Composition Exercise Pt. 1
When we are in some beautiful place we have a sensory experience of it, temperature, smells, sounds, air movements, whether you’re happy or sad. They all combine together as a memory of somewhere or something. But a photo has only the visual impact to rely on.
So here’s an exercise to help all photographers improve their composition. Spend a day or more photographing a ‘standard’ focal length of 50mm. If you don’t have a standard 50mm lens you can set your zoom to 50mm and leave it there. Use tape to hold it in place if you’re unable to resist zooming. And NO CROPPING ALLOWED compose the image in the camera.
You’ll also need to think more about finding good light because you won’t have the benefit of using the different focal lengths to change how the image looks I’ll show you what I mean in the video. If you’re not sure about any of this watch Focal Length Explained first.
In this video I’m going to do the exercise myself and talk you through what I’m doing and why. To make it extra tricky the light was awful on the day I did it so I had to think hard about my composition.
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Landscape photography is one of those areas where patience, thinking it through and taking your time pays dividends. We have all seen a scene we want to capture but sadly we’re in a hurry, so we leap out the car and just grab a shot without giving it too much thought.
This may or may not result in a great shot. But have you thought to ask yourself if there’s more to be had from a location than the obvious? You have to build upon an initial idea. Explore possibilities.
I was in Vietnam driving through the mountains when we came upon this amazing view of rice terraces. We stopped so the film crew could shoot some aerial shots with their drone so Simon and I took the opportunity to look around and shoot this video.
As we drove up the hill I’d noticed one of the little paths that wind their way through the paddies so we went for a walk to see what it would yield.
Almost straight away we came upon some greenery we could use as foreground, which can frame a scene and give it more depth. In some cases just finding a bit of foreground can make or break an image.
But don’t forget to look around you. It’s all to easy to miss a beautiful detail of the landscape that’s right next to you because you’re absorbed by what’s in front.
You have to concentrate and really look at a scene. In the first shot of the last scenario there’s a stick poking up on the left. I didn’t really notice it to begin with. It wasn’t until I checked the shot in the LCD it became apparent.
So how do we remove it? Well obviously there’s Photoshop but I’m lazy. A few steps to the side will change the geometry of the image. It makes things align differently so you can lose unwanted clutter from the composition.
So besides making sure the light is appropriate for the scene, here are 3 landscape photography tips to consider.
- Take time – think of other possibilities for the location
- Find some foreground. It could make a world of difference
- Look to the side as well as in front. You might have missed something
These things are not functions of your camera. They are functions of you thinking like a photographer.
