
• It is important to remember that it is entirely possible to take competition-winning photos that ignore this rule completely... if the overall result looks good and has the ‘wow’ factor!Overwhelmingly and nicely suprise somebody; exceed expectations.

Golden Section or Divine Proportion

• Other articles on the web explain the Golden Section Rule far better than I can, but basically the principle is very similar to the Rule of Thirds, with the grid lines being arranged slightly differently, based on rectangular ratiosA ratio is a quantity that denotes the proportional amount of one quantity relative to another. Two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller. of 1.618. Look at Design And The Divine Proportion or The Golden Section for a full explanation.

Diagonal Rule

• 
  It is widely accepted that strong diagonal lines within a photograph can make the image appear more dynamicCharacterized by action; energetic; vigorous; forceful and aesthetically pleasingWhen something is asethetically pleasing, it means that it is visually nice to look at., as well as being a very useful way of leading the viewers’ eyes to the main subject. I have marked the image to the right (Talyllyn Pass, mid-Wales) with grey lines denoting the most obvious diagonal. Indeed, with an image like this, with almost nothing except diagonal lines, it is perhaps hardly necessary to have a main subject, the photo being very pleasing to the eye just as it is.
• A brief word of warning: you may find that sharp edges (for instance, buildings) in a diagonal format taken with a cheap digital camera may sometimes exhibit a strange edge artifact effect, called stair-stepping. Use the lowest amount of image compressionImage compression is the application of data compression on digital images. The aim is to reduce parts of the image data which are not needed to be able to store or transmit data in an efficient form. possible to help avoid this.

Foreground Interest

• If you’re taking a medium to long-distance photo of just one particular object, in the example below, a country house, it may really not be enough just to apply the Rule of Thirds to make the photograph have appeal. This is because you're very likely to have an empty foregroundThe part of a scene or representation that is nearest to and in front of the spectator., and no secondary points of interest. The left-hand photo below shows what I mean - an expanse of grass holds no interest, and the photo does not capture the attention.

• However, by simply stepping just a couple of yards back and to the side, as the right-hand image above shows, suddenly I can include the garden wall and house name in the foreground, which transform the image into something holding far more interest for the viewer.
• Including foreground detail is perhaps the least obvious but most significant improvement anyone can make to photographs, particularly of landscapes. Often just lowering the camera down nearer to the ground can make all the difference. A wide-angle viewpoint also makes this much easier.

Even and Odd

• Put simply, if you have a number of similar objects in an image, aim to have an odd number of them (3, 5, 7 etc.) rather than an even number. It just looks better.