Composition consideration – the 4 dimensions
It can be useful to consider the 4 dimensions when considering a composition; 1) Right Vs Left Useful for considering the alignment of your foreground objects. If you consider the horizon-up as background, and the land leading to the horizon as the middleground, then it is this Left-right dimension which helps you position the foreground in an interesting and leading way. 2) Up Vs Down This is a useful dimension to consider although you may be limited by your tripod. A higher position opens the middle ground, where a lower position allows more intimacy with the foreground. 3) Backwards Vs...
Read MoreAdvantages of a prime lens for composition
Posted by Tony on Mar 28, 2012
in Photography Techniques | 0 comments
How can fixed focal length possibly give a landscape photographer an advantage in terms of composition? Many people come on a photo tour with a full range of focal lengths. These are usually spread over 3 lenses; 14-24mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm. They then ask me “What lenses do you have?” My response is invariably ’24mm prime’. After a few seconds of waiting for the rest of the list which never arrives, the conversation switches back to their lenses and the worthy justifications for them. No doubt a range of focal lengths on a photo tour is a good idea. If you...
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Landscape composition – the story of the 3 grounds
Think of your composition as telling a story. 1) Background; this is normally the sky but not necessarily. It could be a sheer mountainside, glacier or other. 2) Middle ground; this would typically be the ground leading to the background, it could be a field, ocean, desert or any interesting terrain. 3) Foreground; this is the ground directly in front of you. It might be a rock, water feature, foliage or any other interesting feature. The middle ground is the main gist of the story, it tells the viewer what area you were in, it usually contains the most information in your shot although...
Read MoreSea-scapes – exposure time considerations
I love sea-scapes! The potential for good photographs at the seaside is endless. Whether it is rocky, craggy, sandy or pebbles, the capture of the ocean interacting with these elements is challenging and fun. Wet sand makes a fantastic reflective surface. This requires patience and a bit of forward thinking. The trick is to wait for a large wave to soak the entire beach and then time your exposure with the receding wave. This was a 30 second exposure and although the wet sand wasn’t reflective for the full 30 seconds, it was reflective long enough to create a strong...
Read More3 is the magic number
Posted by Tony on Mar 9, 2012 in Photography Techniques | 0 comments
Considerations for landscape composition. It is useful to divide your landscape scene into three as a guide to composing. This doesn’t have to be strict adherence to the rule of thirds, but is more elemental and conceptual. In other words, the rule of thirds refers to the placement of lines and objects in the scene, but this tutorial is more about composing a scene with 3 subject elements or 3 subject concepts. Three elements; rock, water and sky, the depth of the image brought about by simple composition shows the interaction of the 3 elements. The way the rock was...
Read MoreCompositional consideration
So you arrive at a new scene and start snapping with your camera. then you go home and upload your images and go through them hoping that one of the compositions worked… does this sound like your workflow? If so read on… I am constantly seeing photographers arrive at a scene and they have their camera in front of their eye before they have even looked at a scene. They are missing one important element to photography technique – ‘Looking’! My advice on so many occasions is for a photographer to leave their camera in the camera bag and tripod folded up and just...
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