7 PHOTOGRAPHY MISTAKES I see all the time
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I have made and seen loads of mistakes in photography and these are my top 7. In this video I explain how easy it is to avoid making these same mistakes.
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0:00 Introduction
1:53 Unbalanced Images
4:09 Weak Foreground
6:28 Foreground drop-off
7:48 No Compelling Element
10:15 Wrong Light
13:02 Too Complicated
15:37 Untidy Edges
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Great video Nigel, learned a lot on this one and for those interested the landscape master class, I cant say enough about it, It has been great. Sharing of photos with the others has been fantastic and I have received great feedback that has helped my photography.
Thanks for the kind words James - appreciate that
@a
Very good
@@NigelDanson ff
That's it the whole thing is about light. I like the light in the morning or evening I think I prefer evening. I'm still searching for the Perfect Image probably always will be. I know photography is important. The reason I know it is so important it's because when I saw on TV their whole house blew away everything was gone. And the woman was clinging to her picture of her family like it was the most important thing on the Earth to her and it was all she had left. Some local artists snobs I think they think photography is not an art. I don't agree. I guess it's in how you do it. I'm thinking the subject is not always have to be in the middle
I think this kind of discussion is much more useful than talking about cameras.
I was going to type this
I agree 100%. The equipment is a means by which the craft is executed. So much more goes into it than that. My brother in-law is a filmmaker, and all-around AV wizard. That man can take a better shot with a cellphone than I could ever dream of taking with my spendy DSLR rig. Dude just knows how to frame a shot and he knows exactly how it will look before he even presses the shutter release. I would kill for that kind of instinct.
Indeed it's very interesting and usefull information,but if nobody discussed the tool used to take those beautiful pictures then most likely the technology wouldn't improve because no one cares.
Both topics are important. Don’t underestimate the role of good equipment in the photography. Sometimes I hear people arguing that a "true" photographer can produce a masterpiece out of crapy lens. But what if a great photographer picks up a great gear? That can only lead to an even better results. Also, there are a bunch of gear lovers who enjoy getting into details and specs.
@@Hephasto i think to be a pro photographer , e.g. sports , portrait, wedding, gear is crucial. But for people who treats photography as a form of art expression or hobbie (liking painting) . Gear is not that relevant. Any cheap 2nd hand dlsr will do the job perfectly. However, the skills and inspiration the art of photography takes, is enormous. Thats why i think we need videos like this.
A good trick for the fifth point: when you have harsh, bright midday light, go from shooting whole scenes to shooting smaller subject matter! I used to do a lot of bird photography, and midday light is the best light for capturing their interesting little faces. Whenever I would try to shoot landscapes during this time, they always looked a little boring-I would try to spice it up a little in post, but for me personally, they always just looked like they’d been white-balanced incorrectly. So I would do bird photos during midday, and then landscapes at sunset (because hell if I’m getting up early enough to see the sun rise haha)
Beauty (a good picture) is in the eye of the beholder. Evoking emotion or wonder in the viewer, is where art begins...
i agree
I agree about the diagonals but many of the images you thought could be improved really worked for me. The grass and the boat and the fence and the river etc, you said there was too much going on but for me it was the opposite, I loved all the different features that you can move your eyes to and get so much from the scene. I guess it's a personal thing.
Hieronymous Bosch appreciator spotted haha
Agree with you. I don't love all the pictures but some of them are good and Nigel is giving bad tips in an artistic pov sometime. For example, the boat and the fence, for him are too much. But if you want in your artistical demarch share an idea you will never respect a strict rule of "you shall put one subjet on each photo, however, it will be baaaaad because the viewer will have to stay more than 10mn on the image to understant everything". For me photography is not capturing the beautifull or the unusuall of the life. Photography is like paint or other arts, you can share what you want. So, in my opinion, if you want to saturate the viewer of information by adding lot sof subjects (boat + fence). Or if you want to make a ugly composition to show the bad side of somethink (like a factory) by disturbing the viewer, you can. And you should make this to not stay with the people that are taking basic photos of sunsets with a fischer on a little boat in front of the sunset. My art teacher (someone who worker with a big french compositor) gave me a definition of art few months ago : Art it's what is disturbing you (déranger in french. Idk if the translation have the same way but art make you think and you will never see a good art that will not make you think. (if you are art sensible of course.) By art, he is obviously talking about not commercial art.
