Less is more: A guide to minimalist photography.

Remember the rule of thirds. This is more of a guideline than a rule, but it may be helpful to divide your photo into a grid of three horizontal lines by three vertical lines and to move the frame until your subject or other elements sit at the intersections of those lines. “I usually use the rule of thirds to know where to put a subject,” Morrison says. “But you learn the rules and then you figure out which ones you like, which ones to push and which to completely ignore. I’ll look at the guidelines, but usually I’m just asking myself if it feels right to me.”

Baharlo has no problem breaking the rule of thirds. “My photography is often a lot of contrasting lines: a horizontal horizon, vertical subject matter,” he says. “Either everything in the frame is vertical, everything in the frame is horizontal or it’s a contrast of the two.” Experiment with each photo to see what works best with each particular subject.

Decrease depth of field.

With a shallow depth of field, you can keep the viewer’s attention on the subject by blurring the background. “I use a shallower depth of field, so the subject matter is in focus and everything in the background is completely blurry,” Baharlo says. You can achieve this by widening the aperture, which lets more light into the camera’s sensor or you can increase the distance between the camera and the subject and then zoom in on the subject. This will result in a blurrier background. If there are lights behind your subject, a shorter depth of field can create a bokeh effect, turning points of light into blurred circles. 

Experiment with different exposures.

Widening the aperture isn’t the only way to increase the light that reaches the camera’s sensor. You can also slow down the shutter speed to create a higher exposure or a more light-filled photo. A higher exposure can turn a cloudy sky into a field of white. “Most of my photographs have a lot of negative space in white, which accentuates the grey or darkly coloured subject matter,” Baharlo says. He recommends bracketing, taking a picture at the proper exposure, then taking one at a much higher exposure and another at a much lower exposure. These variations give you more options when you edit the photo.

Find minimalist shots everywhere.

To make minimalist landscape photos, quieter settings tend to work best. “It’s very difficult in an urban environment to take a lot of minimalistic photography, but desert, beach or mountains tend to be more friendly to minimalistic photography,” Baharlo says.

Even if you live in a crowded city, you can find minimalist subject matter. There are blue skies, blank walls, stretches of concrete or fields of grass in parks. “Keep your eyes open in your everyday life,” says Morrison. “I did a shoot in my neighborhood and after I made the conscious effort to pay attention to what was around me, I saw backdrops all over the place.”

You don’t even have to leave the house to get good photos. For much of her product photography, Morrison uses her flat as her studio and coloured paper for her backgrounds. With proper lighting, you can create dramatic shadows. 

Use colour with intention.

Colour may be one of the elements you decide is unnecessary for your photographs. Some minimalist photographers see it as a distraction from their focus on form, but you might just as easily find colour an essential part of your minimalist photo. Most of Baharlo’s photos are in black and white. “But,” he says, “there are instances where the colour augments the photograph or the subject matter. Let’s say I photograph a flower with a lot of negative space and the only focus is the flower. If the colour isn’t distracting from the subject, I’ll include it.”