Composition Guidelines?

[DesertBound]

This site features some of the best nature photography I've seen; most of the photos I've seen here put my best efforts to shame. My wife takes very nice photographs, but she's never been able to articulate the process she follows when composing a picture.

Any guidelines for a photography neophyte when it comes to composing a shot?

 

[Scott Brady]

Technically, I am a traditionally trained photographer with lots of time spent on fundamentals, but others here capture much better images than me (Stephanie and Chris come to mind), so there are good systems to use, but nothing can replace the artists eye.

Start with the rule of thirds and compose your image with the subject in one of the outside eight blocks.
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With motion, give room in front of the subject to imply movement (moving into the open space).

Try not to split a horizon across the middle of an image, but give more sky or foreground.

I do a poor job of getting into the details of things (close up shots), so I have taken a lesson from Brandenburg and shoot each scene from three perspectives.

Wide angle, where the subject is small and looks fragile in the expanse of nature around it

A mid range shot, where the subject captures a big chunk of the realestate and it tells a clear story.

And then dive into some detail of the surroundings to add interest and a connection with the landscape or subject

Force yourself to do that with each scene or stop. It is pretty cool what results.

On the Arctic trip, we had two bodies, one with a 24-105L and the other with a 70-200L. Chris and I switched off with whatever camera we grabbed. Made for some really cool perspectives, as Chris and I are pretty different photographers. Together, the result was much better than we could have done alone.

Hope this helps

 

[mountainpete]

I appreciated this video... helped me considerably.

Alaska Gov Photography Video

Pete

 

[smbisig]

Technically, I am a traditionally trained photographer with lots of time spent on fundamentals, but others here capture much better images than me (Stephanie and Chris come to mind), so there are good systems to use, but nothing can replace the artists eye.

Start with the rule of thirds and compose your image with the subject in one of the outside eight blocks.
___________________
_____|______|______
_____|__NO__|______
_____|______|______

With motion, give room in front of the subject to imply movement (moving into the open space).

Try not to split a horizon across the middle of an image, but give more sky or foreground.

I do a poor job of getting into the details of things (close up shots), so I have taken a lesson from Brandenburg and shoot each scene from three perspectives.

Wide angle, where the subject is small and looks fragile in the expanse of nature around it

A mid range shot, where the subject captures a big chunk of the realestate and it tells a clear story.

And then dive into some detail of the surroundings to add interest and a connection with the landscape or subject

Force yourself to do that with each scene or stop. It is pretty cool what results.

On the Arctic trip, we had two bodies, one with a 24-105L and the other with a 70-200L. Chris and I switched off with whatever camera we grabbed. Made for some really cool perspectives, as Chris and I are pretty different photographers. Together, the result was much better than we could have done alone.

Hope this helps

what he said.

also, one thing that i do (mainly with landscape photography) is to take several photos with different apatures and shutter speed combinations. this way i feel confident that i got at least one good shot of what i was looking at.

thats just my .02 :safari-rig:

 

[DesertBound]

Thanks very much, these are great pointers! :luxhello: That video is very good, too, it reinforces many of Scott's guidelines.

It's interesting, knowing these rules of thumb now, I can look back at some of my favorite pictures and see how the better shots incorporate these ideas (however unintentionally that may have been).

Attached is my favorite photo that I've taken (in the Maldives a few years back). Far from perfect (e.g. the horizon bisects the picture, and the plane is too close to the center of the picture), but a good memory of a fun trip. Using Photoshop I could probably improve this a fair amount just by cropping it. Speaking of Photoshop, Scott is that what you use to add borders to your pics? I think the borders really add to the overall feeling of your shots. :26_7_2:

 

[kcowyo]

Start with the rule of thirds and compose your image with the subject in one of the outside eight blocks.
___________________
_____|______|______
_____|__NO__|______
_____|______|______

This as simple and as excellent a tip as you can get. I learned this trick in a book called Photographing the Landscape by John Fielder. Fielder is no Darren Kilgore, but he's good.

I've also learned some great techniques just from observing fellow ExPo members' photos over time. For instance -

• From Darren, I've learned to find the photograph within the scene. Big mountain ranges look great to the eye but are often underwhelming in photos. Pic a mountain to shoot, not all of the mountains.
• From BajaTaco, I've learned to get something in the foreground. I can shoot an OK large scale pic that will turn out much better, if I have something in the foreground to lead the eye into the photo.
• From articulate, I've learned to look closer around me for the cool photo. Mountains and deserts are nice but a row of Dos Equis bottles or a knockout wife can make for a great photo too.
• From desertgirl66, I've learned to look for moments with the people I run with. People make for great pics. I just never noticed the natural beauty of friends having a great time together.
• From bigreen505, I've learned to look for the non-traditional angle. Turn that camera a few degrees to the side, or get on your belly and shoot up. So-so subject matter can be greatly improved by a unique shooting angle.
• From Ursidae69, I've learned to look more for fauna and floral shots and to look less for the guy with his tire parked on a rock. This often makes me slow down, which is as important as any other technique for capturing a unique moment.
• From DaveinDenver, I've learned to love black & white photography again. I kind of though B&W was a "starter kit" for photography. Now I see how B&W can be the icing on a photos' cake.
• From Scott & Stephanie Brady, I've learned the best thing you can do to improve your photographs is to put yourself in beautiful places. Go a little further and look a little harder than the next guy.

