Home Video Hints: Composing Your Shots (page 3)

Problem: Important objects are too small to see clearly and are lost in the shot.
If you constantly have to tell your audience what they are looking at because the subject is lost in a huge background, you are shooting too wide.

Solution: Zoom in or get closer to your subject.
The tighter your shot, the greater the emotional impact. Don't be afraid to get up close and personal with your subjects (unless you are videotaping lions or alligators). The zoom can let you get close to your subject without physically having to move closer, but remember it will also add shake to you shots.

Good composition shouldn't take any more time than bad composition if you train yourself to avoid the problems we have listed and check the viewfinder carefully before you shoot. It is all a matter of gaining experience with your camera and spending time looking through the viewfinder.

Sometimes you can't avoid distracting backgrounds. To minimize the distraction, you have to minimize the background. To do this, move your camera away from your subject and zoom in on them. As you zoom towards a telephoto setting, you reduce the amount of background seen in the shot.

If you are shooting in a beautiful location and you want to see more of the background, move your camera closer to your subject and zoom out. Make sure you don't move the camera too close to your subject, as a wide angle lens setting can distort the face.

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