As the sun sank low in the western sky of Clarksdale, Mississippi, I caught sight of this hot pink church. As I pulled over to the side of the road, I spotted a preacher heading for the church’s side door. Within a few minutes of exchanging pleasantries, Pastor Mckinley Mcknight agreed to stand out front with an open Bible in hand, quoting scripture while I photographed him with my 16–35mm lens. Although he is surely centered in this composition, it works because the background offers some welcome two-thirds/one-third divisions: namely, the blue line of the window trim and how the area inside it encompasses roughly two-thirds of the background.

More often than not, most compositions fall short because they have too much going on inside the frame. And, let’s face it, this is an easy trap to fall into. No matter where we turn, with the exception of a clear sky or a blank wall, we see nothing but busy canvases, some more cluttered than others. When I looked at this scene, the empty canvas that emerged was the colorful entryway. I simply moved in close enough so the blue window trim and the contents inside the trim filled two-thirds of the frame. The bottom blue trim of the window put me in mind of a low horizon, so I placed it near the bottom. Also note how I used the right side, the “line” of the window, in the right third. Again, there is no real horizon line present, yet there are always lines that can fit the bill.

Now I was ready to bring in layer number two: Preacher Mcknight. The intimate, up-close-and-personal portrait of him holding his Bible, with a painted cross in the glass just over his shoulder, provides just enough information to convey what he stands for.

Remember, your goal should always be to get your message across in a clear, concise, and articulate manner. You have about a tenth of a second to capture the viewer’s attention with your image. If you make it a habit to focus on what to exclude in your composition, you will find the path toward what to include far less cluttered.

Nikon D3X with Nikkor 24–85mm lens at 26mm, f/8 for 1/500 sec., ISO 100