Nature & Landscape Photography Tips - Part 1: Composition
Many of my friends have complimented me on my photography and have asked me a little more about how they might be able to improve their own photos. By no means do I consider myself an expert, but as more and more people are taking up photography as a hobby (since digital camera prices, including dSLRs, have been dropping), I figured I’d give this topic a shot and just offer some simple tips and advice to keep in mind.
Nature is a beautiful thing, and sometimes we’re lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. But capturing those picturesque moments can be tricky. There are a lot of things to consider when taking landscape photos, but in this first part, I’ll just touch on composition.
Composition
Perhaps you are already familiar with the Rule of Thirds, which basically states that you should imagine the viewfinder as having lines dividing it into three sections horizontally and three sections vertically. Basically, it ends up looking like a grid of 9 boxes. The trick is to try and place your subject strategically in the intersections of those lines. Some cameras will actually draw the lines on the LCD screen for you, but basically just use your imagination and your best judgement. It’s really not a hard and fast rule, just a general guideline to try and follow. If you’re a little off from a third of the way from the edge, it’s not a big deal.
Aim For the Corners
Personally, I like to frame the subject in any of the 4 corners: top left, top right, bottom left, or bottom right. That means I go in from any of the corners diagonally about one third of the way horizontally and one third of the way vertically. I also recommend that when shooting the horizon (which often times you are by definition when taking landscape photos), you place the horizon line along one of those imaginary lines of thirds. That means that the sky should either fill the top 1/3 of the photo, or it should fill the top 2/3 of the photo. Which one to choose? It really depends on the photo and where the main area of interest is. If there’s a lot going on in the sky, and not much going on below, then it makes sense to include more sky. Conversely, if the sky is more of a background then limit it to just 1/3 of the frame and things should be okay.
I hope that now you have a little bit better of an idea of how you can compose your nature and landscape photos better. Enjoy those beautiful landscapes!
Check out more of my landscape photography on the home page.
Tags: composition, landscape photography, nature photography, photography tips