How to build landscape photography

Light often makes or breaks a landscape work. Good light will enhance the color and highlight the important details in the scene. In the case of poor light, the shadow will be in a bad position, destroying the overall composition, producing a dazzling contrast that the camera can't adjust, or causing the picture to be dull, gloomy and lifeless. So what are the hooking skills of landscape photography? Come and have a look with me!

Composition skills of landscape photography

One third rule

The one-third rule is a useful hint to move the subject out of the center of the screen. The one-third rule is to divide the picture into three parts from top to bottom and from left to right based on four straight lines. Photographers can use the four intersections of these four straight lines in the picture to make a composition. You can put the horizon on a straight line that divides the picture into three parts from top to bottom, and then put an element, such as a tree or a mountain, in one third of the corresponding straight line, which can produce a very visual impact.

I have a mixed feeling 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, because the real world is not formed according to the one-third rule, this rule will be too limited. Beginners of photography sometimes pay too much attention to the one-third rule, even if it is not applicable, they still have to follow this rule.

Perhaps it would be better to call the one-third rule a reference. If you think like this, it will be more useful and there will be no problem. First make a composition according to the one-third rule, then move the camera and see through the viewfinder whether some parts of the real scene will look better if they are placed in different positions in the photo. Take the border as the baseline, and then try to place the composition elements near the edge of the picture.

Look at the sideline

You may be surprised that I put my sideline at the top of my composition. I do this because the center of the picture is the most obvious. Everyone puts the subject (or an important composition element, such as the horizon) in the center of the picture, just because it is simple. If something really affects the subject, there is nothing wrong with putting it in the center of the picture. However, in most cases, people put an object in the center of the picture just because they don't realize that they should find a better position for it.

There are several reasons to avoid putting the theme in the center:

1, the center of the picture is boring. If every photo you take puts the subject in the center of the picture, people will feel the same way.

2. The space of the picture is not fully utilized. In the photo, there is a lot of space to define the landscape. If every scene is placed in the center of the picture, I can guarantee that a lot of space will be wasted around the subject.

3. The relationship is not obvious. If the subject is in the center of the picture, it will control the rest of the photo and make other important parts of the photo useless. For example, putting the mountain in the background in the center of the photo will manipulate the whole picture, thus making the rocks in the foreground useless.

4. There will be problems around the picture. If you only focus on the center of the picture, you may forget everything around you. There are often some things around the picture that easily distract the viewer's attention. In addition, some elements may be cut by the edge of the picture, which can be solved by moving the camera, including or deleting some content.

5, the picture is also very interesting. If you look at the photos around you, you will often find some interesting things. And these things are definitely worthy of your attention when composing music.

balance

A better composition rule may be balance. Compared with the rule of thirds, balance is a more difficult concept to understand, because it has no established model and no guiding significance. However, the balance rule can be applied to any photo, even if the one-third rule is not applicable in the real world, the balance rule can be used.

The principle of balance is simple in theory, but if you want to apply it to actual shooting, you need to use your brain. Through practice, it will become very intuitive. Balance is related to the quality of the whole photo, such as the visual balance of the right and left elements from one side to the other, from top to bottom, and the balance of the elements below and above the picture. In a symmetrical landscape, the balance is very obvious, but such a landscape is often meaningless.

To see the balance of a photo clearly, we must regard the photo as a whole, not just the subject. Check the relationship between the main part of the picture and other parts to see if the picture is light and heavy. If one side of a photo has a large, contrasting subject and the other side is simple, then the photo looks unbalanced. Think about it, like a seesaw for children. If the two sides of the seesaw are the same length, a big child sits at one end of the seesaw and a child sits at the other end, then the seesaw will definitely be unbalanced. If the seesaw is to be balanced, the side where the child sits must be longer.

When taking a photo, you can't change the basic size of the photo, but you can change the position of the subject in the photo. So there are some things to consider:

1. Small objects can be equal partners of big objects. Fill most of the picture with a large subject and balance it with a small object in a limited composition area, thus forming a good contrast.

2, a large area of the sky can often form a balance with the smaller ground.

3. The space in the picture is also an element. If considered in this way, space can also form a balance with the rest of the picture.

4. Color will affect the balance. Compared with dull colors, bright saturated colors have more visual impact. Therefore, the use of these two colors in composition is different. You can make a brightly colored object occupy most of the picture and contrast it with a smaller and lighter object. You can also find a small, colorful subject to balance with the big space on the same side or the other side.

5. It is generally difficult to balance the concentrated photos of the subject. You may want to know if the subject was photographed. Get together? Together, what will happen. It's like a big child sitting on one side of the seesaw. If a photo concentrates all the big, colorful or contrasting things in the landscape on one side and lacks such elements on the other side, then this photo will make people feel uncomfortable. For example, in a photo, a mountain peak and some tall pine trees with strong contrast are concentrated on the right side, while the left side is just a dark gray cliff. Pine trees will make the whole composition appear unbalanced.

Foreground/background

One way to really form a landscape photo is to find the relationship between the foreground and the background. This can give you a chance to create very interesting visual effects for the landscape. The relationship between composition elements can make the whole composition active. In landscape photography, foreground and background are always closely related. Therefore, by including the foreground, you can add some details to the picture. And if we only take care of the background when composing a composition, then these details are difficult to show.

Of course, if you shoot with a wide-angle lens, you may inadvertently take too much foreground into the photo. You need to make conscious use of potential customers. What are the prospects? How to move interesting elements in the foreground of composition? The worst thing is to simply focus on a big scene, but expect the best effect to appear in the foreground and background of the photo. When taking pictures with a wide-angle lens, you must carefully look for interesting shapes, colors and objects in the foreground.

Doing so can give you a chance to tell people what unique things you have found in this land. For another example, in a famous scenic spot in the Colorado Grand Canyon, almost everyone who comes here will take the same photo. If you are in this place now, you can look for some objects as the foreground of shooting: such as a special rock, a tree, a flower or something else. When you take these as the foreground of a photo, you will find that not everyone can take such an effect. What you choose as a foreground can also help you express your unique feelings about this landscape. The artistic conception expressed by a tree growing on a rock is completely different from that expressed by a huge hard rock.

Distracting factors in composition

The best way to deal with distracting elements in composition is to find them and then remove them. Even if it is a beautiful scenery, it may be because there are obviously inappropriate places when shooting. Sneak in? A corner of the picture destroyed the composition. For example, when shooting a fast-flowing stream, your partner's boots appeared in a corner of the original attractive photo. The variegated components in this composition often appear at the edge of the picture, which is another reason to check the edge of the photo. But they can also appear anywhere.

Train yourself to look at the whole picture carefully and improve your ability, so that you can quickly find any distracting elements that may appear in the composition and remove them. These distracting elements may come from light (some dazzling light that should not appear, problematic reflected light or shadows that affect the picture), color (for example, in a beautiful green photo of spring, a bright red light sign appears in the distance), shape (a branch or a small part of rock is not noticed at the edge of the photo) and so on.