Composition is one of the most important parts of a photograph.
There are several different rules of thumb when it comes to composition,
but perhaps the most well-know is the “Rule of Thirds.”
The Rule of Thirds states that a photograph should be divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced vertical lines and two equally spaced horizontal lines. Your most important object in the photo (in portrait photography this is always the person or persons you are photographing) should always be in one of these intersecting lines.

To illustrate this I have a before/after photo of a beautiful senior that I photographed recently.
This is SOOC.

And after.
The image was cropped closer and Kinza was placed in the bottom left corner, which makes for a much more effective photo.

And here is one more photo that illustrates this concept as well.
(Kinza and these gorgeous parents along with their family will be blogged soon!!) 🙂

Obviously you can’t follow this rule for EVERY picture,
and sometimes it may be better if you don’t- but just in general this is a easy way
to make your photos look more professional.