Outdoor Photography with Dylin Wen:Composition and Perspective

Outdoor Photography with Dylin Wen

Composition and Perspective

"Good photographs don't come from fancy camera equipment, dramatic lighting equipment, or special effects. Photographs that stand out in terms of their ability to engage an audience's interest and imagination have one source: the vision of you, the photographer" (L.L.Bean 35).

If you were able to see my last blog post, I talked about aperture and its impact on photography. Today on the other hand, I will be talking about something even more important than aperture, composition and perspective. We all see images every day that attract our attention, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself why a particular scene causes you to pause? What is it about the scene that makes it so special? I chose the topic composition and perspective because it is one of the biggest factors of photography but might be the least noticed one.

So what does Composition and Perspective really mean?

Composition in photography is simply arranging elements within an image in a way that suits the core idea or goal of your work best. Sure you can change your composition by zooming in or out with your lens, but if you want to change your perspective, you are going to need to move around. "Don't let your feet, or tripod, root you to one spot, get ready for some bending, turning, walking, or climbing to get the perfect photo" (L.L.Bean 36).

A Bridge at Coulon Park

Taking these tips into mind, I decided to change things up a little. Instead of taking a photo of a tree, plant, or flower, I decided to lean towards taking a photo at a lake, specifically at Coulon Park. These are two of my results using composition and perspective. Using what I learned, instead of taking these photos at an eye level, I either leaned back or crouched down to get a different perspective.

A low level photo of Lake Washington

Have you guys ever wondered why an area, object, or image attracts your attention?