One those occasions when you’re lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, you really can admire the beauty of nature. But capturing those picturesque moments is not as easy as it might seem. There are many different aspects to consider when taking landscape and photos, but in this article, I’ll just touch on composition.

Composition

In case you aren’t already familiar with the Rule of Thirds, it basically states that you should imagine the viewfinder as having lines dividing it into three sections horizontally and three sections vertically. Essentially, it ends up looking like a grid of 9 boxes. The trick is to try and place your subject strategically in the intersections of those lines. Some cameras will actually draw the lines on the LCD screen for you. All you have to really do is just use your imagination and your best judgment. It’s really not a hard and fast rule, just a general guideline to try and follow. You don’t have to be 100% accurate, and if you’re a little off from one third it’s not a big deal.

Aim For the Corners

As for myself, I prefer to place the subject in one of the four corners: top left, top right, bottom left, or bottom right. That means I go in from any of the corners diagonally about one third of the way horizontally and one third of the way vertically. I also recommend that when shooting the horizon (which often times you are by definition when taking landscape photos), you place the horizon line along one of those imaginary lines of thirds. That means that the sky should either fill the top 1/3 of the photo, or it should fill the top 2/3 of the photo. Which one to choose? It really depends on the photo and where the main area of interest is. If there’s a lot going on in the sky, and not much going on below, then it makes sense to include more sky. On the other hand, if the sky is more of a background then limit it to just 1/3 of the frame and your photo should still turn out looking good.

Hopefully now you have a little bit better of an idea of how you can compose your nature and landscape photos better. Good luck shooting!

Ian Spellfield is a professional photographer who focuses on nature and landscape photography and tries to share his knowledge with others looking for digital photography tips.

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Reflections in the harbour, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

When we want to photograph reflections there are a number of photography tips and techniques that make the shooting a little easier and the resulting photography really stand out.

Any of your lenses will work just fine for photographing reflections but I often lean towards the longer focal lengths. This tends to isolate the reflection more, creating a subject out of the reflection rather than the reflection just being part of the image. Is the reflection the subject of the photograph or a reflection of the subject? This will determine the appropriate technique to be used. The key here is to experiment, move around and view the subject from different angles. You may get a few weird stares as you wander around looking at the ground but the resulting photographs are well worth the effort.

What do you focus on when you are photographing reflections? When using wide angle lenses at normal focus distances much of the image tends to be sharp, just one of the results of the wide angles unless you are very close to the subject.  With longer focal length telephoto lenses you get very different results. Often I shoot with the telephoto lenses close to wide open, perhaps in the f2.8 to f5.6 range. With the resulting limited depth of field when using longer focal length lenses I can either focus on the reflected object, in this case the maple trees below, or the surface where the reflection is located, the stream in the following photograph. As you can see the result is quite different.

Maple trees - the image is focused on the leaves and trunk of the trees. Lens: 150mm, ISO: 200, Aperture: 5.6, Shutter: 1/125

Maple trees - the image is focused on the surface of the water. Note the different feel compared to the previous image. Lens: 150mm, ISO: 200, Aperture: 4, Shutter: 1/250

What about flipping the image over? Personally I find this to look a little awkward as it looks like the image was flipped over and not quite correct. Perhaps this is because I am a photographer and recognize this technique, perhaps not. You do see this done regularly so it’s more a matter of personal preference. The following images of this wonderfully painted house on a French canal is a good example of this technique. Which do you prefer?

A colourful house in France - normal reflected orientation. Lens: 150mm, ISO: 200, Aperture: 9, Shutter: 1/60

A colourful house in France - image rotated 180 degrees.

With reflections in some ways you are combining two images, perhaps a man made object reflected in a stream or in this case an old versus  modern architectural mix in this photograph of the Saint-Bonaventure Church in Lyon, France. This contrast in images can be a very powerful tool.

Saint-Bonaventure Church, Lyon, France. Lens: 44mm, ISO: 250, Aperture: 4, Shutter: 1/125

Reflections really suit the abstract side of photography. Again, I find the longer focal length lenses to be slightly better for these images as I can isolate the details more. With images like the Seine River below I will often shoot 4 or 5 images of the same subject in quick succession. It’s amazing with moving water how different each image will appear as the reflection dances on the surface.

Night Reflections, Seine River, Paris, France. Lens: 125mm, ISO: 250, Aperture: 3.5, Shutter: 1/3

Wooden boat hull, Port Townsend, Washington, USA. Lens: 150mm, ISO: 200, Aperture: 5.6, Shutter: 1/60

There are reflections everywhere once you take the time to look for them and they make for excellent photography subjects. On your next trip to the woods or town take your camera with you and explore this wonderful subject matter.

1) Resolve to have enough resolution

Yes, a low resolution setting saves space on your memory card, but it doesn’t make for suitable prints. You can easily re-size the picture to make it smaller using programs like Picasa (re-size is under the export menu) but making a photo larger usually doesn’t look good. When you enlarge the photo, the pixels that make up the picture are spread thinner.

