We arrived at beach along Maui’s North shore in time to walk around looking for locations to create photographs before the sun came up. During the drive the discussion was about composition and how point of view and perspective affects the impact.
Many people take pictures with their camera a foot or two above waist level. As result the horizon in the images is usually in the middle of the frame. In order to illustrate how perspective adds interest to a composition, I encouraged Nancy to get low or high and out of the normal zone.
AS seen below Nancy is creating a photograph from a low camera angle. In addition she has intentionally placed the rocks in the foreground as a way to daw the viewers eye into the waterfall. I can also tell from the camera position that the waterfall in in the right side of the frame not in the center. This is a good thing as it follows the rule of thirds.
If there are two things that separate a happy snappy and a landscape portrait its got to be placing the horizon in the top or lower third of the frame. And, Putting the subject in the center of the frame.
In the photograph below Nancy is making a vertical image that utilizes several compositional techniques. First, she has incorporated the lines of all the bamboo into lines of repetition that guide your eye down the path. Second, she has kept the horizon (path) in the lower third of the frame as well as captured it kind of snaking through the forest. This shape is referred to as a S-curve and also works to guide the eye in and out of an image.
For information on photography workshops check out Maui Photo Tours. For information about guided photography adventures and workshops in Tonga, Fiji, Indonesia, and other exotic locations check out this photography site