Outdoor Perspectives

I’m sometimes asked by people, “What can I do to take better photos?”. My answer would probably be aimed at their experience, such as, “try to use a tripod as much as possible” (beginner) or, “make sure the photo’s highlights aren’t bleached out” (more experienced).

But there is one tip I think is relevant to everybody. It’s one I learned early on, and I think it really helped develop my ability. It can be used in almost any type of shot, be it landscape, wildlife or architecture. I’d like to share it with you as I really feel it will instantly improve your photos. You may already know about it - if you do, I’d be pleased to hear if you have any comments to make.

Maximum simplicity

OK, that’s it. It sounds obvious doesn’t it? KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid. It also applies to photos. In almost every shot I take, I try and frame the shot so that there is only one main subject. There are no competing items to draw the eye away. One framed object can be aesthetically composed in the frame, and can offer contrast to the rest of the image. Don’t bother with that very nice looking tree to the left - the photo’s better off with just the waterfall! Maximum simplicity.

A scene from the Greek island of Amorgos

The single subject could of course be several objects, as long as they’re grouped or somehow linked together. A series of trees on the horizon, telegraph poles going off into the distance, a flock of birds flapping across the sky - all can be simple photos if nothing much else is included in the frame.

Of course there are exceptions…

One exception I find is that of foreground detail. With a wide angle lens, suitable foreground detail can draw the viewer into the photo and towards the main subject. It just looks nice.

Lichen covered branch, Scotland

That’s not to say that absolutely nothing else is allowed to be included - it’s often impossible to do that. The background of a subject can help ’set the scene’, as long as it doesn’t compete for attention. The photo above was taken in a very damp Scottish forest. It would have made for a slighly dull shot if all I’d included was the lichen covered branch (using a neutral background). However, the flowing water gives the shot some interest and gives the viewer some information on the surroundings. It might be best to use a large aperture to blur the background, so it doesn’t compete for attention.

A philosophy

It is sometimes difficult to achieve a simple, single subject shot. Try to persist - remove excess twigs (”do some gardening”) in close-up shots, move the tripod for the 5th time to try and exclude that ugly rock, etc.

I’m sure you’ll take many great shots which do include more than one subject, but if you make maximum simplification your philosophy in photography, I’m sure you’ll see an improvement!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 16th, 2006 at 6:05 pm and is filed under Photography techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.