Here at *Photo--Assignment we like to send our members on assignment. Our Assignments vary from a wide variety of topics to help broaden our understanding of photography. So we'd like to share with you some of our assignments and our member's work regarding those assignments!

Editor-in-chief: *Kel-----Bel

POV Point-of-View

Point-of-View, often abbreviated as POV, can make or break a photo. POV is an important component of composition: And to have good composition, one must understand and experiment with POV. I’ve compiled a list of what I personally think are important concepts of POV and general composition for a photograph or really, any type of art work. Of course there are many more, but the list below will give [I hope] you a better idea of composing your photographs by nailing the point-of-view! Enjoy!



There is no law that says all pictures have to be taken from eye level and straight on. By taking a picture from a different angle, you can produce a totally new feeling, mood or effect.

Creating a beautiful photograph isn’t as difficult as one might think. Some people can instinctively compose their images without any knowledge of photography composition rules. Others might need a little help and think things through before it becomes second nature.

We’ll look at some basic composition techniques that will dramatically improve your images. By applying one or many of the following rules, your photos will go from looking amateurish to professional. You will also understand why some of the previous images you took work so well and why you and other people like them so much.
Before we get started, let me point out that these rules are only guides to help you create beautiful images. You can apply more than one rule in your photos or none at all! Remember that rules are made to be broken… sometimes.


Bird's-eye-View. Climbing up on things and looking down from a high point of view offers lots of different opportunities. With people looking up at the camera, you will see just their faces without having to pose their bodies or lining them up. From above, you can also use grass or flowers as a background.

Worm's-eye-view [also called Ant's-eye-view]. The worm's eye view can be pretty interesting. By lying down on your stomach, you can capture the looming, intimidating nature of subjects from that low-down perspective. Or, you can get flowers in the foreground to frame your subject. If you are taking pictures of small children or pets, getting the camera down on their level can improve results. You can also avoid cluttered or ugly background by changing your point of view.

Foreground Framing. Using something in the foreground that frames your main subject matter in the middle or backgrounds. Try using the foreground in and out of focus to change the perspective or mood of your image.

Simplicity. I personally think that simplicity should be the first thing you think about when composing a photograph. Try to keep you image “clutter free”. Remember that you want to draw your viewer to the main subject of the photo as quickly and instinctively as possible. Here are 2 tips to help simplify your composition.

1- Get in close. To easily remove some of the distractions around your subject is to zoom in on it. Once you think your close enough, zoom in even more! This is a simple yet very effective way to simplify your image.
2- Simplify your background. You don’t always want to get in really close to compose your image so the next thing to do is to remove the "clutter" from your background so that the eye isn’t distracted away from your main subject. You can do this with 2 different approaches. The first one is to choose an even background. The second technique is to have a blurred background where all the elements blend into each other to form a blur of colors. A blurred background is created by using shallow depth of field (DOF).

Leading Lines. There are many reasons why we can use leading lines in our composition. Let’s look at the 3 major ones.

1- Creating Depth. Using leading lines like a road or a path for example, can add a 3D effect to an otherwise 2D image.
2- Focus on the Subject. You can use leading lines in your image to lead the viewer towards your main subject; basically guiding the eye to the focus of your image.
3- More Dynamic. Leading lines also make your images more dynamic. Usually, that will be achieved with diagonal lines.

Foreground framing or The Natural Frame. You can also use an element inside your frame to act as a frame. To be considered a frame, the general consensus is the the framing element should cover at least 2 sides of the photo. It could be on either sides or in a L or U shape. It could be be almost anything. Most commonly used are trees or window frames. The natural frame will bring depth to the photo as well as bring emphasis on your main subject

Contrasts. If you want to make your main subject sand out, it needs to be different from the rest of the image. It can be different in many ways. Most commonly, you’ll find a lightness/darkness contrast and/or strong color contrasts. To help with lightness/darkness contrasts, you could convert your file into black and white or a single color. As for color contrasts, complementary colors work really well.

Rhythm. This is the last composition technique we’ll look at in this photography tutorial. Rhythm is basically a repetition of a subject. This technique is used to create a dynamic impact in your image. The eye will follow the repeated subject throughout the photograph.

Here are some of our examples from our members:











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