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composition

Questions to Guide Your Composition

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Trona PinnaclesComposition is all about creating pleasing images. It’s a difficult aspect of photography because there aren’t really any set-in-stone rules about it, and many aspects of composition are really about how you see the world uniquely from everyone else.

So although there aren’t any scripts you can follow that will always lead you to a good composition, I think there are some questions you can ask yourself that will help steer you in the right direction: [Read more…] about Questions to Guide Your Composition

Simple Adjustments For a Better Background

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dragonflyOne thing many of us forget to consider is the background in a photo. We focus (literally and figuratively) on the main subject and feel gratified that we can get the whole subject in the frame and it’s sharp and properly exposed. Let me show you an example of how easy it can be to make a significant difference in your photos. In this case, we’ll be talking about an application related to macro work and dragonfly photography.

When shooting macro we generally strive to get the best depth of field (DOF) we can get. The best and perhaps the easiest way to achieve this is by increasing our f-stop. When photographing a subject like a dragonfly, generally f/11 is a good place to start with f/16 being even better . . . sometimes that is. [Read more…] about Simple Adjustments For a Better Background

How To Show Depth In Landscapes

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Mojave DesertOne of the common goals of a landscape photograph is to show depth—either to show the viewer how vast a landscape is or to help lead the viewer’s eye from the foreground into the background.

You might think that adding depth is as simple as using a wide angle lens, but it’s a little more subtle than that.

Here are a few ways to show depth in a landscape photo:

1. Focus on elements that lead the viewer’s eye

The general thing to remember with capturing depth in a landscape is to focus on elements that naturally lead the viewer’s eyes through all dimensions of the landscape. This could be things like a fallen tree that points towards the back of the frame and leads the eye to the base of a mountain, or a stream that serves a similar purpose. [Read more…] about How To Show Depth In Landscapes

Composition Basics In Microphotography

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Photo by Huub de Ward
Portrait of small Jewel bug: Magnification 7, f/9, ISO 100 and 1/250 sec.
Microphotography is magical because it takes us into a smaller universe of vibrant colors, exquisite details and extraordinary patterns that can literally take your breath away. I photograph invertebrates so close-up that they are transformed into large subjects. Through my images I aim to highlight the different characteristics of a variety of species – and their individual charm.

Microphotography can be challenging because it involves moving in close and magnifying what is there beyond our normal perception of it. As a consequence, we need to pay a lot of attention to every detail we see in the view finder because it will have a huge impact on the overall look and feel of the image. Where we place the subject in the frame (i.e. composition) is critical; even the smallest movement left-right, up-down, can substantially change its impact. [Read more…] about Composition Basics In Microphotography

Photographing a Subject for Multiple Uses

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Bluebell wildflowers blooming in the spring
Spring Bluebells / Photo by Jim Braswell

When photographing a subject, do you picture in your mind just how that photo will be used? Do you ever consider multiple uses? I got caught in the trap of shooting for a single use, early in my photographic endeavors.

When putting together a series of images for a nature calendar, I found some older images that would have been wonderful to include in the calendar. But these images were all shot as verticals (or, “portraits”) and were not able to be cropped to a suitable horizontal format. In some cases, you may be able to re-crop a vertical into a horizontal, but sometimes the result is not what you are looking for. In this post, I’ll share a few things I learned along the way and how I try to shoot all my nature subjects today. [Read more…] about Photographing a Subject for Multiple Uses

How To Guide Your Viewer Through An Image

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi

When you look at a photograph, you don’t view it as a whole. Instead, you first focus on one key area that grabs your attention and then you move your eyes throughout the rest of the frame to see what else is there.

Where your eye travels from that first spot depends on the image, and how that spot guides you to another spot in the frame. In an image that has good “flow,” your eye will always know where to go next (elements of the image will guide you). But, if an image doesn’t have a natural direction of flow, then it’s harder for the viewer to move through the image (they don’t know where to start and then they don’t know where to go from there). [Read more…] about How To Guide Your Viewer Through An Image