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| Lost Lake Dock -- near Whistler, Canada |
Photography composition is an essential element to any quality photograph. Even when light may not be "golden", composition can make or break a photo. Composition is personal. Two photographers at the same location, photographing the same subject in the same light will come up with different results because their composition choices.
What are the elements of composition? These things spring to mind for me. There are others.
1. Focal length of lens
2. Distance from subject
3. Height of camera
4. Angle of camera (looking up or down towards the subject, or even on the side)
5. Shutter speed (adding motion blur or smoothing water)
6. Aperture (for depth of field)
7. Symmetry or Asymmetry
8. Lines and curves
9. Dark and light areas
Simply by changing any one of these, the whole photographic expression changes. An example of how shutter speed affects a photo has been posted before. Today I'll look at the height of camera and distance to subject.
Lost Lake is a gorgeous spot in Whistler, Canada. I arrived pre-dawn and walked around the flat lake trail to this dock. It forms a nice T-shape. In the top photograph, my camera is about 3-4 feet above the dock. My camera setting are focal length 24mm; aperture f/11; shutter speed 1.6 seconds, ISO 100. With all those setting retained, I simply stepped forward and dropped the camera to 12 inches off the dock and look what happens:
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| Lost Lake Dock |
At 24mm focal length, the distant trees are the same in each photo. What changes is the foreground: the grains of wood and roughness are emphasized in the lower shot. This shows the dock material. The right and left sides now will the whole lower borders of the photo. The upper image shows more of the dock shape.
If you visit Lost Lake, be sure to walk the trail and see this wonderful dock on the far side.
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