Yeah, same with the balance with the big rock on the beach, he said it was bad because the rock dominated the image and tilted the picture, but I would do that very much on purpose tbh, a picture doesn't have to be balanced to be good. I'd argue lots of great photo's aren't balanced and shouldn't be to be good. "Imbalance" can be a deliberate choice and can elevate an image. Same with what you said. Most of his tips seem to go for a calm peaceful pictures, but that's not everybody's goal.
I almost lost it when he used the picture at 11:51 as a bad example
The problem is beauty is in the eye of the beholder, this also applies for art and in turn photography. There were a number of 'bad examples' in this video I couldn't disagree more with, not least the boat/fence one but also the golden gate photo which to my perspective the bridge was a background feature to the rocks on the foreshore.
While your advice isn't wrong, it does come from a particularly artistic sensibility that not everyone shares. Take, for example, the idea that a photo should have a single point of focus. That really does make for good images. However the opposite can also be true. Consider the paintings of Salvador Dali. Many of his works have multiple different things to focus on. Your seven rules are great. They work. But breaking the rules on purpose can also work if you maybe have a different purpose for your art, want to create a certain unsettled feeling, or just have a different aesthetic sense altogether. Art shouldn't always be about comforting, pleasant, balanced, single focus images. Thoughts?
I agree Chris, although I do think that the Nigels artistic sensibility (if I may quote your nice phrasing) is one that is shared by many. Most people, I reckon, visit typical landscape photography locations because of the sense of tranquility they bring - seasides, misty forests, mountain views. These locations are commonly associated with peace of mind and lack of stress, so that will often be the feeling that they will want their photos to convey. I can imagine that if you are photographing a stormy sea for instance, maybe you would prefer your final image to have a chaotic or unsettling appearance instead.
I could see this being good advice for people trying to learn single-focus photo's, working on composition and a core subject. But personally think that it can be a tad misguiding to say 'photo's with a core subject, or balanced images are objectively better'. The most beautiful image in the line of shots was in fact at 13:28. You want to give the audience a place to rest their eyes, but this can be taken in two different ways. The first is that the viewers eyes must rest on the subject and nothing else, all else must be isolated or open space to draw the eye. The second is that you have intricate work that requires a visual break for the viewer, and therefore acts as a natural vignette. And in this case that would be open skylines, rivers and the like. Neither are better than the other, they are just different approaches to the same use of negative space but to promote one and ignore the other seems a little silly. Mind you, saying there is a 'right' way to take pictures is kind of silly in and of itself. If it looks good then the end result is all that matters as ultimately people can tell beauty from looking at it, not from quantifying and standardising methods because that too, becomes boring and disinteresting.
Yeah, I felt the same way while he was commenting on some photos. They looked good on their own, and didn't need cropping, in my view. Still, whatever he told are good, general rules. And the key point in your paragraph is "breaking the rules ON PURPOSE", which he actually talks about at the end of his video. @Rasma Chris There is definitely a right way to take pictrures, and there is a wrong way. There may be more than one right way. Also, I would definitely crop 13:28 to get closer to the boat and get rid of the side bushes.
Sometimes I like the stories that can be imagined in a shot that is "too complicated." At 14:06, It's a normal day in the field, but what mystery lies in the mountains beyond? Cropped to just the mountain...I don't wanna go there.
thats exactly what i was thinking...👍
Re the lighting point. A lot of the time people are on single day trip outings in the day time and do not have the luxury to hang around for better weather conditions and lighting. A lot of the truely best shots are in golden hours, sunsets and sunrises, and if you visit somewhere from 10am to 2pm your options are limited. Therefore the day trip becomes an overnight trip, or even a several day trip to be able to be there with the light better suited to photography...
That's why I always bring my camera to hope be on right place on right time. Is time consuming try be on right place on right time. Better let that come to you
100% agree with you. Some times you are on a trip with your family (wife, kids) so you have not the time for perfect light, but you want this shot. I am sry for my bad English I hope you understand what I mean.
It is what it is. Ansel Adams lugged a huge 8x10 view camera and would wait for hours or days to get one perfect shot. One of my all-time favorites his his photo of the Grand Tetons in back of the S-curve of the Snake River. Logging had reduced the trees near the river making it a glorious sunset. Now it is impossible to replicate that photo because tall trees obscure the river.
Personally, if that's the case, a lot of the time I just won't take the shot. If it's not something I might hang on my wall or at least put on my website I'd rather just enjoy and be in the moment without any digital distractions. I'm just not interested in collecting a ton of snapshots that I put on a hard drive and never look at again.
