In photography, it is important to know your camera, as well as the best settings to use. Another very important part of photography is ‘seeing’ the shot and then executing it.
There are lots of images out there, many with average composition. They look okay but if you want something more, something different, then it may be time to ‘think outside the box‘, as the old saying goes. A shot of a flower, for example, has been placed dead-centre of the frame. It is colourful, the image is sharp and the background blurred. Yes, it’s a decent image but it doesn’t have that WOW factor. One suggestion may be to compose the flower off-centre and then move around so that the sun is in front of you, behind the flower, creating a lovely backlighting.
With landscapes, try picking a shot that you really like. Crop it into a pano, then create a black and white version. Same image, totally different perspective. You may be quite surprised by the results….
I regularly put my camera to my eye, walk around and try different compositions and angles. Zoom in, zoom back out, turn you camera to portrait, try different lenses. A composition that you may never have thought possible, suddenly works and you have THE shot!
Don’t be afraid to try things that are ‘outside the box’ when taking photos. You never know what ‘corker’ you will come up with…
If you have a passion for African wildlife, nature or travel photography and would love to go on a specialised small-number, professional African photo safari, please get in touch with Michael Snedic at WildNature Photo Expeditions. You can call him on 0408 941 965 or fill in this Contact Form and he will get back to you ASAP.
