Foreground/Background In the first photo, the focus is sharp all the way to the horizon far off in the trees. The back of the little girl up front and the sharp focus that goes deep gives a feeling of depth and grandeur of place. In the second photo the body of the model close up is in focus and takes up one third of the photo. The model in the background out of focus, helps place the model in a show and give her motion, but the sharp focus and her closeness make us focus on her.

Framing the Subject The palm fronds around the edge frame the subject of the far off sail boat making us focus on an otherwise small object in an image. It also gives us a feeling we are standing on a beach.

Formal Balance The symmetry in the image along a central axis, as well as the symmetry of each body to itself in the image give a feeling of balance to the poses they are doing. The arrangement of the photo, their ages and their facial expressions give us the feeling that yoga is effective for all ages, if done well.

Informal Balance The image is arranged along an off center axis. The heavy counterweight is held up and back in the photo, with the crane's neck making lines that point down to the digging head. The digging head is in the foreground and is on a neck like structure sticking out and down. This downward imbalance gives us the feeling the head is about to start digging deeply in just a moment.

Head Room The photographer framed his subject closely for a headshot, but left just enough room at the top to accommodate her upward gaze. The space is even around her head at the front, top and back so there is visual balance. There is more room than usual at the top which draws us on her expression and angelic feel.

Leading Lines The lines of the jutting breakwater stones and the coastline lead our eye to the city in the distant horizon. To a lesser extent, the lines of the waves do the same, but the roughness of the water detract from their leading qualities. The contrast in color of the sandy shorelines and the contrast of the blue of the water make sharp lines that continue the line started by the breakwater. With the high angle and these lines, we feel like we are being directed toward a landing.

Lighting for Effect This photo was taken from behind the darkness created by the boat to capture the waning twilight. Within the low light and mood made by the twilight are the bright lights on the ship across the water. Those well lit rooms in the distance on that ship feel warm and safe compared to the coldness of the blue and dark of the outside of the ship in the foreground. The lighting gives us the feel that being on a ship is cold and somehow unknowing. If this picture were taken in daylight, the compositional feel would be a different message.

Backlighting The backlighting of the sun on the horse in this photo frames the horse's head in a momentary halo. The backlighting connects us to a feeling of mysterious power to the horse. The backlighting frames his head and the moment of action caught in stillness. We focus on his seeming personality caught partially in the shadow.

High Angle We are above the subject looking down. She is looking up at us with a pleasing smile. This angle of vision where we look down at our subject has a disarming quality. She is not above us in the least.