That's the difference between snapshots and photography. In a snapshot it doesn't matter if lighting and composition come together in a harmonious manner. Of course they can used as a nice personal memories of the trip, but wouldn't really be usable in context of professional photography. The standards are a little different
I think the boat-fence-river image actually did a great job telling a story of sorts. You start with the boat and then follow the fence's s-curve all the way to the river, which in turn brings you to the sky through the horizon.
You are correct but Nigel did say to get closer to the boat and make it bigger, then you really are telling the story you mentioned with the boat being the vehicle through which the story is told. The trees on the side and less so the tree line on the distance are boxing in the photo.
The one with the fence leading to the mountains was pretty good. The fence drew me to the mountains in the background.
some people handle randomity better than others. I personally prefer images to be compelling, w/o being overwhelming or overly busy. Which for me becomes a distraction
Yeah and the grass muddles it
I love how he always says "I feel that", so polite and kind
Take a shot every time he says it.
It can also be taken as "everybody is different, this is just the way I like it". I actually like some of the examples the way they were... which I think he is acknowledging, while still giving us some ideas to think about.
It's so rare to see someone giving so constructive feedback. Love it
Good tips Nigel, but I must point out that not everyone can re-visit a particular spot over and over to ensure the conditions are great as you have said a few times during the video, hence my question. What do you do when you want a shot such as Davids at 10:40 or Gavin's at 12:30 but cannot wait around or re-visit (because you don't live in that area) when the perfect light or conditions are available? It's simple to say wait for the light or the conditions, but many people don't have that luxury. Would love to hear your thoughts on those shots again in this context.
As an enthusiastic amateur, rather than a pro, I experience that issue all the time, especially when travelling overseas. My view is that you either leave without an image, or you do the best you can in the circumstances, which may mean abandoning the pre-visualised 'killer' shot for something a bit different that does work in the situation you find yourself in. Or you can just swap the sky and drop in a unicorn or something from a different image, but that is not my thing.
G'day Steve. Yes, similar process with me. And I am not a fan of dropped in stuff just to improve a bad circumstance either. Cheers for the message.
I was going to make the same point. Perhaps pros can wait around or revisit sites but most of us don't have the option to wait a few days for a nice mist to form.
GWINE, it is an issue, that's for sure. Probably even for the pro's, except they probably have more time to visit at the right time.
No matter where one lives, professional or not, there is SOMETHING there that you know more intimately than most, at all times of day and at all seasons, that you can revisit, wait for, plan for. Find the most beautiful conditions for the things that are already around you and show that to the world. If I'm in an area where I don't live, I can take great vacation pictures, but I'll trust that the best shots of that location to publish will be taken by people who know it well
This is a fantastic video! I'm a portrait photographer and have never really understood landscape photography. This video really lays out how to see a landscape, and the good/bad examples are super helpful. I love the critiques and edits to show how to make an image better. I'd love to see lots more like this! Hope I'll be able to take these lessons to heart and create some better landscapes myself.
This deserves a lot of appreciation. Thank you for sharing this to us.
I'd never thought much about the foreground drop off but after hearing you talk about it I was able to understand some of my images which I like but just aren't fully there.Good tips!
Nigel, I’ve watched a few of your videos now and every one of them is full of valuable tips and information. It takes a lot of work and time to make a good professional video, so I appreciate the all the time and effort you put in to each one of them. Thanks for sharing your insight and experience along with another big thanks to your students for sharing their work for you illustrate your points. Keep up the great work, mate!
Yeah bro, thanks a lot
Hearing you say that you used to make those mistakes too, is sooooo much more comforting
Some of the greatest photographs of all time have these very same "mistakes".
I’ve taken so many photos of amazing scenes that disappoint because they lack the elements you discuss. Thank you for going over the pics and pointing out ways for improvement!
This is such a great video to remind us (or teach newbies) that everything in the frame needs to work as one and when something (anything) becomes a distraction the image is less than it can be. And we all want what is the most of every given scene. Thanks for posting!
Many of my best shoots are cropped. Offend snapshot from 360 cams. Where i stumple over great lightning, and use it. Offend, setting up cams running near kids, dogs, so on gives snapshots there cant compares too at foto, only becace you see everything, and snapshot frame by frame. 4k 60fps takes amassing shots. 360 need to be 5,7k 30fps. I know, thats not real foto,s lol. but damn it works. My canon, who want it. Not in use. Now canon made 180lenses. Thats 8k Raw. thats rocks
I have literally spent hundreds of hours watching this type of videos and maybe after about 3 years, I think I've learnt something new today
Wow! Thanks to everyone who allowed their photos to be used in this video. It’s so easy to get attached to a photo emotionally when you are learning.
