Composition

The biggest difference between a good photograph and a mediocre one is the compositon.Placing the elements of your picture within the frame and deciding what to leave out.

In this case we talk about the boundaries of that photo and placing the point(s) of interest in your picture.One of the easiest ways to improve your photography is with careful attention to framing. Look into the corners of the viewfinder to see what is there. Do you need all that background? Can you get closer to your subject or zoom in? Would the picture look better as an upright or landscape?.If you crop your pictures afterwards in the computer or in the darkroom, you are throwing away quality. You are wasting some of those precious pixels that you paid so much for. What's the point in having a camera with five million pixels
Selecting your viewpoint, the position from which you photograph the subject, is a very important part of composition and one that some people pay very little attention to look for the best angle.The perspective can change quite drastically, especially with wider angled lenses.the viewpoint you choose also affects how the light from the sun falls on your subject, When shooting outdoors.

There are various compositional rules to compose pleasing pictures, however, you will often find that a really striking picture will show a blatant disregard for the rules. Once you are aware of the rules then break them as often as you want but, at least, know you are breaking them and why.

Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds simply says that, instead of placing the main focus of interest in the centre of the frame, which gets a little boring, that you look to position it on an intersection of the thirds. That is to say one third up and one third in or two thirds up and one third in etc.
Using the steps outlined previously will help to tighten up your composition. Now we will look at a few techniques you can employ to help improve your composition. If you are taking photographs for your own pleasure, as I assume you are, then you only have to come up with pictures that please you.

One of the most popular 'rules' in photography is the Rule Of Thirds. It is also popular amongst artists. It works like this:
Imaginary lines are drawn dividing the image into thirds both horizontally and vertically. You place important elements of your composition where these lines intersect.

As well as using the intersections you can arrange areas into bands occupying a third or place things along the imaginary lines. As you can see it is fairly simple to implement. Good places to put things; third of the way up, third of the way in from the left , you get the idea. Duff places to put things; right in the middle, right at the top, right at the bottom, away in the corner.Using the Rule of Thirds helps produce nicely balanced easy on the eye pictures. Also, as you have to position things relative to the edges of the frame it helps get rid of ' tiny subject surrounded by vast empty space' syndrome.
One last thing about the Rule of Thirds for the time being. Once you have got the hang of the Rule of Thirds you will very quickly want to break it ! This is fine. As I said earlier these 'rules' are best used as guidelines and if you can create a better image by bending or ignoring rules then fire away.

The Rule of Thirds is fairly structured but there are a great many methods you can employ which rely on your ability to 'see' things and incorporate them into your composition. Next up we will look at some, but by no means all, of them.

Some possible applications for the Rule of Thirds include photographing an animal with their eyes centered on one of the thirds points, looking into the frame, or a person standing aligned with one of the thirds lines.

Using the Rule of Thirds can also help you avoid placing the horizon dead center so you don't leave your viewer ambivalent as to your intent. What's more important in the photograph, the foreground or the sky? You need to decide what holds the most interest feature that. If there's nothing going on in the sky then don't include very much of it.

Start with the rule of thirds and see how your photography improves, but don't get stuck in it.
Just as some people feel the best place for the subject is in the middle of the frame, others can wrongly assume that strictly following the Rule of Thirds will guarantee good pictures. In reality, the "Rule" of Thirds should be considered more of a guideline than a rule. When photographing reflections for instance, centering your subject may actually work better. Consider placing elements closer to the edge of the frame than the thirds line too. You don't have to be on the exact third point or line to be effective — sometimes just slightly off center can work wonders too. Try bracketing your compositions: place your subject in different areas of the frame and when you get your film back, see which ones please you the most and ask yourself why. For best sample pistures of using the rule of third you can find it at http://photoinf.com/

Using Diagonals
Setting your subject matter on a diagonal will almost always make for a more dynamic picture. Even if this is an invisible diagonal that draws your eye between two points. Move around the subject and look for a diagonal.