A couple of other tips I try to keep in mind while out shooting; always, always, always keep the sun to your back. When shooting the sunset, turn around (thanks F'n). Dawn and dusk provide the best natural light, so look for fun, random stuff during the mid day to shoot. And my own 20% rule - if you take 100 photos and 20 turn out decent, you've had a successful outing.

 

[articulate]

I've also learned some great techniques just from observing fellow ExPo members' photos over time. For instance -

• chop-a-roo brown-nosing, Academy Award speech

A couple of other tips I try to keep in mind while out shooting; always, always, always keep the sun to your back. When shooting the sunset, turn around (thanks F'n). Dawn and dusk provide the best natural light, so look for fun, random stuff during the mid day to shoot. And my own 20% rule - if you take 100 photos and 20 turn out decent, you've had a successful outing.

You are something else, KC.

FYI: You left out God for giving you strength, courage, and talent. You also left out your kids for giving you the reason to get up in the morning. Were you sobbing as you wrote that?




Back to the topic of composition, KC made a good point about not squeezing in ALL the mountains in a nice view. This technique carries even further. You just don't need to fit everything into the frame. For example, I was trying to figure out how to show that we drove right up to this sweet beach-like rocky thing on the Sea of Cortez. So I just included the fronts of the trucks:

Not that it's an award-winning photo, but it shows what I mean.
Here's another:

Once you try to include everything nto the frame, you likely undo the effect you're going for. Just pieces of the elements do the trick.

 

[cshontz]

a row of Dos Equis bottles

And if you only have one? Not so good.

 

[bigreen505]

Everyone picks up a camera for a different reason, what is yours?

While I am extremely attracted to beauty, I like pictures that tell a story and make you feel like you can step inside them. Since there are a lot of excellent photographers here, I'll toss out some slightly different wisdom. Take a class in studio photography to learn how to light things and spend some time looking at glamour photography, specifically lingerie and swimsuit models. To create a stunning photograph of a girl on a beach in a swimsuit, you need to pose the model and chose a camera angle that draws nice lines creating strong geometric shapes and leads yor eyes to her eyes. In expedition photography and nature photography you are doing the exact same thing. Find a focal point and use everything else to draw your eye to it, and light the scene to create the mood.

Also learn to look at life as moments and snapshots, not video.

To me one of the great joys of expedition type travel is going places with other great photographers and ask what the other person sees.

 

[kcowyo]

You are something else, KC.

:iagree:

FYI: You left out God for giving you strength, courage, and talent...... Were you sobbing as you wrote that?

Gotta thank the Big Man for opposable thumbs and a trigger finger too. Makes holding the camera and snapping pics a breeze.

Sobbing? Check the time posted. More like sobering.....

 

[Ursidae69]

You are something else, KC.

FYI: You left out God for giving you strength, courage, and talent. You also left out your kids for giving you the reason to get up in the morning. Were you sobbing as you wrote that?

I love it when MFS owns KC. :bowdown: :xxrotflma

I'll be posting up my Baja trip soon, lots of photos to share. I also have learned a lot of good tips from the forum.

 

[Ursidae69]

I like the bumper perspective too. Here is one from a few weeks ago.

 

[DesertBound]

No lie, this thread has more useable information on composition than I found in the couple of 'Pitcher Taking fer Idjits' books I've purchased. Lots of great looking examples, too!

Chris, your single Dos Equis bottle did look awfully lonely, but it did make me wonder where in the world that photo was taken? Coca-Cola Light is a non-US thing, right? And, who's the mystery man peeking into the shot? It's cool how every photo really does have a story to tell.

This question may not be directly related to composition, but I'll ask it here anyway: are most of you shooting primarily off a tripod? I've always been a point-and-click man, myself, which doesn't seem to be working too well for me.

 

[bigreen505]

This question may not be directly related to composition, but I'll ask it here anyway: are most of you shooting primarily off a tripod? I've always been a point-and-click man, myself, which doesn't seem to be working too well for me.

Tripods are very good because they force you to slow down and consider what you are doing. I always have one with me, but I would be lying if I said I used it a lot. I will use it when I can, but I like to move around a lot. I always admire beautiful 4x5 transparencies, but I know I don't have the discipline for it. The closest I got was 6x9, but I do miss that camera.

Mark and Dave, what is the deal with the bumper shots? Is that the best we can do? I have easily a roll of Darren's 4runner from bumper level (bumper level with a 15 mm is fun) and a few of the Trooper. Oh yeah, and KC's T-100, the Expo West Taco, heck I even have a bumper level shot of boo-dump-tuk -- and yes I was laying in the dirt at 5 a.m. for it.

 

[articulate]

Just scrolling through the photos, seems Stephens is like me. We take a lot of pictures from the bumper's perspective.

:friday:
Rock-n-roll