7 WAYS TO IMMEDIATELY

IMPROVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY

By David Johnston

There’s more that goes into photography than just a camera. In this guide,
we are going to be diving deep into the world of frame construction,
composition techniques, your gear, and even the weather. You may be
surprised, and honestly quite relieved, that to immediately improve, you
don’t have to spend any money at all.

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IMPROVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY

1. SUBJECT PLACEMENT
The first step to improving your photography is understanding subject placement. Now, your mind is probably
going directly to the rule of thirds. Sure, the rule of thirds is a very nice guideline to follow that easily separates
your frame into sections of thirds both vertically and horizontally. The idea is to place your subject on one of
the dividing lines for a visually pleasing placement. I used to follow the rule of thirds all of the time. It did a
very good job of directing me to proper subject alignment.

However, in recent years I’ve switched to the golden ratio (also

known as the golden mean, or the Fibonacci spiral), and it has been
even better to me. If you look up the golden ratio online you may be
bombarded with mathematical equations that will make your head
spin. The best way to think about the golden ratio is to push your
subject slightly more to the center of the frame. It’s said to be the
most visually pleasing subject placement in the arts. If it was good
enough for Michelangelo, it’s good enough for me!

Furthermore, it’s important to be mindful of the fact that you can

actually break the rule or thirds and golden ratio for your outdoor
photography. Since our outdoor photography forefathers fought for GOLDEN RATIO
photography to be recognized as an artform, let’s treat it as such in the
right situations. You can easily create photos where the subject is in the exact middle of the frame if you feel
that it will more creatively feature that subject. Don’t be afraid to go rogue and venture away from the rules.

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2. KNOWING YOUR LENSES

Your lens selection has so much to do with shaping what your photography style is going look like and what
your individual photos are going to include. Different lenses have different technology and construction that
will shape distortion and compression down to individual objects within the image itself.

For example, leading lines are most easily created with a wide angle lens. The way wide angle lenses and ultra
wide angle lenses are made creates larger and longer objects that are in your foreground. However they also
distort objects in the distance of outdoor scenes. So, if you have mountains in your background, no matter how
large they are, they will appear much smaller in the photo. Wide angle lenses also stretch distances making
the space between your objects seem much larger than they actually are.

The photo below immediately comes to mind when I talk about wide angle distortion. In real life, the bush in
the foreground was small and the mountain range in the background was large. However, using a wide angle
lens allowed me to change the perception of my subjects to make the foreground element stand out more.

On the other hand, your telephoto lenses are

going to do the opposite of your wide angle lenses.
Telephoto lenses, like a 70-200 lens, will create
more compression between the subjects of your
photos. If you have a close foreground paired with
a distant background, you’ll see them much more
closely stacked together when you look into your
viewfinder.

It’s extremely important to understand what each

lens has the capability of doing. When you know
your lenses better, you are able to visualize and see
photo compositions much more easily.

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3. LOOK FOR SPACE

Any type of space is important in outdoor photography. It’s how we organize our frames and decide where
things are supposed to go. You can include a lot of space in an image, or no space at all. Whichever you prefer,
you need to develop the ability to see space to really improve compositions and photo structure.

The space I’m referring to is the negative space within your photography and how to place subjects
within those areas. For example, have you ever taken a photo and wished your subject stood out more,
but you couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t obviously the subject or how to fix it? I get it. It can be absolutely
dumbfounding. I’ve been in the same situation. One day I was scrolling through Instagram and noticed
every subject was jumping off the screen at me. That’s when I realized that their subjects were placed in
front of negative spaces and solid objects and not in front of clutter. When I started doing this with my own
photography, I noticed a huge improvement to my subjects, my overall composition, and the quality of my
photographs.

For example, the photograph below that was taken on the Harpeth River in Tennessee soon after I figured
out the best practices of subject placement. Not only is the subject able to be immediately located, but the
complementary subjects, which are the boats, are also easily seen within a negative space hole.

It may take some

practice to see the
negative spaces within a
scene, but remember to
be persistent in looking
for them and be creative
about your perspective
to create spaces.
Remember, sometimes
you must react to
the scene and move
in order to create a
composition that works.
If you really want to nail
this technique, don’t
leave a location until
you’ve shot at least five
different compositions.
This will force you
to think differently
about your photos
instead of shooting
one composition per
location.

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4. REMOVE CLUTTER
Similar to spacing in your outdoor photography, clutter can make a potentially amazing photograph lack
quality. I’m not talking about clutter behind your subject specifically, although you should strive to reduce
that. I’m more so talking about clutter on the edges and in the background of your photography.

This was my biggest struggle in outdoor photography four years ago. I could see that I was visualizing
potentially great photos, but there was just something about my images that I didn’t like. Slowly but surely I
began to notice that I wasn’t excluding enough out of the composition and that was cluttering my images.
Because of this, I was shooting confusing compositions instead of clearly organized photos.

I had some help from photographer Michael Frye who said, “Take a photo and inspect it. If your composition
and subject are confusing and hard to see, remove any clutter from the photograph and simplify your
composition. Repeat the process several times until you get it right.”

