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Importance of composition in Landscape photography

By: Steve Grant

Composition is important in all types of photography, but particularly so in landscape photography. You can have great lighting and interesting subject matter, but unless they a part of a well-composed image, much of the real impact will be lost. Good composition is, and always be an integral part of an impacting image caught on canvas, film or digitally.

Landscape photography without good composition will never leave a lasting impression on people, and will usually imply the image was captured without too much effort or attention to detail. Composition is as much about what we leave out of an image, just as much as it is in what we include.

Good composition will simplify a scene and force people to concentrate their gaze upon the major subject in that image, and not have their attention distracted by an annoying white sky, a person wearing a red shirt in the corner of the scene, or a bit of bright litter in the foreground. Essentially composition is all about how we as individuals “see” the world around us, and can zoom in and focus upon the most important aspects of the scene and see the essence of its beauty. It is how we put a frame around what we want our photos to show, and exclude the unimportant parts of that scene. Great landscape photographers have learnt the art of exclusion of irrelevant subject matter, and only include the part of the scene that caught their eye, and made them stop to capture the image in the first place. It is the art of “seeing”, and not just merely looking.

To photographically capture what you see is not always easy, but the key is to keep in your mind the final image you want to capture, either on screen or in print. This can often mean visualizing the cropped scene after it has been captured by the camera, because the camera’s format doesn’t really do justice to the scene. You need to master and overcome any technical difficulties that get in the way of a great image.

There are some guidelines for good composition, which aren’t always applicable, but they do act as a good starting point for most situations:

1. The rule of thirds, which means having the main subject positioned a third of the way in from the edge of the frame. Very often it is a good guide to follow, but sometimes it is better to compose a scene in way that doesn’t comply with this rule.

2. Often angled views make for a stronger composition than straight-on viewpoints.

3. Always consider the foreground, and not just the main subject. Most great landscapes are accompanied with a complimentary foreground to balance the image. Be sure that foreground doesn’t compete with the prime subject, by being too dominant or bright.

4. Make sure you have the camera level with no sloping horizons. Errors in level will be very obvious when lakes or seascapes are photographed.

5. Sometimes moving as little as a few inches can alter perspective or a vantage point that can dramatically improve an image, so study your position carefully.

6. An appropriate choice of lens is required to suit the situation, and enable you to frame just what you want to photograph. So be specific about which part of the scene you are going to capture, so you can make the correct choice of lens.

Geoff Ross

Article Source: http://www.articlebankonline.com

Author Bio:- Geoff Ross is an acclaimed Australian landscape photographer, specializing in stunning Landscape Australia. For more stunning landscape photography feel free to visit www.geoffrossphotography.com or write to webmaster: webmastergrant@gmail.com. Yours comments and suggestions will be highly appreciated.

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