Terrington Photography | Adelaide product photography

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How to Compose Landscapes.

Composition or what is in your frame can be a scary and confusing part of photography, for an image to make sense you need to have at least a basic understanding of design, there are certain guidelines that can help an image, I wont call them rules because if you know the rules then you know how to break them, first you need to know them.

Okay some design elements you can use to bring interest to an image , include using layered elements within an image to create depth, think mountain ranges fading out into the distance, using diagonals adds extra interest and maybe cloud layers.

Layers and diagonals.

Then we have the rule of thirds which basically means placing the subject or subjects on or near points on a tic tac toe grids intersecting points, so for example you may want that horizon on that first or second horizontal line rather than dead center and main focal points on or near where these lines intersect, but this is purely a guide you can have perfect symmetry you can also mix perfect symmetry with these design principles depending on placement of the other elements within the design or composition.

Rule of thirds

Another is a diagonal grid developed from the Fibonacci spiral, and the rule of thirds, great for checking balance within an image as well as placement, if you notice these four shapes and how the two corresponding shapes balance against each other, if you also imagine a rule of thirds grid overlayed how it relates to this as far as placement of key elements.

Diagonals

and my favorite the golden spiral or Fibonacci spiral, this shape mathematically exists in all of nature and the universe, many believe we are hardwired to recognize design elements that follow this spiral, you can flip and rotate this spiral as a crop overlay in both lightroom and photoshop, the trick is being able to visualize this in the field when looking for compositions.

Golden spiral

Something that can really help finding a composition, is what I call a composition card and its a trick used by some old masters, very simple get some cardboard can be the size of your wallet or pocket, now simply cut out the middle so you have like a picture frame or if you want to be super creative try and cut the golden spiral shape, then you could cut a hole in one of the corners add a lanyard and hang it around your neck, okay you wont look cool but its all about the image, you can easily bring it up to your eye move it further to zoom closer to wide angle, really helps to find comps without having to unpack everything in your bag, also much faster than pulling out you smartphone.

Another design technique is using odd numbers for objects in your image regardless of whether it is a foreground interest, mid or infinity, look at all elements in your frame and try to make them odd not even, also space between objects move around make that space vary between objects, foreground interest, leading lines and light will all lead you into an image. Check the edges of your frame and anything that stands out remove it unless it is helping to move your eye through the image otherwise it will totally detract and become the focal point, you can either crop in camera if not remove in post but this is very important.

Try to vary camera height getting down low can make an image so dramatic, as does light, get somewhere and be setup before dawn the light is incredible or can be, also sunset is nice, middle of the day if no clouds can ruin an image even using a polarizer light is way too harsh but it really depends on what you are shooting and where you are, rule of thumb dawn up to an hour after sunrise, sunset and blue hour, look for clouds, fog, atmosphere these things can separate objects in a shot making what is normally too busy, something special and avoid blue skies with no clouds referred to as simpsons skies, rarely adds interest to a landscape.

These are only a few things that will help your images, design is very involved and would take a 2000 page book or 3 years at art college to cover everything but these tips and some practice will definitely improve your photography, have fun and keep shooting.

stay tuned