I love this lesson! Sometimes I really wonder if I should fit all kinds of things in a photo and somewhat struggled in my subjects. It's a good thing I found your channel and instagram. There's a lot I can improve on. Thanks for the great video!
Great tips. Happy to say that I am familiar with all of them, having shot video for many years and being an amateur photographer for some 40 years. When I'm in the midst of a scene that feels like it has potential, I always move around and take pictures from perhaps a half dozen spots in the same location. Go left, go right, walk forward, walk back. Even something as simple as crouching down can change everything. As you mention, if you just walk 20 feet this way or that way, suddenly there is a new story to be told. As a fan of videography and photography, I feel that both need to tell a story. That has to a lot to do with your compelling subject comments. I always feel like I am telling a story with a photograph, and where your eye rests as you say, is the climax of that story. Your tips will be good reminders for when I'm out there! My wife and I plan to go to the Amalfi Coast in a year or two, and if I can't take amazing photographs there, I might as well put my camera away for good! Awesome work. You just got yourself a new subscriber!
Thank you so much, man. I'm beginning in photography and this advices will be really helpful. Also, I'm not native English speaker, but I could understand everything you said. Your English diction is great. Thanks a lot!
Wow, I wasn't expecting this video to be quite so good, but it's one of the most useful videos I've watched on YT for a long time! Definitely one to save for rewatching. The re-cropping examples were especially impressive; I went from only vaguely agreeing that there was anything less than ideal about the original compositions to totally appreciating how much better the slightly modified compositions were. It's made me realise there are some huge gaps in the things I'm thinking about when making & editing pictures. It's also finally explained for me why the guides in the Lightroom crop tool are diagonals and not just standard parallel thirds lines, haha!
Lovely help here. What I especially love is showing the change, e.g., the foggy woods with the log. You could make that a quiz-like thing, showing both the before and after and asking us which is better and why.
Sometimes it's not "what" you explain, it's "how" you explain it. And these tips were interesting to watch with great examples, and easy to follow. Thanks for the very useful info.
Articulating gut instincts and weaving that into a constructive criticism is quite tough. I felt this video encapsulates those aspects beautifully. Thank you. :) really appreciate this.
This is the best composition tutorial I have ever seen! Thank you Nigel!
Amazing explanation! Thank you so much! I have been looking at tons of videos about cameras setups and more, but this really drives me into the image composition and that is exactly what I needed to break the ice!
If you tap the screen of the ipad pro with two fingers it will Undo your last action and if you tap with three fingers it will put it back again. Love the video! Thanks!
Thank you so much, Nigel. One of the best things I did that helped me in my composition was moving from a wide angle to a normal lens. It helps you to discipline yourself from that urge to just "get everything in" and focus on what's really compelling. Thank you for an awesome channel and community.
Excellent stuff. You have a manner of delivery that enables and inspires. You're very natural and warm. Brilliant teacher.
"Never stop exploring" great words there, something i have always loved doing since i was a kid. All of my friends only drive to work and back and to the lake for a swim or go fishing once in a while. They can't understand why i have to drive for 5 or more hours out of town every weekend to explore places i haven't been. That has been my main passion ever since i got a car.
Interesting to hear that you're not only speaking about mathematical settings wich could help us taking better shots but also about a more poetic interpretation. I guess it depends on each other's feeling, but it seems you got a pretty good taste in creating a great composition during shooting.
The learning curve from good enough to amazing is very steep, and that video addresses exactly that. Thanks for the video.
watching this video for the second time and catching what I missed, this is one of the videos that got me started on youtube so thank you Nigel to help me "refuel"/"rediscover" my passion!!! Still have LOT to learn!
"Photography: painting with light; poetry: painting with words; imagination: dancing with the wind." ... my attempt at philosophic thought. Your video brought this back to memory, so thanks for the video. Ron from Aus :)
music: Painting on silence
Farting in public
This is honestly one of (if not THE) best "photography mistakes" video I've seen. It's very informative and useful. Thank you so much
I'm a visual art students but sometimes i always thought learning photography might gives me an upper hand in understanding the balances or what makes a dramatic views. this video really taught me something and you have my gratitude.
