So i'm looking for shapes i'm looking for light they're the two main things
no there's three things this is like the spanish inquisition
NOBODY expects the spanish inquisition
When you're out in the field it can be really hard to start to see images i'm talking about those
portfolio-worthy images but when you do get one it's fantastic i remember when i got my first one
and i looked on the back of the camera and i was astounded i couldn't believe that i'd
taken that photo but you can sway the odds in your favor by focusing on composition
now i really wish i had a long lens today i did leave the rx10 at home i kind of regret
it the mountains in the distance are really clear there's sunbeams shining down on them
one thing that used to get me when i was first learning photography was that people would say
you need to sit and study the scene before you get your camera out and i didn't actually know
what they meant so today i'm going to go through my process what i do when i'm studying the scene
there's just things happening about all over the place this morning then there's light
coming over there there's little patches of light over there panavans in the clouds still
i'm gonna go this way
there's light everywhere look at this patch here i don't know if it's that photogenic though
and then down there where the lights coming through that looks pretty cool as well
but i'm in the wrong place for that
how nice is this i was not expecting it to break through like this come on lift lift
there is just so much photograph
as you can see when good light breaks through it can get a little bit chaotic but you do need to
break things down into their simplest forms so to keep it simple just think about three things
what's the light doing what's interesting in the scene
and are there any standout subjects now the scene in front of me is really bright
actually i'll darken these down so you can see what i'm looking at i'll be in a more of
a silhouette but you can see all of this light here hitting the land just below i think these
mountains here there's a ridge i like the look of that so i'll get a photograph of it
in this photograph you can see i've found the light it's interesting how it's interacting
with the clouds and the land with the ridge i put it right in the center then i put it near
the top thirds line then as the light changed i zoomed in again centering that ridge line
in this next photograph i've once again found the light and it's formed a c-shape in the foreground
it's not the best photograph in the world but i like how the light
arcs around in the frame now what would you say the subject is in this frame is it the
light is it the mountain or the clouds or maybe all three let me know in the comments below
there's a little bit of cloud oh come on there was a little bit of cloud sort of dancing around
it's just fading away that really stood out to me if you study this photograph there is a
subtle s shape the light is interacting with the cloud and the closest ridge to form this shape
so when you're looking at a scene in front of you think about what can you
pick out what can you photograph what can you single out and reduce down to one photograph
so with those three things in mind you've then got to start to think about what lens you're
going to use you're going to use the telephoto you're going to use a super wide angle lens
think about how the scene might look with a wide angle lens is it a big long vista
if that is the case then you might want to think about using a telephoto lens
now if it is a big wide scene there's only a thin bit in the middle that's interesting a pano might
work for that and the thing is sd cards are cheap batteries are cheap so once you've bought your
camera once you have those sd cards you can take lots and lots of different photographs so for
instance at this location i just took a picture of that cloud i took a picture of that ridge in the
distance earlier on i took a picture of pennevan and i also took a panorama of pennevan and cribben
and it's not like in the olden days where every single shot would cost you money with film and
with developing but the whole idea of composition is basically just experimenting looking for shapes
looking for light looking for subjects i've got an idea what i'm going to do is take a
photograph with a wide angle lens so with a 15 millimeter then i'll shoot a panorama
and then i'll put the telephoto lens on and pick out lots of details in the distance
this will give you an idea of how many different photographs i'll take in one location they
might not all work but i'm going to take them anyway and i'm going to show you them as well
so you can see one location can give you lots of different compositions
or potential compositions anyway one tool that's invaluable for working on your compositions
is the rule of thirds grid on the back of your camera or in your evf and before you click away
i'm not talking about just using it for the rule of thirds the grid is actually really good for
multiple uses the first use i like to use it for is to make sure my horizons are straight
think of the rule of thirds grid as a gentle reminder to make you kind of think
about composition and to make you work on your composition when you're out taking photographs
now once you've got a composition you like the main thing is just to photograph it
capture it and see if it works does it follow any rules or does it break the rules composition is
one of those things that you're not going to learn overnight it's going to take time and it's going
to take effort and it's probably going to cause a little bit of frustration when you don't quite
get it right the other thing to think about once you've got that photo think about would it look
better if you shifted a little bit to your left or a little bit to your right would there be a
better place to take the photograph would there be something that might enhance the photograph
you might take the photograph move along a little bit and then find a more interesting foreground
and that's okay it's about exploring and building on your compositional skills
now at this point you might get stuck in making that decision if that is the case just take three
photographs of the thing that you were gonna photograph don't worry about the composition
or even just step away from it go and photograph something else and
then come back to it and i'm gonna get up before my leg completely seizes on me
another thing to look for is leading lines these are fantastic because it can draw the viewer's eye
into your frame something like a path maybe a river a stream a waterfall anything like that
leading lines are great because they just draw your eye and it gives a kind of path
for the viewer's eye to move along now i think the clouds have come in completely
there's a few slivers of light left but not much more than that the thing is with composition try
not to sweat the details too much if you're going out and you're feeling stuck or you're feeling
paralyzed just think about those three things i mentioned earlier shape light and subject
another thing to think about is are you going out expecting to get amazing shots every single
time if this is the case you are setting yourself unrealistic expectations ansel adams is quoted as
saying that he would only take around about 12 to 15 portfolio-worthy shots in a single year
and he was a professional landscape photographer so if you're a hobbyist or you just do it at
weekends or you just do it in your spare time just think about that and don't let
this discourage you either landscape photography is so much fun and when you get a really nice shot
you'll be addicted for life now for that cheat sheet you can screen grab this now and this goes
over all of the details that i've spoken about in this video however if you want a more in-depth pdf
click on the link in the description and sign up for my weekly email in this i'll
send you a free pdf on composition i'll give you examples i'll go into much more detail
and it'll be a proper cheat sheet that'll really teach you so much
more about composition it's something that you'll be able to print out and take with you
photography can be so frustrating but if you stick at it and you work on your compositions
you'll end up with some amazing photographs that you'll be proud to hang on your wall