A great example of this would be from a trip to Grand Teton National Park. I was fortunate enough to witness
an amazing sunrise unfold on the Tetons. However, the way in which I framed the shot would determine if it
would be a great photograph. My first shot included a fence that I tried to use as a foreground and leading
line.

WITH CLUTTER WITHOUT CLUTTER

While it was an interesting shot and I had great subject and color, the photo was a bit too cluttered. So, I
reworked the composition and removed the fence as it was cluttering the image. By removing the fence I was
able to create a much more simplistic photograph, but one that is much less cluttered and visually pleasing.

Learning how to remove clutter from my photography was extremely tedious at first. However, after a few
months of trudging through the process, I was discovering that I was eliminating clutter more quickly.
Eventually I could see clutter before I even looked through my viewfinder.

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5. TELL THE WHOLE STORY

Outdoor photography began as a form of documentation of places. That early photography spirit still exists in
what we now know as the artform of outdoor photography composition. So, in the spirit of documentation,
photographers should be aware of the story that they’re shooting. Every place we go has a story to tell,
whether that’s a simple story or a complex one.

I’m not talking about starting an entire documentary photography project of your backyard down to the
smallest detail of each individual ant perusing through the grass. I’m talking about the ability to communicate
an entire story in each image.

This is most easily seen in waterfall photography. I see a lot of waterfall photos (my own included) that leave
a lot to be desired. That’s because the whole story of that waterfall isn’t being told. When you’re shooting
something like a waterfall, it’s important to create a composition of where the water is coming from, where it
turns, twists, and falls, and where it concludes. The last part is the most forgotten part of the story to include.

The perfect way to show you this is with this photo of a waterfall from Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The photo below shows the entire story of the path of the water. The origins of the falls are in the background,
the meandering stream winds and falls over the old boulders in the midground, and the conclusion of the
water is represented in the foreground. If someone were to look at this photo they would easily see the entire
story of this waterfall.

When you’re taking a

photograph, always
remember to ask
yourself, “Did I start the
story, and did I finish
the story?” You may be
surprised to see that
you may not always
include the ending. I
know I am frequently!
All great stories, books,
and movies have
a great beginning,
conflict, and ending.
Do the same in your
outdoor photography.

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6. LEADING LINES
The next step to improving your outdoor photography is to use leading lines properly. If you don’t know what
leading lines are, they are a composition technique to elongate lines within your composition to pull or drag
the viewer into your frame. With that being said, you may notice that I said use them PROPERLY. In other
words, you can’t simply include leading lines into your frame just because they are there. There has to be a
specific reason for you to include them into your photograph.

Obviously, that begs the question, “How do I use leading lines properly?”

Great question. Like I said, there has to be a reason that you’re using leading lines, especially for foregrounds.
Leading lines are used to pull someone into the image. So naturally, your leading lines have to lead your viewer
somewhere. You can’t have leading lines directing the eye to nowhere. That’s like drawing a map that will lead
people to get lost in the middle of the woods.

To serve the purpose of leading lines best, have

them point or direct your viewer directly to the
subject of your photograph. This will directly impact
the quality of your composition and your image.

Also, be sure not to only use your leading lines

in vertical images. That can be the easiest way to
include leading lines because you can stretch the
lines at the bottom of the frame. Also be mindful
that if you’re shooting a photograph in landscape
view, try to include leading lines on the sides of your
frame too. Pulling viewers into the frame from the
left or the right and directing them towards the
subject is just as effective as pulling them in from
the bottom of the image.

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7. LEARN EVERYTHING ABOUT WEATHER

Weather shapes the outdoors. So, it’s easy to imagine how much weather can shape how an image of the
outdoors will look. It’s not uncommon for outdoor photographers to find themselves in a weather or light
situation in which they are uncomfortable. That’s why when photographers figure out weather and know
more about how it will impact an outdoor scene they are more likely to harness the weather and create an
amazing image.

To harness weather to the best of your ability, you need to know about weather conditions and what types of
photos would be good for each. For example, dreary, foggy weather in the winter would probably be great for
black and white photography. Clearing storms close to sunsets provide a great opportunity for rainbows over
landscapes. Clouds are a great light diffuser for waterfalls and wildlife.

Not only will your knowledge of weather yield more professional photographs, but you’ll gain a better
appreciation for the varying climates of the places you visit.

The best example I can think of was from a storm passing through the Teton mountain range. While I was
new to the area, I had watched several clouds pass through the same pattern all day long. In the morning
I watched the clouds
through the timelapse
videos I was shooting,
but in the afternoon I
quickly noticed the storm
cloud approaching and
positioned myself in a
valley to capture the
clouds roll through.

There’s certainly a lot to

be mindful of when you’re
constructing a photograph
in the field. However, if
you commit to implement
two to three of these
techniques at a time and
master them, I guarantee
that your photography will
improve immediately.

The most important

thing to remember when
you’re working on your
photography is that you began outdoor photography because you enjoy it. Continue to enjoy the photography,
but also enjoy the process of getting better. I remember when compositional techniques clicked for me after
I had worked on them for months and months. The realization of what my photography could be made me
love outdoor photography ten times more once I figured out a new technique.

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MY NOTES

Looking for more helpful

photography tips & tricks?
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this, and to watch exclusive photography
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