If you work at composition—and what photographer doesn’t—you’re probably aware that number is a compositional element, and a powerful one. Consider that composition is a way of organizing a photograph. The best compositions paring down, simplifying, gett to the essence. It puts a stamp on who you are as a photographer.Number is one of many subsets of composition. It’s the number of like elements that make up your subject. More simply: how many subjects are in the photo? You may have one hiker on a trail, two kayakers paddling a sea, three foreground rocks, and so on. Odd numbers generally make for better compositions—they tend to be more interesting and more dynamic. Three is a great number. The three points that form a triangle are more exciting than four points that make a box.

One is powerful. Picture an ice climber on a blue-ice wall. It says risk, confidence, skill, going-it-alone. Two ice climbers? It might work if they look like a team, but then they’re operating as one. Two is interesting, but two usually works if it behaves more like one—if there’s a relationship like male-female, big-small, parent-child. Again it works best if they’re a unit. Two paddlers works if they’re paddling close together; if they’re far apart, not so well. A male and female wood duck perched together on a log works; two males alone—probably not as strong. Three is magic. I don’t know how many times I’ve used three foreground rocks to anchor a scenic. And five is better that four, seven better than six. If you’re photographing small flocks of birds in flight, pick off the odd-numbered groupings.