That tree back there must be one of my most photographed subjects in the last few years
this path is part of my daily walk
so I walk by this tree almost every day
thankfully, at this location, we get conditions like the ones we have today very often
they make that tree look really beautiful
in my opinion, at least
this is a very simple scene
we have just one tree
and the fog is taking care of all of the distractions in an otherwise very busy background
but it is precisely that because of that simplicity
we can do so many things with just this one tree
in this video, I'm gonna show as many different compositions we could make here as I can
and then we'll look at the differences between them
and how those compositional decisions affect our final image
and the meaning of those images
the first thing we must pay attention to is the shape of the tree
it is not the same if we take a photo from this side
from this side
from this one
or from this one
I personally think that this is the best side of this tree
there is less overlapping in between the branches
and also I like the shape that it forms
starting from the left and almost kind of
like falling all the way to the ground through the trunk
and then going back up again to the right side
of course, when it comes to the background
deciding which focal length we are going to be using is very important
if we decide to go with a longer lens,
the background elements are going to be bigger in the frame
they are going to be more compressed
if we go with a wide angle lens, we can choose to make those elements smaller
I have a whole video where I talk about how different
focal lengths affect the elements in the image
but I hope that these shots make it clear enough
pay close attention to these two
on the left, at 17mm
and on the right, at 44mm
notice how the tree in the background, on the bottom right of the frame
nearly doubles its size when using a longer focal length
while the size of the main subject doesn't really change much
it is my opinion that because I like the shape of this tree
it is not a small tree, and it looks like a strong tree
it makes sense to make it big when compared to the rest of the background
so I'm gonna go with the wide-angle lens here
I'm gonna be shooting at around 20mm
I'm shooting at 2.8, wide open
you know I like to shoot wide open for many reasons
but one of them is to keep the depth of field as shallow as possible
so I get that extra separation between the subject and the background
what I need to find now is the right balance here in between all the elements
so we can create something that has harmony and it's beautiful
this is what the scene looks like at 20mm
I'm just standing up and the camera is at eye level
right away, we can see that this is not going to work out very well
because the branches here are overlapping with some elements of the background
it works pretty well on the left side, because that kind of curve that the tree makes...
well, avoids that tree
but yeah, it doesn't really work on the right side
so we need to move those elements in the background farther down
and to do that, we need to bend a little bit, and go lower
so as you can see that creates some space for those branches
now they stand out more, we have more contrast in between those and the background
so already, it is much better
we are also going to try to avoid as much overlapping between this tree and this tree
of course, as we can
while still keeping the relationship here on the left that I really like
so I think that moving a little bit to the right, and still bending down
I think that this is a good composition for this image
okay, I like that
but let's move a little bit closer
I'm not even bending down now
that is because we are closer to tree, so the relationships change in between the elements
depending on where you move to
for example, the trunk that I placed in between those two in the background
now it's not going to work because it's going to overlap that tree
again, this is just a matter of preference, it's not a deal breaker
the image would still be good
it would still be interesting
but I think that if we work those little details, we can make for a much better image
so now, moving farther to the right, I'm gonna try to place that trunk in between those two
so it's almost there, but I think I need to go lower to avoid some contact there
something like that could be very good
so let me try making this image
all right, I think I like it
now, one last try
I'm gonna go even wider, to 17mm
there you go
it's not much difference, but that allows me to get even closer
we'll see if this works
again, the relationships change a little bit
so I need to adjust the placement of the trunk
we don't need to go as low now here
as you can see, there is a lot of space there
but that tree is kind of touching, and this one too
so we still need to stay low for this image to work that way
if that's what we are looking for, of course
okay, so I'm gonna be trying from a different side now
in this case, the background is much simpler
there are many fewer elements that we have to deal with
but there are still plenty of compositional choices we can choose from
so let's explore some of them
now, we are not as limited as we were before because the background is much simpler
there are no elements that stand out
we are free to play with the placement of the tree in the frame
let's see how we can use that freedom
I am at 17mm right now
and we can decide to place the tree as it is right now, in the dead center
as you can see it
both horizontally and vertically
we can also decide to move the tree to the bottom of the frame, like this
or the opposite, we could move it to the top of the frame
showing more of the ground like this
as I said before, there are no rules here, there is no better or worse
it all depends on what you want to say with your image
on how you want to portray the tree
on what you want it to communicate
but I hope that you could see some differences between the compositions
the one where we place the tree in the dead center is a more balanced image
it shows as much ground as the sky
and maybe, that's the way we see this tree in this landscape
as something calming, and peaceful, and balanced
the composition where we took the tree to the bottom of the frame and we showed a lot of the sky
compels a very different emotion
that one might make you feel a little bit more uncomfortable
because it looks like the tree is facing the elements, the surroundings
facing something much bigger than itself
this fog creates some mystery, and that might emphasize that feeling or diminish it
but just imagine for a second that we had a very dramatic sky, with stormy clouds
and we decided to make the tree very tiny on the bottom of the frame against those menacing clouds
that would show at the same time, the fragility of the tree,
and the power and the strength of the storm
of course, placing the tree on top of the frame has the opposite effect
it makes the tree the dominant force in the landscape, in the frame
let's move on to horizontal placement of the subject
I'm on this side of the tree because it is here where the
shape of the tree leans the most towards one side
in this case, to the left
it is that shape what is going to determine the placement of the tree in the frame
as I said, this tree here leans to the left
there is more tree here, there are many more branches
so it makes sense that we place the trunk of the tree to the right side of the frame
so we give this side more space to grow
otherwise, if we place this tree to the left of the frame, or even in the center
that would create a void on the right side that wouldn't necessarily add anything to the image
alright, so I hope that gave you an idea of the many things that we can do, try and play with
even in places that look so simple as this one
and how different the images can be depending on how we want to approach them
that was my hope in making this video
I wanted to give you some ideas and
things to think about when you're working a scene like this one
so I hope it was useful
please feel free to share in the comments your thoughts about this
thank you so much for watching, and see you in the next one!