In this post I discuss the 4 most important rules of photography to consistently take beautiful images. These rules of photography are the cornerstone for every photographer who wants to grow in their abilities as a photographer.

What are the 4 Essential Rules that I am Referring to?


The 4 rules are:


1. Subject

The first essential rule to photography is that every photograph must have a clear subject. As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” And because this is true, one of the most important things a picture must have is a clear subject that captures the viewers attention.


2. Simplify

The second essential rule to photography is simplify. A Good photograph will always simplify. By only including the elements that draw our eyes to the subject of our image, and excluding those elements that are distracting and ultimately pull our attentions away from our main subject, we are keeping our photograph simple. You want to capture your image in such a way that you remove all distractions from it, and only include the elements that help place the greatest attention upon your subject.


3. Surroundings

The third essential rule to photography is that you want to use the surroundings of your subject in such a way that it places the greatest amount of attention upon your subject. And oftentimes, this means removing any elements that are distracting (i.e. rule #2), but also look for beautiful background and foreground elements, as well as compositional techniques that might present themselves. We must creatively work hard by developing and using our photographers eye to help us capture beautiful images.


4. Settings.

The fourth essential rule to photography is making sure you use the correct camera settings. The camera settings I am referring to are Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO (aka. the exposure triangle). By learning how to operate these settings on your camera you are able to creatively take control of your camera so that you can creatively control what you are photographing.


By learning and implementing these 4 rules you will notice immediate improvement in your images.