How to create a photo that captures attention - Part 1

Composition, but also colour or contrast. By applying this and other knowledge appropriately, you can achieve a photograph that immediately grabs the viewer's attention. And that's what web presentation is all about. We'll cover how to do this in the first part of a two-part series.

You only have a few hundredths of a second to engage visitors to your website or social media profile. The best (and virtually only) way to do this is with an eye-catching visual, image or photo.

But how do you create a photo that keeps visitors on your site? All you need to do is to acquire basic knowledge of composition, color, customer needs, and eye-tracking. We'll cover the first two skills in today's episode of the series.

How to do composition in photographs

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With the right composition, you draw the viewer's attention to the main motif of the photo, or, on the contrary, distract the viewer's attention from other motifs. Composition emphasizes the relationship between the objects in the image, but it can also create a feeling of harmony.

The basic compositional rule is the golden section, or its simplified variant, the rule of thirds. This is achieved by imaginatively dividing the image into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. Then place the main motif or a substantial part of it in one of the four intersections created by this division.

The central composition, i.e. placing the subject in the middle of the frame, usually looks static, but is suitable for common portraits, for example.

How to take advantage of the psychology of colour

Like composition, the colours chosen affect the perception of an image. So don't hesitate to play around with the colours of your subjects.

For example, green is known to symbolise nature and hope, red is a colour that attracts attention and is used to remember, yellow encourages shopping, blue evokes a sense of calm and white or black is used to emphasise luxury.

Don't be shocked by unconventional use of colours and their combinations. The strong contrast also works well, although proponents of traditional photographic craft will surely object.

In the second part of the series, we'll focus on emphasizing the needs of the customer and introduce so-called eye catching. Then you'll be able to put your great images on your website. And we're the experts at those. So don't hesitate to contact us for help building your web presence.