Bright, shiny things

Using bright shiny things as a compositional tool to help your image tell the story you want.

I don’t know if there is a specific “rule” or guideline regarding this but one of the sure fire ways to guide a viewer through your photo in a way you intend is with bright shiny things.

Well, in truth, they don’t have to be shiny, but a viewer who comes across your photo and looks at it is most likely to be drawn to the brightest part of an image first. That’s where their eyes will likely land in the image and they will move around the frame from there.

Photo by Almos Bechtold on Unsplash

Often with a close up portrait we’ll land on the whites of the eyes and then notice the nose and lips and other aspects. With a less close up portrait it could be still be the eyes, but it might be the face or even something else depending on the composition and type of image.

Portraits are kind of cheating in a way because as humans we’re naturally drawn to looking at someones eyes or face first I think.

It’s not just portraits though. The same can apply for landscapes, street photos and just about any image.