A great picture using natural light
Anastasia
I compose by what feels right. I might shoot several versions of a scene, sometimes dozens, and I also think about timing. Within the frame, things need to be composed as they happen. Everything is moving about until you take the shot and stop it, and you can’t control these things in another way (I think this is great, or I would have become a studio photographer instead!). The only thing you can do is to take the picture at the right moment, composed in a way that seems right.
Sometimes you really do need a significant foreground to make an image work, but it should not take over the entire image. Variety is the key, rather than repeating the same idea over and over again. I also try to avoid shooting from the same wide-angle view, which soon become tedious – as does shooting every scene from the same height.
Gather a lot of varied experiences. Read a lot of books, travel, talk to strangers, anything to open your mind to new ideas and ways of thinking.
Create a frame of topic. Addressing questions like: what is it you’re trying to do, and where should your focus be?
Ask a lot of…
Great post!
I find the best way of teaching composition is getting people to read the landscape – learning to look at all the component parts and seeing how these parts work. A couple of strong relationships are needed, like that between the sky and the land, so the viewer gets the narrative of the scene. Don’t accept that you’re stuck with the sky that prevails at the time. Keep coming back as the light changes, and think about the sky’s relationship with the land beneath
