7 Composition Tips for Stunning Fashion Photography

You’ve got the perfect outfit, and you’re ready to go. Now you just need to point and shoot, right? Well, there’s a little bit more involved to get a Vogue-worthy shot. But it’s not hard. Just follow these composition tips, modeled by our community fashionistas at Glamhive, and take your fashion photography to the next level.

Use the Rule of Thirds

Use simple math to make those pics look pro. Start by dividing the frame into nine equal segments (imagine a tic-tac-toe graphic). Your camera probably has these things built in. With this composition tip, simply position your main subject where those lines intersect and ta-da, a well-balanced and interesting photo. Dramatic lighting and a cute dress help, too!

Break the Rules

The experts always advise against placing the main photo subject smack dab in the center of your photo, but Amber shows us that a little rule-breaking can work, and work like whoa. Here she breaks up the symmetry and textures of the background by providing some serious attitude and a focal point for the composition: her.

Fill ‘er Up

Cropping and filling make for an interesting frame. Sometimes less is more, sometimes more is more (we read that in a fortune cookie somewhere). Stylematrix shows us the proof.

Use the Edges

Lead the Eye

This composition is beautiful, with great architectural lines and a nice pop of color at the end. Good use of that wavy, archy thingy, magnifiqueblog. And we’re totally sure that yellow dress sold out.

Add a Background

Most of us aren’t lucky enough to always be able to color coordinate our backgrounds to our outfits. When we do manage to pull it off, like Anna has here, we better make sure to get that on film. Anna, you make that rusty green fence look good! The colors and textures of this scene perfectly echo the colors in Anna’s ensemble and provide a cohesive editorial space.

Meanwhile, Gabby uses her background as, well, a background. Keeping the focal point where it should be, on Gabby. We’re inspired by that nice use of blur!

Adding a Counterbalance

Here, hadroncreative shows us how to work the rule of thirds like a maestro by adding a second subject to help fill the visual space. We’ll leave it up to you to decide the main subject of the photo, because it’s definitely up for debate.


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Gisella Walter

Gisella wants to live in a world where little elves knowingly answer all emails, and dogs are allowed to fly coach. A compulsive entrepreneur, she launched her first business—a black market candy re-selling scheme—in kindergarten. She’s an aspiring screenplay writer and Glamhive co-founder with an abnormal amount of "stuff" stored in the cloud.