Composing your shot #photography

Hydes Pool

I took this shot at Hydes Pool in Wednesbury and I really went there to photograph the wildlife. I like the scene but knew I would struggle to get some depth to the shot. I had to wait for the swans to come into view and I used the tree on the left to try to give the shot depth. We tend to compare the size of trees close to us and those far away when we look at landscapes and that gives us depth and perspective.

I tried to get depth with this shot by having the pussy willows in the foreground and the little dog that wandered into the shot made it a little more interesting too.

Swans

I was actually using a 55 – 300 mm lens because I wanted to capture some wildlife and eventually did get a few shots. You have to be very patient to get decent wildlife shots. Swans are difficult because they reflect so much light. I zoomed in with a wide aperture for this shot.

This shot is composed a little better because we have some out of focus foliage in the foreground.

Geese

I was hoping to photograph some birds flying around but although they took to the water because it was warm weather, they didn't seem too bothered about doing very much. For this picture, I used a wide aperture which has made the pussy willows in the foreground out of focus and brought the geese into focus.

Composing your shot

We make comparisons when we look at a scene and we see things that are close to us as larger and clearer and things far away and smaller and less clear. Use that difference to give your shot depth and look for lines in your shot such as a road or path going away from you to give your shot depth too. People and animals make the shot look more interesting and say something about the scene so include them but try not to intrude on the privacy of others.