Really useful tips and great points raised here thanks, Nigel. I also got a very strong sense of ‘less is more’ (and so much better) coming through.
I tend to intentionally imbalance my photos. For example, I like to take pictures with things like railings and walls in focus at the left, and then the more important part of the image such as a lake or a sunset out of focus in the background. I like the effect.
I actually felt like him making the photos more “balanced” just made them boring. They make for a good stock photo, but lack artistry and there are millions more just like them.
Thank you! Yes, strongly agree. I said this in other threads as well. A balanced picture can be your goal, and that's fine, but an "unbalanced" one isn't a mistake. That was what rankled me the most I think, calling his preferences correct, and others, mistakes. Like, it's not a mistake to have a dark image, or to have a big rock on the left, it is a choice. If that choice isn't to his taste, that's cool, but to call a different taste or approach or goal a mistake is not great.
Normally I don't watch these sorts of 'tips' videos, but I wanted a bit of distraction while I worked, and I gotta say I thoroughly enjoyed this. Really great of your fans/students to provide images for critique (and I would have loved to have seen a few of your scuffed shots too!), and really helps to demonstrate what you were explaining. Love your use of the tablet too, really innovative. Great relaxed style, easy to listen to/watch. Really really enjoyed it mate thanks for the content :)
Thanks Sean 👍🏼
Thank you so much! This was EXTREMELY helpful and definitely has affected my eye. Thank you for the learning!!
Thank you very much. In my opinion this was one of the best videos I've seen on composition. Your description of subject made so much sense to me.
This was really helpful! I'm definitely guilty of many of these mistakes - sometimes I don't know why an image doesn't quite work, and these mistakes explain so much!
9:00 I think this would work very well, as a mural-sized image. Perhaps covering an entire wall in a restaurant, or as museum exhibit.
If your planning on going that large you better be using a large format camera. I have the A7RII but even if I had the A7RIIII I still wouldn't get a high quality image at that size.
I loved it!
A useful lesson with amazing pictures. Thank you Nigel.
Good tutorial and explanation of the various "mistakes", many thanks Nigel
Thanks so much to all the photographers who shared their images, it's made for a really helpful and strong video. (Thanks to Nigel too!)
I love how you showed on some photos how to make them better. The one with the mountain top with the fog especially stands out to me.
I totally intuitively agreed with photos that competed for attention, and eyes not knowing where to rest and the foregrounds and backgrounds not connecting - or even foregrounds having a purpose and adding to the photo, or even as simple as not making them too complicated or busy - I think this will help me a lot with my composition. I definitely like the idea of adding a little more to the edges as well to crop, instead of getting it spot on right away
Headed to Iceland soon and I want to actually get good use of my camera. Thank you for the tips! I want to do the landscapes in Iceland justice.
I just bought a new camera and starting to research about how to take a good scene.. and this is all i need.. I could not believe i watched the whole video without even skip, cuz mostly i just skip the video to the important part, but in this one, the whole video has an important information and the way you explain those things is really easy to understand for beginner like me. Thank you so much for sharing this. It really helps me as a beginner in photography 🙏
The best composition tutorial I have ever seen ! THANK YOU!
Thank you for sharing these tips Nigel, it helps me define better when a photo looks a bit off.
I'm a noob. All those photos just stunningly beautiful enough for me ._.
Same here - and I'm NOT a "noob".
Well, they are THAT good, but can still be improved to make it better. It just shows that we never stop learning, on one hand, but also that there's a particular sensibility for anyone on the other. Of course experienced ppl will spot details a less navigated user doesn't, and thanks god it os so.
*photo comes up* me: oh that looks pretty nice Nigel: if you look at this shot, it's quite unbalanced me: oh yes of course. it's terrible, what were they thinking?
Stunning locations! This is the most important:) When you can’t travel to an exiting location it doesn’t help that your local park doesn’t look like Yosemite 😆
Same,I'm an amateur in photography
I think the problem with many of those photos is that people take them while they are on a stroll through those landscapes when it's a nice day. They are trying to bring back a souvenir of their happy hiking advanture instead of dedicating time and effort to go out on a day that they probably would think is miserable for a hike, but is actually good for a photo. In other words, not enough sacrifice is being made for the good shot.
I think that's the main difference between (most) amateur and professional photographers. The professional will plan to be in a certain place at a certain time, they will revisit locations multiple times, they will wait for the right conditions, and they will go out in all weathers. And when professionals are out in less than favourable photography conditions, they know how to make the best of bad situations.
