In the previous Lessons, we've gone over some general principles about making photographs. The first lesson, the Rule of Thirds, introduced a widely usable principle that helps decide where to put the subject. The second one, Simplicity, was about taking out what's unnecessary and concentrating on the important. The third one, The Phony Subject, was about adding something to a picture to make it more interesting or dynamic.

The previous lessons have more or less taken the subject, or main interest, of the photograph as a given. This one is different: its purpose is to give ideas about "what to photograph," not in terms of subjects, but in terms of what to look for in subjects or compositions. To get beyond the three K's (that pictures with children, animals, or beautiful women will usually win out over pictures without them; ask Chuck what the K's stand for), we're staying at a somewhat abstract level.

We're going to look at geometrical elements, and how to use them in a composition.

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