Better technique and appropriate gear can help you take better photos, but that will only take you so far. To reach the next level in this pursuit you need to become a student of photography. A student of photography is somebody who dives into the pool of photo history, soaks...
Composition and Art Category Archive - Page 11
The Hidden Benefits of Panorama Photography
Since the early days of film, panoramic photography has been synonymous with landscape and architectural images, and sometimes with other genres like street and wildlife photography. By combining two horizontal frames of film, typically 120 medium format, some film cameras actually shot panorama photographs by design. Most of these cameras...
Leading The Eye
Less philosophy and more actual photography this time, leading the eye into a scene is one of the tenets of composition (at least for me) and there is a multitude of ways in which this can happen. An image of something or somewhere can be a more rewarding experience for...
Beyond The Obvious Shot
Famous scenes - landscapes, wildlife, buildings - are famous for a reason: they are spectacular, and often easy to access. You have seen these photographs, undoubtedly: a sepia-toned photograph of the Eiffel Tower, perhaps, or a dusty herd of wildebeest in the sun. Glacier Point at sunset, and Mesa Arch at sunrise. These are some...
How Focal Length Affects What (and How) You See
Your choice of focal length will affect what you see. Would you agree with that? What if I also said that your choice of focal length will affect how you see? That's a whole different story, now isn't it? Instead of discussing how focal length affects your view when you...
The Myth of the Rule of Thirds
I have never liked the phrase "rules of composition." To me, it seems too formal, suggesting that such a complex topic as composition can be boiled down to a few quick tips. In this article, I will aim at the heart of photography school’s most basic lesson in composition: the rule...
Cropping Images of Birds-in-flight with the Rule of Thirds
As photographers we all do our best to really think about the composition of our images and construct them to achieve a sense of balance. When we do this well we are able to control eye flow and create a pleasant viewing experience for people looking at our photographs. To...
Balance in Photography
Balance is one of the least-discussed principles of good composition, but it is perhaps the most important. Photographers, consciously or not, make an important decision for every image: should the composition be balanced or imbalanced? To some degree, every photograph in existence has elements of both balance and imbalance, which makes...
Using Fog to Create Surreal River Images
Landscape photographers often use fog to help them create wonderful, moody images. You've likely seen one of those arresting photographs of a single tree shrouded by fog standing silently in a field. We can use fog in our river and lake images to good effect as well. Under the right...
How Taking a Step Back Adds Story to Photography
We all have our strengths and weaknesses, as well as ways to deal with the latter. And it is only natural for us to sort of... drift towards our strengths. Hold on to them, practice as often as we can and, by doing so, get even better at them. And...