The placement of a subject in a photo can vary. The subject could be centered in the middle, to the side, etc. The objects surrounding the subject is also important because it’s placed in spots to fill empty spaces. The way everything is put together in the end matters. This is called Composition.

Composition helps the viewer interpret a photo. It can bring out a theme, point out the focal point, create patterns, and shapes. If the objects in the photo are scattered, you can infer that the purpose of the photo was to look messy or unorganized. If a subject is placed in the middle, it creates a focal point. If the objects are placed in a repeating order, it creates a visual pattern to look at.

In this instructable you will learn how to add composition in your photos by using techniques. To demonstrate Compostion, we will use food.

Step 1: Materials

1. Camera - It can be any type of camera but we recommend a camera that has the ability to zoom in and out. Or if you don’t own a camera you can use your phone to take photos.

2. Utensils - Use a knife to cut up to fruit so you can make patterns with the fruits. You can also use it in the photo with the subject to fill in spaces and same goes with forks or spoons.

3. Food - Any type of food you want to use in your photos for your subject.

4. (Optional) If you want to add more to your photo, you can use other items to place around your subject. Such as flowers, cups, vase, etc.

Step 2: Making Shapes

It is highly recommended that you cut down your fruit so you have more to work with. By doing this you will have more options of where to place them in the photos. For a more smoother look, cut your subject down to where the edges are round or circular. This is shown with the oranges. To create leading lines, cut the fruit to where it has straight edges. This is shown with the apples and mangoes. If you want, you can mix all different types of shapes together and cut them all differently. The more variety of shapes, the better.

Step 3: Placement

Final Step! There’s many different ways to place your fruit, but it all depends what kind of look your going for. In these photos we focus on collaging, pattern, and off centered photos. Here’s how you do each:

1. Collage - You can put together a real life scene by just using the fruit. Use fruits that look alike the subject by its color and shape. For an example, we used kiwis as leaves of a palm tree because the texture of the seeds and green color was close to palm leaves. For a sun, use any circular fruit that it a warm color. By placing everything together, we made a catapillar and palm tree.

2. Pattern - You can also create a pattern by placing or layering the fruits on top of eachother. In our third and fourth photo we placed the fruits on top of each other and it created a repeating pattern.

3. Off Centered - Your subject doesn’t always have to be in the middle. Play around and move the fruits off to the side. This creates space to add more objects around it. In our last two photos we have more than one plate of fruit. To create a focal point, you can place other places behind the subject to get it out of focus. Scattering the plates around gives our eyes more to look at.