If you plan to print your pictures, choose medium or high resolution. Depending upon your camera, three megapixels should give you high quality 4×6 photos and sometimes even nice 8×10 photos. For superb 11x14s, go for 6 megapixels.

2) Let there be light (but make it the right kind)

Natural lighting is usually best, so don’t worry if you don’t have a fancy flash and reflectors. If your only flash is the built-in one, that’s all the more reason to opt for natural light. Built-in flashes can make the subject appear flat. That’s why the pros use external flash and bounce light off the umbrellas. There are tricks you can use like wearing a white shirt or taping foil to the camera to bounce the light off the ceiling, but if you want an easy way to get professional quality photos without the equipment, go outdoors.

When shooting outdoors, consider…The lower the sun in the sky the better, except for sunrise and dawn. Noon brings the harshest shadows. Unless the sky is an important part of your picture, bright overcast produces the best light.

3) Compose a perfect picture

Getting a great picture with a snapshot mostly depends on luck. By learning how to compose a picture first, you have more creative control and you will end up with more photographs suitable for framing. The pictures you take will look more like what you had in mind when you clicked the shutter release.

There’s enough to the Photography 101 subject of composition to fill several articles, but for starters, here’s the number one rule. Fill the frame. Decide on what the most important subject in your photo is and move close enough or zoom (optical zoom is best) to fill the viewfinder with the subject. For instance, if the subject is your grandma watering her flower garden then she’s the subject not her entire garden. Many make the mistake of losing their subjects in the landscape.

4) Steady now

It doesn’t take much camera shake to create blur, in fact it takes so little that you will likely not even notice the movement. For sharp photographs, keep your elbows down, feet apart and hold the camera steady while pressing (not punching) the shutter release. Continue holding still until the light indicates the camera has finished taking the picture. When you’re taking a photo that needs a slower than usual shutter speed – - fireworks for example – support the camera with a tripod. You can use just about any item as a way to help prop your camera as long as you have a remote shutter release. A good rule of thumb: use camera support for shutter speeds slower than 1/60.

5) Share your Creations

If your photos are digital, use a photo editor to bring copies (save originals) of your photos down to the appropriate size for your website, email, photo album or picture frame. Use photo-printing paper that is compatible with your printer model. If you’re using a film camera but want photos for email or a website, use a quality scanner or when dropping off film to be developed, request a CD.

Frame your best photographs for hanging on your walls or displaying on a table. A framed photograph also makes a very welcome gift, especially when the subject is a portrait. Remember a portrait can be of one person, family, two friends, a beloved pet…the list is endless, and again, these make lovely gifts, especially when framed nicely.

By using these five basic tips you’ll help expand your photography knowledge so you can start taking even better and more professional looking pictures.

Autumn Lockwood is a writer for Your Picture Frames.com and loves photography. http://www.YourPictureFrames.com makes it easy for you to find just the right picture frame for your photo or artwork. Shop online and frame multiple pictures with our collage frames. Check out our collage picture frame selection here:http://www.yourpictureframes.com/categories/Collage-Pic ture-Frames/

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What is your subject?
The most important part of composition is having a clearly defined subject. Decide what the photo is about and hone in on that. It may be a single person in a crowd, or an abandoned house sitting in a rustic landscape. Whatever you decide to make the subject of your photo, decide how to emphasize it and go from there. Choose whether to include other elements in an image based on weather they say something about your subject or not. For example, you may wish to include that huge tree standing near your abandoned house to give scale to the image. On the other hand, you might decide to leave it out if you want the house to appear larger. What you leave out of an image is as important as what you include.

Rule of Thirds
Firstly, what is it? Using the rule of thirds means to divide the scene into thirds horizontally and vertically, so you have an imaginary 9 square grid, and place your subject along one of these lines. Generally this produces a composition that is more pleasing to the eye. Some photographers stick religiously to this rule and others intentionally break it every time they take a photo. Me? I’m somewhere in the middle. I believe that there are times when the rule works best and other times when it leaves the image looking a little bland. So my advice on this is learn the rule and practice with it, but also practice breaking it.

Get creative
Being a travel photographer, I often end up in places that have been photographed before. In fact, in this age of high volume digital photography, it is nearly impossible to find a subject that hasn’t been covered comprehensively. This presents a challenge: to come up with a new take on an old subject. To make your images stand out you need to do something different. Often this means looking for different angles. Something new and fresh. This might mean getting down on the ground for a low viewpoint, or tilting your camera on an angle to create a new perspective. Whatever your tactics, always strive to do something that hasn’t been done. One of my favorite methods is to look at pictures others have taken of your subject before you shoot and think what the opposite viewpoint would be.

Composition can be a simple task. But is essential to understand what makes a good composition rise above a bad one. Like with everything else, the more you practice the easier it will come to you. Eventually it will become so ingrained that you will do it without realizing you are doing it. It is simply a matter of experimenting and finding what works for you.

Mark Eden is a freelance travel photographer and writer, and the founder and director of Expanse Photography, a photographic services company offering fine art, limited edition prints as well as stock and assignment photography and publishing services. Mark can be contacted through the Expanse Photography website http://www.expansephotography.com.

Article Source: ArticleSpan