Agreed. I have said many times that there is a huge difference between a photograph and a snap-shot
I see your point with cluttered composition, but that mountain shot with the sheep was great! The little animal really helped to sell the sheer scale of the cliffs.
This was super helpful everyone talks about composition and I kinda had an idea about it, but you talking about the balancing and path to the subject (if that's the right way to say it) really put it into perspective for me and helped me truly understand it rather than just know about it. thank you so much!
Finally someone, like me, who doesn,t keep taling about the "rule of thirds" TY
But he did show examples, like the wooden bench in the foggy forest: his cropping tool came up in the rule of thirds and he placed the tip of the bench using it. I would have to say this video goes deeper and covers more than the basics, so he didn't dedicate a lot of time to the basics. That's what made it great for me.
ROT is basic and in most cases will not let you down.
True. I felt like he was addressing the audience who already knows the basics of photography.
You can still see that he's using it when he crops the flower image 😆
I think this is a great video and I love the information you are sharing with your viewers too make their shots better and what not...but, there's always a but right! Lol my opinion here is probably because I'm extremely amateur as far as being a photographer is concerned but I really like a few of the unbalanced photos more before you "fixed" them. Sometimes the unbalance made them feel mood-ier or more real because in life and hiking, camping, adventuring or whatever you see the world in many unbalanced perspectives and it isn't always perfect and yet it IS perfect. Its like capturing a mood of that moment with imperfect light or whatever. I dunno maybe I'm rambling and not making sense but yeah, some times I prefer the not necessarily ad worthy
Brilliant and useful video with sensible and doable advice! Thank you so much, Nigel!
Really man I loved this, I actually needed this kind of discussion to take my errors a little more closer to perfection.
In your thumbnail for this video, you have an "X" on the darker image, and a green checkmark on the sunnier image. "Mistake" seems to be your personal opinion because I prefer that darker picture over the too bright and boring sunny pic.
Exactly, everyone always says to shoot brighter images, shoot to the left on the histogram, etc. I almost permanently have my exp. Comp down by -2 stops
Exactly. My landscapes have a darker moody feel. That is my aesthetic vision.
I like darker moody images more. But the reason I make sure to up the exposure is to keep the details in those shadows. I will bring my exposure down in post, but at least I can still pull detail from those shadow areas if I needed to.
I don’t think the amount of light in the picture is why he put an ‘x’ over the darker one, especially since the video doesn’t tell you to make your pictures brighter
The darker looks more natural
This is probably the best video on composition that I've seen in a while. You're listing all the issues that I slowly understood in 2/3 years on the field.
This is super helpful! I've been taking photos of landscapes and thinking something is always missing and not feeling right even after editing it.. now I know why. Also those photo examples are already incredible but great tips on how to improve
Really loved the personal advice on photos. Was a great help and helps to reassure that some of us are thinking the same things. Would be great to see some more videos like this.
When every reason for a certain photo layout being a "mistake" starts with "I feel", that would mean these are not "mistakes" - they are all artistic choices, which some may not agree with.
Yeah, they're just selfish. We shouldn't define other ppl works as mistake 😞
I agree. I understand the tips about light and some other perspectives. Some of those "rejected?" photos that you have show look beautiful in my eyes. It would be unthinkable for me to point out to the photographer about some details in his art that are really just visible for me. Fallowing your rules and view how a good photo looks like are made maybe by 1% camera users. Less rules more creativity
yea for some of them. while i kinda see his point. i feel like not having an obvious subject is a kinda cool artistic choice. seems a bit critical.
I like some of these "mistakes" a lot.
@@JadeAkelaONeal By definition, "creative arts", such as photography, are subjective to the individual who creates the art. I've seen and heard similar critiques in the music world as well over the decades, and honestly, I've always seen that as an elitist-jerk move - we all have different tastes.
You know what...the darker image in your thumbnail is muchh better than brighter one!!🧐 Atleast for me😉
Yes bro right
It’s choice between a low key or a higher key shot. It’s all on what mood you desire. You wouldn’t shoot Batman the same way you would shoot the deck scenes on Titanic.
Thank you so much! This was really helpful and made me understand landscape photography better. I opened my photos and found the same mistakes you talked about. Now I will know how to create better compositions!
Love every second of this video. A gem for a beginner photographer. THANK YOU!
My takeaway from this is to make sure your picture doesn't look like a where's Waldo or eye-spy
LOL. Unless you’re Andreas Gursky.
