This landscape image has most of the ingredients that can make it a great photograph. It has a clear subject and focal point, the lighting is great, and a nice edit and mood, but… don’t you have the feeling that there is something off, and at the same time you can’t really tell what it is?
A common challenge for photographers using wide-angle lenses is creating depth in their images. The shots may seem flat and dull if they do not have a distinct point of interest and a clear visual path that draws the viewer’s eye into the scene.
Shooting the busiest scenes we encounter while traveling in Asia can be very challenging. After 15 years of running photography tours and teaching in the area, I know that busy markets and streets can either be a photography heaven or a nightmare.
Breaking a pattern can work to bring attention to that pattern. You may not notice how quiet it is until some subtle noise disrupts that silence, reminding you of the context it is punctuating.
Wherever you are right now, take a moment to look around. What patterns and shapes do you see? What objects, scenes, buildings, or other designs just look like they “make sense?”
I’ve long strived for depth in certain photos. I like a line that begins in the lower corner and heads for the diagonally opposite upper corner.
People, they’re literally everywhere. At least that’s how it feels when you live in a country as densely populated as Japan. For the longest time, I was incredibly fussy about having people in my frame.
Award-winning landscape and nature photographer Greg Boratyn is known for combining brilliant photography with a penchant for educating photographers through presentations and his international workshops.
This mind-bending photo of a bird is making the rounds on the internet, and people's brains are having a hard time processing what exactly the photo shows. It is a real single-exposure photo, though, and not the result of Photoshop manipulation.
A lot has changed in photography in the last 74 years. However, an old-school instructional video from 1949 still offers compositional tips that stand the test of time.
Much has been written about the concept of the "decisive moment", a notion popularized (posthumously, for the most part) by legendary candid photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.
I was born in early October, under the seventh astrological zodiac sign of Libra, which has a symbol of balancing scales.
We can learn about photography composition techniques and we can learn about wedding photography, but how do we combine the two lessons into real world application?
What is the most common compositional rule in photography? Most likely your answer is the rule of thirds. Undoubtedly, this is a very powerful technique to compose an appealing photograph, but is it the only way? Of course not.
I thought I'd have a bit of fun when out shooting the street, so I started naming my street compositions according to winning hands when playing cards. So from a truly exceptional hand (a brilliant composition filled with complexity) to the simplest card (a simple snapshot of a straightforward subject).
Since the early days of photography, photographers have framed photos after making a print for display. Frames help focus a viewer's attention on the subject of the photograph or on the entire picture in itself.
“You don't take a photograph, you make it,” Ansel Adams once said. Great point, but let's take it a step further. An important thing to remember is that photographs are just a type of picture, and pictures are made of lines.
Photographers, from beginners to the most experienced, search for ways to improve their compositions. To be successful in your search, you have to compose an image based on two things above all else: light, and the relationships of forms.
As a photographer, you might be out on the street or at a vantage point in the landscape. You raise the viewfinder to your eye, compose the framing that you envisioned, then click the shutter. You have a picture that was acquired using the technical elements at your creative disposal: focal length, shutter speed, and aperture. But where was the camera?
The rule of thirds is widely considered to be one of the most important first techniques you can learn to create better compositions and help you progress from “taking pictures” to “making photographs.”
Negative space is a powerful concept in art and photography that allows you to say a lot with very little. In this article, we will look at the basics of negative space and how you can use it as a tool for creative and powerful photo compositions.
We've all heard of the classic rule of thirds, leading lines, and other composition techniques. But going with the most common rules can get a bit boring at times.
The most common method to teach photographic composition to novices is the "rule of thirds" — in short, divide the screen into equal thirds vertically and horizontally, and then place your point of interest on any of the cross points for a maximally pleasing image.
My particular interest in photography aims for hitting certain notes in the image, regardless of content. So whether I’m shooting landscapes or my garden, friends at a party, or my kids on vacation, I’d say the approach is consistent.
A leading textbook on creative photography, released in 1980, devotes more than 90% of its 460 pages to technical considerations — how cameras and lenses work, darkroom procedures, lighting — and just a few pages to aesthetics and composition.
With careful composition and editing techniques, you can take your portrait game to the next level. In this video, I'll show how you can level up your portraits with this one simple tip.
If I can afford to, I always try to spend time in shops where I know there is a good selection of photo books. The books offer me inspiration for my photographs as well as the way I present my own work in printed publications.
Photographer Manny Ortiz loves finding perfect portrait situations in everyday places -- locations most people probably wouldn't think of using for a photo shoot. Here's a short video in which Ortiz compares how "normal" people see the world vs how photographers see it.
Hideo Kojima, famed video game director and creator of titles like Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding, argues that video game photo modes help hone the craft of photography.
Roman Loranc is described by many as a modern-day master of fine art black and white -- or at least neutral tone -- photography. In two short anecdotes, Loranc shares the thoughts behind some of his imagery.