Compose your photos: How to elevate your travel photography

Photography is more than the location and the gear. You can create interesting perspectives that willl captivate your audience with the art of composition. Whether it’s your subject or your lens moving around, you can manipulate your photographs into different moods and overall feeling just by composition.

Rule of Thirds

Instead of putting your subject in the center of the photo you can slightly off put them. This showcases the surrounding location while still bringing the subject into the story. Adding visual interest and a natural effect for the viewer.

Leading Lines

Leading lines direct your viewers eyes straight to the point. Allowing them to see exactly what you want them to see without them knowing. Creating depth and paths, you can see in the upper photos how it leads your eyes straight to the point.

Framing with natural borders

Look around you and step back for a moment. Ask yourself how can I make this more interesting with what’s already here. Using pathways, leaves, doorframes and in this case the fence you can create your own reality of the scene.

Negative space

You can use this technique to build a mood or to highlight your subject. Using the negative space for the coastlines, skies, fields etc you can add substance and visual appeal. Try this technique out by allowing the surroundings in and leaving the space around your subject..

Symmetry

Symmetry works well with reflection offering th perfect symmetry everytime but you can find others ways to shoot. You can try architecture, tunnels, trees planted in a straight line it’s endless. This type of style is satisfying.

Different angles

This might sound self explanatory but I had to tell myself to “get low” or ” climb up a bit” because I always shot at eye level. Try this to capture a whole different perspective on your storytelling process. The first photo with the hands I was fully laying on the ground haha.

The Formula I use

• Clean background

• Detail shot

• Leading line

• Low angle, High angle

• Framed

• Rule of Thirds

So long story short, your gear doesn’t always matter the most. Even with an iPhone you can get interesting photos that will have your eyes locked.

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