It’s a great idea to take along a digital camera when you travel. The camera is not as important as how you see what is around you. You could be delighted by the results.

Shooting What You See

Sometimes you might have taken a photo that looked good in real life but didn’t look so great on the computer. One reason for this could be the type of lens you used. The eye has a vision field of about 40 degrees. A scene like a landscape or skyline is one way of testing yourself. Don’t move your eyes right or left and note what you’re viewing. Compare how this scene appears through the camera. You’ll observe that some parts of the scene are missing, or perhaps now you’re seeing elements that were formerly excluded. Zoom back until you get the same approximate framing as your eye’s view. By trail and error you’ll learn what zoom will equate with your eye’s view.

Composition

Composition is the art of ‘framing’ the photograph or arranging the elements so that it draws the viewer’s eye to what you want seen or noticed. Here are some basic rules of composition:

1. The Eye Scans Diagonally

The eye usually scans automatically from bottom right of a picture diagonally across to the top left. You can get some idea of this by taking any picture you have in your files and flipping it horizontally with your photo editing software. You’ll notice that different elements come to the fore according to how the picture is flipped. You can use this rule, for example, in portrait photography.

Position the model with his or her body turned to the left about 45 degrees. Direct him to make loose fists and rest his hands on his legs. Now tell him to turn towards the camera. This is called a three-quarter pose. Check what you can see through the camera. Notice that your eye looks first at the hands and they guide it to the subject’s face. After you have taken the photo, upload it into your photo editing software and use the ‘flip horizontal’ function. Which looks best and is most communicative?

Here’s an exercise you can do: look over a photography website or through a book to see the rule in action. If you study some successful pictures or paintings you’ll notice the artist has used a color, geometric shape, or line to guide the eye towards the center. This rule can also be broken to produce a jarring effect.

2. Frame the Photograph

The edges of a photograph are like the fence around a house. In this way space is defined. Mount one of your pictures in a frame and you’ll see this effect. All the elements in the image have become more defined. You can use this in composition by deliberately placing your subject between trees, standing in a doorway, or at the side of a building. Place your subject before a featureless or out of focus background like an ocean scene and you can achieve a contrasting effect. With nothing else to distract it, the eye is drawn to the picture’s subject.

Shoot to include background to create more mood or ‘feel’. Occasionally a background will be too cluttered and distracting or dominate the scene. If possible, avoid these. However you can make your visual story generally more interesting by including the background. When you frame your picture ask yourself if the final result answers these questions:
Where is it?
What is the identity of the subject?
Why are they in that location or scene?
What is the purpose for them being there?

The Rule of Thirds

This rule divides the image into thirds horizontally and/or vertically. The main subject should appear in the middle section. Alternatively, arranged to occupy the points where the grids intersect. Landscapes generally use this rule by having the sky in the top zone and the subject in the middle zone. The foreground occupies the lower section acting as a foundation for the subject.

Vertical framing is the usual rule with portrait photography. If you imagine the frame to be divided into thirds from top to bottom, the face appears where the top and center sections meet each other. This gives you a more pleasing view by allowing space above the head. And this is a more balanced composition with the space either side of the subject.

Extreme close-ups can sometimes create a feeling of intensity and work well.

You’ll get better and better. Take lots and lots of shots and study the good ones - and the bad ones. Expect to learn the basics of this rewarding hobby quite quickly.

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