Avoiding the Centre

Framing your subject can often be the difference between a good photograph and a great one. Despite our overwhelming urge for perfection through symmetry centring of subjects in art and photography often makes for dull uninspiring results.

For professional wildlife photographers positioning subjects off centre comes as second nature as it allows picture editors and publishers to place accompanying text over the photograph without detracting from it.

Advanced focusing systems in modern digital SLR cameras now make off centre framing a great deal easier than it ever was. Fast moving subjects can outwit the most advanced focusing technology so for those showing or printing photographs for competitions a little cropping can be enough.

For those of you in the market for a new camera I would sing the praises of Canon’s remarkable focusing systems. When combined with their ultrasonic lenses they not only offer the quickest focusing speeds available but also the quietist, a feature well worth noting if wildlife photography is your passion.