hi guys why would I say that composition starts at f11 if you mostly shoot with long lenses and wide apertures you're probably missing out on a lot when it comes to composition photographing wide open isolates your subject and rips them out of the scene sure it looks pretty but it often leads to photos with almost no context all these potential compositional elements that we are so used to talk about like lines and curves and shapes they just get blurred they are not a part of the image anymore of course it all depends on the purpose of your photograph shooting wide open can be useful and sometimes recommended and needed depends on the photograph that you're trying to achieve sometimes it's the idea sometimes it's uh cleaning up a busy scene i get it but if you make it a habit of always shooting at low apertures you're missing out on a entire world of composition you're missing the chance to create images that are not just pretty but also interesting and I know a lot of you have been photographing for years during these years you have developed certain habits and sometimes these habits actually delay your growth so be honest with yourself look at your images and if they are starting to feel kind of sy or even boring try this go out set your aperture to f11 and photograph see how many keepers you're getting see how many images you like out of what you got see how comfortable you're working that way now if you find yourself lowering the aperture without even thinking you got yourself a problem you have developed a bad habit you had develop a habit of shooting wide open all the time why is that let's try and break it down photographers who rely heavily on wide apertures like f1.2 f2.8 oft struggle with composition and it's not because they lack of talent it is because shallow depth of field hides the need to actually compose and here's what I mean when I say that shallow depth of field simply does the work for you when everything except your subject is blurred you don't need to think about background you don't need to think about any other compositional elements this removes the need to deal with anything and the opportunity of arranging visual uh elements thoughtfully is just lost which leads to the simple fact that you are not arranging your frame with intention you're just shooting your subject and you just try to capture him in the best way possible but all the rest is is lost strong composition very often is a result of interconnecting elements within the frame creating a story or layering foreground background uh and midground elements wide aperture flattens the structure making storytelling nearly impossible the image becomes flat storytelling gone wide aperture is like a soft crop in a way you lose the where and the why of the image you're left with just the who and let's be honest a photo that it's only about the subject with zero environment that gets boring quite fast it's like watching a movie where all you see is the actor's face no background no environment no subject like how long you will watch that right one of the powers of composition is creating tension we're not going to get into the exact methods but you would usually need to work with tolerant balance and lines to introduce these feelings into the image but when most of the frame is blurred by shallow depth of field there is little need to balance elements across the image compositional tension which makes images engaging simply disappears and one that personally annoys me a lot is it's just you become lazy when you get used to solving problems with blur instead of waiting for the right moment or fixing the frame you just let the shallow depth of field clean everything for you and that's exactly why I said test yourself can you handle f11 if not you probably develop a dependency and this habit of appro approaching photography in a lazy way and that habit delays your growth as a photographer photography is a lot about visual awareness composition and compositional skills it's it's like a muscle if you never had to think about how shapes lines and space interact that muscle just doesn't grow it remains little little and small shooting single objects on blurred background is like trying to get abs while drinking beer it just doesn't always work right shallow depth of field images are easy to read the eye goes straight to the subject but that's it the part that makes the image memorable is actually the exploration the interaction or the elements within the frame without compositional complexity there is nothing to explore and humans we do love to explore we enjoy variety we enjoy complexity otherwise we would still eat plain bread and potatoes every day or wear one set of clothing but we don't we want layers we want meaning we want difference nothing wrong with simplicity once in a while but you know you need to be a well-rounded photographer not just shooting one thing so what do you gain from shooting at f11 by shooting at f11 you increase your depth of field allow multiple elements within the frame to coexist and interact inviting the hero to explore the entire image and ultimately it challenges your compositional skills and help you develop a more natural nuances visual awareness at f11 everything is in focus from foreground to background and that demands careful attention of to every element not just the subject you will really need to see how much present each element has and how much presence you want to allocate to each and one of them and how they interact with each other with F11 you can't hide weak composition if there's a pile of garbage in the frame people will see it if there is someone uh wearing a orange vest people will see him if there is a line that ugly cuts the frame in half people will see it that's it the blur is not there you cannot hide things unlike with shallow depth of field F11 doesn't allow you to blur out distractions you must compose intentionally and pay attention on anything that can weaken your image you will be using lines layers and balance like never before shooting F11 trains your visual discipline because it is because F11 reveals every part of the scene it trains you to become a scene builder instead of just a subject shooter this leads to stronger storytelling clearer composition and better compositional understanding overall if you force yourself shooting that way for a period of time you will see growth undoubtedly you will understand space better space even empty space have a meaning in composition you must now consider your different elements placing the distance between them and the edges of the frame the foreground interest the middleground interest and the background they're all now collaborative elements rather than isolated zones shooting at F11 promotes patience and mindfulness now you will wait until uh the guy with the distracting orange vest leaves the scene or until all the moving elements find themselves in the right place and only then you will press the shutter button composing at f11 slows you down and forces deeper engagement with the environment you photograph there is no other choice you will have to slow down if you want to manage all the elements in the scene uh rushing out you will just end up having sloppy compositions look at photography as painting and adopt the painter's mindset just like a painter that is filling the canvas with different objects similarly you must design with purpose the frame becomes the space for narrative and visual harmony and not just a place for a single isolated object shooting at f11 is also a great great way to learn the rules compositional rules like the rule of thirds leading lines and framing becomes easier to see and to understand where they're not blurred out right using F11 is like wearing an optical glasses everything was blurred before but now you can see you can see from the beginning until the end and you need to organize it so no this is not just another shooting technique f11 is not about different way to do exposure it's about presence it makes the photographer show up in the image because when everything is in focus you're exposed to your eye your choices your intent and that's where real photography and real growth begins