​The landscape never moves

Although famous sites such as Yosemite national park or the Great Smoky Mountains are great places to visit and photograph, canvas prints for those who are keen on landscape photography, these sites make up only a small part of their total landscape photography. Therefore, if you have to wait for the opportunity to go to these places, then you are bound to become a sad photographer. However, we are talking about the charm of photography and the joy and interest it brings, so let's set aside these and look at the real fun photography brings to us.

Landscape photography technique composition: the landscape never moves

Sand verbena in the setting sun in ansa borrigo national park, California, USA

Landscape photography technique composition: the landscape never moves

Stone window arch in arches national park, canvas prints online Utah, USA

Opportunities to photograph landscapes are almost everywhere. I photographed landscapes from Florida to Minnesota, then north to Washington and back to Maine. Whether I'm in a big city or a small town, on a farm or in the wilderness, I find landscapes to photograph.

ore, if you have to wait for the opportunity to go to these places, large canvas printing then you are bound to become a sad photographer. However, what we are talking about in this book is the charm of photography and the joy and interest it brings, so let's set aside these and look at the real fun photography brings to us.

One third rule

The 1/3 rule is a useful tip for moving your subject out of the center of the frame. The one-third rule is based on four straight lines that divide the image into three parts, top to bottom, left to right. The photographer can use these four straight lines at four points in the frame for composition. You can place the horizon on a line above or below that divides the picture into three parts from top to bottom, and then place an element, such as a tree or a mountain, about a third of the way along the line to create a powerful visual effect.

I have mixed feelings about the one-third rule. On the one hand, this rule simplifies the method of composition and makes the judgment of composition easier. On the other hand, since the real world is not formed according to the one-third rule, the rule will produce too much limitation. Beginners to photography sometimes place too much emphasis on the one-third rule, even when it doesn't apply.

Perhaps it would be better to call the one-third rule a reference. If you think about it this way, it's more useful, and it's not a problem. Start with the one-third rule and move the camera around to see if some parts of the real scene would look better if they were placed in different parts of the photo. Use the frame as a reference edge, and then try to bring elements of the composition closer to the edge of the frame.

Landscape photography technique composition: the landscape never moves

Rocky landscape at the eastern foothills of Nevada in bishop, California, USA

Balance

A better rule of composition might be balance. Balance is a more difficult concept to understand than the one-third rule because it has no established pattern and no guidance. However, the rule of balance can be applied to any photo, even if it is not appropriate to use the rule of balance in the real world.

The balance rule is simple in theory, but applying it to actual shooting takes a lot of thinking. It becomes intuitive through practice. Balance matters for the overall picture, from side to side, from top to bottom, the visual balance between the right and left elements, and the balance between the lower and upper elements. Balance is obvious in a symmetrical landscape, but such landscapes are often meaningless.

To see the balance of a photograph, you must look at the photograph as a whole, not just at the subject. Check how the main parts of the picture relate to each other to see if the picture is heavy and light. If there is a large, contrasting subject on one side of the photo and a simple image on the other, the image will look unbalanced. Think about it like a seesaw for kids -- if the two sides of a seesaw are the same length, one big kid on one end of the seesaw and one little kid on the other end of the seesaw, the seesaw must be out of balance. To balance the seesaw, the kid has to sit on a longer side.

When you take a photo, you cannot change the basic size of the photo, but you can change the position of the subject in the photo. So here are some things to consider:

1. Small objects can be equal partners with large subjects. Fill most of the frame with large subjects and balance them with small objects in a limited area of composition for good contrast.

2. Large areas of the sky are often balanced by smaller areas of the ground.

3. Space in the picture is also an element. If considered in this way, the space can also be balanced with the rest of the picture.

4. Color can affect balance. Bright, saturated colors have more visual impact than dull colors. Therefore, the use of these two colors in composition is different. Allow a brightly colored subject to occupy most of the frame and contrast it with a smaller, lighter object. You can also find a small, brightly colored subject that balances a large space on one side or the other.

5. Photos of objects in focus are generally difficult to balance. You may be wondering what happens when your subjects "pile up." It's like a big kid sitting on one side of a seesaw. If a photograph brings together large, colorful or contrasting elements of a landscape on one side, while the other lacks such elements, the image will look uncomfortable. For example, a photo focuses a mountain peak and some tall, high-contrast pine trees on the right side of the photo, while the left side has a dull gray cliff. Pine trees can make the composition look unbalanced.

Foreground/background

One way to really compose a landscape photo is to look for the foreground/background relationship. This gives you the opportunity to create very interesting visual effects for the landscape. The relationship between composition elements can liven up the composition. In landscape photography, there is always a close relationship between foreground and background. Therefore, by including the foreground, you can add some details to the picture. If we only take into account the background when composing, these details will be difficult to show.

Of course, if you shoot with a wide-angle lens, you may inadvertently put too much foreground in the picture. You need to use the foreground consciously. What's in the foreground? How can you move interesting elements into the foreground of the composition? The worst thing to do is simply focus on a large scene, expecting the best results in the foreground and background. When shooting with a wide-angle lens, look for interesting shapes, colors, and objects in the foreground.

Doing so will give you the opportunity to tell people what unique things you have found in the landscape. For example, at a famous spot in the grand canyon in the United States, almost everyone who visits the area takes the same pictures. If you're in the area right now, you can look for something in the foreground: a particular rock, a tree, a flower, or something else. When you take these photos as foreground shots, not everyone can do this. What is chosen as the foreground can also help you express your unique sense of the landscape. A tree growing on a rock and a big, hard rock express a completely different mood.

An element of distraction in composition

The best way to deal with distracting elements in a composition is to find them and then remove them. Even very beautiful scenery can be marred by an apparently inappropriate "creep" into a corner of the frame. For example, your partner's boots appear in the corner of an otherwise attractive photo while shooting a fast-flowing stream. This element of distraction in composition is most often found at the edges of the image, which is another reason to check the edges of photos. But they can be anywhere.

Train yourself to examine the whole picture carefully and improve your ability to quickly find any distracting elements that may appear in the composition and remove them. These distraction components may come from the light (some should not be there is a problem with the dazzling light, reflected light or affect the shadow), acrylic prints australia may come from the color (such as in spring beautiful green in the photo, a bright red light sign appeared in the distance), also may come from the shape (at the edge of the photo has a branch or a small part of a block of rock has not been noticed), and so on.