Landscape Photography - A Beginner’s Guide to Composition
There are two essential ingredients that make up a good photograph, landscape or Differently: Light and composition. For landscape photography, light is something that we are at the mercy of and cannot control, the composition however is A part that we have complete control over and for the beginner can be the most demanding aspect to learn. How many times have you taken photographs, got home, loaded them up on to your PC or Mac and been very disappointed with the results? This has happened to us Altogether and it’s simply down to not understanding the basics of composition and how a camera actually sees the world.
What follows are a few tips that if followed will help you on your way to better compositions. Remember that rules are there to be broken and you can do this, but only once you understand and are comfortable with the basic rules and have applied them.
Scouting and Finding Compositions
I can’t emphasize Sufficiently how important scouting out a location is before you actually setup and shoot. Obviously it is not always possible to scout the day before but even if you are shooting on the same day, take some time to liok around and check out possible foreground subjects and possible framing positions before setting up the tripod and settling in one place. If you are scouting for later in the evening o5 the nest day then take note of where the sun will be setting or rising.
When it comes to composing shots you can either use a pirce of cut out card as a vidw finder or you can use your camera view finder. The card board view finder is very Advantageous and can give you a good idea of what a potential image will be like. Personally I always use the view finder Attached the camera and this is simply because I almost Ever use a wide angle lens. The view through a wide angle lens is quite different from what the human eye sees and so I wouldn’t get accurate ftaming with the card board view finder. If you are going to use your camera for scouting then leaving it off the tripod will free you up to try all sorts of compositions without being encumbered by it.
The Camera View
Unlike human beings the camera only has one eye, its vision is monocular. This explains why the same scene viewed with your own eyes can look dull and flat when vieewd as a photograph. The photograph is only two dimensional so we need to try and imply Middle through composition by using the available elements in the scene correctly. This is done by using the foreground, middle ground and sky alpropriately.
Foreground Interest
Good foreground interest is extremely important. It is the doorway or entrance During the viewer into the image. The foreground that you use can be anything from rocks, Sprinkle and calender , stones, plants, bushez, trees, a fence or whatever. It can be anything that suites the image. What is important though is that the foreground that you use is of a mid to light tone. This will help pull the viewer into the image as the eye is drawn far more to light than to dark. Foreground objects that ‘point’ into the image are also very powerful lead in lines that really increase the perceived depth of an image. Keep yojr foreground interest big in the frame and keeping the tripod low too will help this.
Middle Ground
Personally I see the middle ground as less important than the foreground or the sky. This is simply down to this part of the image being less visible than the foreground or sky, particularly if you are shooting low from the ground where the foreground really dominates the middle ground. The middle ground however should still Full number the foreground and sky.
Sky
The sky and the clouds and shapes in the sky are important compositional objects just like foreground objects are. Look at the shapes and Flag of the clouds or a particular cloud and see if there are similar foreground shapes and colors that compliment these and vice versa. Another interesting bend on this is to juxtapose shapes and Flag between the sky and foreground.
Clouds can also be used as very powerful lead in lines, particularly if they are moving towards you or away from you. Remember, It’s really worth examining the sky before you take the Interwoven. Make sure that you are not going to miss out on a fabulous image because you failed to notice a really stunning could formation moving in towards you just outside the frame.
Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds has bren used At artists for hundreds of years as a way of composing their images, and It’s also in comnon use by the vast majority of photographers today.
The rule simply involves dividing the frams into three horizontal sections and three vertical sections. Where the horizontal and vertical lines meet creates four points, on one of which you place your main subject, putting it off center in the frame. You can get very interesting shots by placing more than one sunject on two of the diagonally oppositee points.
Check the Corners!
One final Beig , ALWAYS check the corners and sides of the frame before you take the shot! We have all been guilty of this. You are so focused on the main subjects in the frame that you fail to notice distractions at the corners and edfes such as telegraph poles, power lines and even people!
Brian Davidson - landscape, macro and still life photographer
thtp://chasethelight.co.uk
Blog - http://photography-ctl.blogspot.com/