What Pros Know About COMPOSITION (That Beginners Ignore!)

Discover pro tips on composition beginners often miss. Elevate your portrait photography game now!

Chapters
00:00 Intro & Common Misconceptions
00:53 Intuitive vs Intentional Shooting
02:06 Crafting 'Hero Shots'
03:22 3-C's Hero Shot Formula
03:41 CONTRAST
05:15 COLOR
07:42 Practical Application

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* Music via SoundStripe: Peppermint Mocha (by Mala) & Epidemic Sounds

[richardvallonjr.]

I've been a commercial photographer for 45 years and this is the best illustration of these principles I've seen. I have a BFA so have been lucky to draw on the work of the painters and old masters to help with my photography. It is a shame that Justin only has 1, 000 views in 5 mos. The models are all painfully beautiful.

[ryancooper]

Agreed with everything here, but I always felt the following are the most important composition rules:

Composition rule #1: Point your camera at a great subject (We see this in a lot of your before/afters. Its not just lighting, retouching composition. It is also that the older photo is of an amateur or inexperienced model with a more bland look while the newer work is of a world class model that is spectacularly gorgeous and has the modelling skill to make sure the image is engaging and natural)
Composition rule #2: Put your subject in an interesting location
Composition rule #3: Do the above in great light

There is also a Joe McNally quote I've always tried to live by which was something along the lines of: "A great photograph is built by what you choose not to light"

[sandipcreation]

Yo After 10 month 😢.... Please dont quit YouTube.

[musiqueetmontagne]

Fabulous photos indeed. It does help having well dressed, well groomed and made-up models for all the shoots but wonderful results.

[davidstylishpictures]

Thanks my teacher, I like how you edit the photo and take shooting

[RWAquariumPages]

wow! great tips! i love every single one of them. Will try them out immediately on my daily photos!

[darryltarr]

Amazing portraiture. You're absolutely phenomenal.

[DanScott]

Looking at the video thumbnail, I am moved in some way by the smile and humble naturalness of the left image despite the bad composition. She's alive and open, with a sense of story i'm intrigued by with no forced, distracting and defensive arm configuration in the way like the right image. I simply sense a personal portrait story on the left while the right not so, more a commercial vibe.

[JennieBMurphy]

Amazing! taking the training you linked right now!!

[coolg]

Thank God u finally remembered your YouTube password 😂been a while

[wearetrackclub]

Great tips, Justin! Really like your editing style. Insightful and entertaining to watch! 🙌

[jeremya]

@justinlaurens First, I love your style. I was looking into your course and was wondering if I could adjust it to my sports photography shoots. Have you ever done a sports photoshoot and applied this method?

[nelsonyusiffofanah]

Thank you very much,

I would really like you to test your ideas on black skin tones for example. Please

[LegionOf]

Important as all of this is, having a photogenic model that knows what she’s doing in front of a camera helps just as much

[timoh]

Hey, I like your work. How can I buy just this prompt cards for posing, ...? Cheatsheets for Fotografie. I have to try them out. Best regards!

[oamyway]

Nice video.
Excellent explanation or communication you can say.
👍
I feel the background in your video frame is too congested. Rest is best.
🇮🇳🙏

[edn]

I would to see these techniques with models of all hues to see what needs to be tweets for various subjects. At one point you talk about contract and placing the subjects in front a dark background, but that does not work for a dark skinned subject. And when you use the technique conversely, it’s a silhouette which does not work when the subject is a portrait. Can you translate these ideas for all subjects.

[amzires_art]

To be honest, I personally prefer the photo on the left (in the thumbnail for the video). Of course, the “base” is important in any business, as a foundation for further development. However, blindly following other people's rules and recommendations, a person ends up only copying and creating nothing new.

[Crappy.Consumer.Reports]

Lol aren’t “aspects” just another way of saying rules in this context?

[tadwolujewicz]

All very good, but will soon be unnecessary. Get the correct prompts and even include the lens, the camera make and film stock required into Midjourney and the creative photographer becomes unnecessary. Unfortunate as it may seem to many, this is where we are now and it’s unstoppable.