I always stick with: you need a subject, makes photo's and video way more interesting. And my second rule is create depth with layers.
Thank you for your tutoring on what to look out for when eyeing up our camera shots. I am very new to manual photography, and usually tend to think of overcast, or cloudy, days to not be so good lighting conditions. You broke down and shown much better ways to take a great ,long lasting ,photos.
My calendar just arrived - Wow, beautiful, so good.
Critiquing real images to illustrate the various points was super helpful. Really big thanks to everyone who let you use their images! Even with their shortcomings, they give me a lot to aspire to. Now to try to remember all these points next time I'm in the field... 😉
Very interesting insight this week, I don't necessarily agree with many points - to me it makes photography a bit prescriptive - but that's the beauty of photography isn't it there's no real right or wrong.
I don't agree with everything either. Some of the criticism were of fabulous shots. I do understand his point of view. And I respect the art of others also.
I like creativity; it's what sets work apart. I become more aware of right and wrong once I look at my results. Rules can be broken to great effect but they tend to be exceptions to things that are proven techniques in most but not all situations. I have the luxury of ignoring write or wrong, mostly because I don't try to sell my images. That's a luxury a professional, paid photographer rarely has.
"there's no real right or wrong." Actually, there is and ultimately (and admittedly my opinion) it relates to instinctive considerations by human beings of the livability of places. Shelter, water, sunshine, animals, defensibility. Many factors are instantly considered by probably every human on looking at a scene or photo. Unbalance happens when you would turn your head to look directly at something if you were there, but you aren't, and you cannot turn the photo, or look down. A hint of a dominant thing at the edge is exactly this sort of thing; you notice just part of the dominant thing and you want to look at the whole dominant thing but you cannot. This creates a disturbance in the force. Maybe that's your thing. It might not be your viewer's thing (or vice versa). I think to myself, "Why didn't you tilt the camera down, or to the left?" Sunset photos don't always need to have the setting sun smack dab in the middle. You need something besides the sun so putting the sunset in the upper left and the other thing on which the setting sun is shining down in the lower right creates interest and balance. As an experiment, flip the image horizontally. Is there a difference if the setting sun is in the upper left versus upper right? Indeed there is. It is a bit subtle but conveys several hints. "the light-source is typically on the top-left casting a bottom-right shadow." graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/1524/what-are-the-traditional-rules-for-drop-shadow-direction-light-source "Our brains naturally process images as either concave or convex depending on the illumination direction. Most observers process shaded relief maps of topographic features correctly if the illumination source comes from the NW direction (top left). If the illumination is from the SE, the terrain will typically appear in reverse (valleys to mountains and mountains to valleys)." A right eyed dominant person will prefer to hunt with the setting sun on his left; dazzling his left eye but that's okay because it is not dominant anyway. Consequently there's likely to be a slight preference or sense of advantage having setting suns in the upper left. Having a setting sun in the upper right is going to dazzle your dominant eye and creates anxiety and avoidance; which of course might be just what is wanted, as in the case of the photo from the top of a cliff at sunset. It is inherently dangerous and putting the setting sun in the upper right will slightly enhance its disadvantageous or dangerous sense. Knowing when to be wrong is part of the art. Just being wrong ends up looking like a Picasso. When I was young I did what so many people did before cellphones; you center the viewfinder on someone's face, the result being 3/4 of the photo is nothing, left above and right of that face, and below the face down to about chest, is all you get of someone. This is definitely a time to compose the shot if you are photographing a person; more person, less sky. Occasionally a violation of these "rules" looks interesting but what you are really doing is invoking a new rule, one that supersedes the lesser or more common rule. An example is to photograph someone's face off center such that the edge of the frame exactly cuts the face; and the rest of the frame is darkish nothing. Since we all know faces are symmetrical you don't need to see the missing half and the result is rather mysterious, like someone peeking around a door frame. A very common breaking of rules that simply looks like someone breaking rules because I can, is deliberately non-level horizons; tilting the camera 30 degrees just because you can. Another common thing is horribly overexposed portraits of people; no skin tone at all, maybe hold back the color saturation so it looks sort of like a 100 year old faded sepia tone. That may be your "thing" but it is not likely to be all that dazzling to viewers. Still, if you are intending to show it to an audience, knowing their tastes becomes important.
So nice to see others not quite agreeing with all ...😀
Thanks for separating the different areas so I could go back easily and re-watch some of the sections.
