Shapes such as triangles, square or rectangles and circles can help us create interesting compositions.
They can be, in simplest terms, the shape of your subject but they can also be used as framing devices or to add balance and movement to your image.
Triangles
Triangular shapes are usually the most dynamic of the shapes – creating movement in images. This is partly due to the diagonal lines which always add a more dramatic feel to an image.
When the subject – as in the wires directing the sky they create an dynamic feel to something mundane
They can help lead the eye to the subject – as in the water bottle with the tent ropes creating the leading lines
Or they can frame the subject – as in the lines of the tent behind the girl and dog.
Circles
By contrast circles are more gentle and relaxing to look at with more of a sense of balance.
When the subject circles can be found all around us – the dandelions of early summer and bowls of blueberries.
Framing circles can be something physical like a window or a hole in a hedge. They can be implied by the shape of things within the scene — as in the woodland scene or in the way light falls on a subject —as in the church scene.
Squares/rectangles
These shapes are more static in the frame but this can give a sense of order to an image.
Shot straight on our brains will like the repetition often found with square subjects — like the ties in a shop window
They can appear more dynamic when shot at angle or when the light creates interesting shadows — as seen in the brickwork
As a frame within a frame they help isolate a subject – where the doors repeat in the greenhouse image this creates a little more movement.
The shape in our images doesn’t need to be complete – placing them at the edge of a frame produces a less static image with our minds eye completing the part not shown.
And remember that changing our angle of view and perspective can change the way a shape looks — this top to a gravestone becomes much more triangular when shot from below and the square roof window becomes more rhomboid in shape.
Changing the way we frame a subject can create the shapes that aren’t there in reality — like this shot of a shopping trolley that appears triangular in the frame.
So notice the shapes around you next time you have your camera in your hand and use them to create interesting images!