This was extremely helpful. I take a bunch of pictures of an area and then find the ones I like the best. What I should be doing is going back at different times in the day and reshooting for improved lighting.
I like your advice. The only slight disagreement is about complexity. I prefer either a very stark image or a very complex image. The photo with the blue boat was a good photo for me. It showed the scene in a more complete way than trying to isolate it and cut out elements. It was not confusing for me, which may be your point. For me, many times the subject of the photograph is the whole scene not one element in it. A photographer like Stephen Shore does that well with simple, plain landscapes that work as one image without any one thing in the image being a subject. It's also very difficult to do right!
Im not generally a fan of these 7 things videos but liked this one a lot, very useful.
Thank you for your valuable suggestions. I will improve my shots.
I need to be more mindful when taking the photo!
Having a focal point in the image is key. I sometimes forget that. There's a botanical garden that I enjoy visiting, so naturally I take many photos while there. What looks beautiful to me IRL doesn't necessarily make for a good photo. I'll go through my images on Lightroom and often have been disappointed to find that some of the photos look too messy or there's no focal point. I'm in Southern California, and we don't have those nice misty woodlands. The light is often harsh here, and our natural vegetation is scrub brush. Luckily, I live fairly close to the ocean, but I don't go out at sunset anymore due to the coronavirus. Too many people. I need to get out at sunrise to get some good shots.
Well done. I appreciate the way you think out loud. Much of learning, at least for me, is process oriented. The ability to critically assess and then articulate what can be better is something not everyone possesses.
Thank you so much. I love photography as a hobby and I learned so much from this video ☺️❤️ thank you!!
Lately I've been using the Fibonacci spiral/golden Ratio to enhance my compositions. My camera and Anydycine A6 plus v2 monitor both have a Fibonacci Spiral overlay option. But I rarely see people use it. I usually see people using the grid or the crosshairs. But the spiral has been used in art for centuries. And found literally everywhere in nature and the universe. I'm surprised more photographers don't play with the spiral overlay.
thanks. Will give it a go.
I have just learned more with this 20 minute video than on books with hundreds of pages Thanks Nigel
This was sooooo helpful! Thank you so much. I normally shoot portraits but trying to do some landscape and this was extremely informative and helpful. Loved it. You are a very good instructor!
Thanks for this, Nigel!
All these photos are good in certain situations. There are often times when loads of foreground or imbalance is actually needed in order to make room for typography in design applications. Also, as we all know, these comments are a matter of taste...I found many of these imbalanced photos more dynamic than a perfectly classically balanced composition. Depending on your goal, you may need to purposely compose with grossly exaggerated imbalance for emotional effect. When starting out, the rules are a good training guide. Once you learn them, you can automatically compose with them guiding you subconsciously, but at the forefront of your advanced compositions will be your 'feeling' and intuition...which can often purposely annihilate the training wheel guide you followed as a beginner.
I found all the photos to be great, more importantly i could see what you were trying to explain right in front of my eyes. Loved a video understood a lot even after being such a noob in photography ❤️❤️ You earned my like , subscribe and respect all together
Thanks for this awesome video. I'd love to see a video like this where you take us on a journey and you talk us through taking the photo, you explain how you want to compose the photo and explain why. Trying to learn proper composition once the photo has already been taken is not going to be as good as learning proper composition when you are actually composing the photo.
13:15 has a lot going on, but I don't feel that it crossed the edge of too complicated. I really like the photo
To each their own. As said earlier, it makes me feel physically ill. Glad that pleasure arose for you.
I am not a photographer, but this information is also very interesting for me in connection with drawing and watercolouring landscapes. Thanks! :)
You are very thoughtful
yes that's why I'm here too XD
This is a very helpful video on composition for a newbie photographer like me! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us!
Loved this video, so well explained and easy to understand. Thanks!
The photo with a blue boat was actually amazing imho.
The blue boat catch your eye, then leads to the fence which lead ls to the river and sky. Seems really good to me.
A little bit tighter cropping would keep the important elements while not having so much edge clutter and too much foreground.
That's ur opinion but he described the general elements for a great photography which is lacking in that particular photo
The photo at 7:34 by Peter Kolejak looks perfect just as it is. The asymmetry makes it a much stronger image than if the photographer had followed stuck to a prescribed, formulaic and samey structure.
This is exactly the kind of video that I was looking for. So much more helpful that a random list of 10 tips. Thank you for making it!