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Five composition habits that improve any landscape

Fieldcraft

Five composition habits that improve any landscape

The five working habits we drill on Composition in the Field days β€” no gear required, and all of them practiseable within ten minutes of our gate.

Five composition habits that improve any landscape

Composition is not a talent you are born with; it is a set of habits you can drill. On our field days we run the same five, in the same order, until they are automatic.

One: choose a foreground before anything else. The most common reason a Lakeland photo disappoints is that it is all middle-distance. A wall, a stream bend, a patch of heather β€” something for the picture to stand on.

Two: work the scene. Take the obvious shot, then move five paces left, kneel, and take three more. We ask for a five-frame sequence from one viewpoint before anyone moves on. Three: give the horizon a decision, never a compromise β€” high or low, on purpose. Four: wait for the light to give you separation, that faint rim of brightness that lifts a fell from the one behind it. Five: walk away, then look back. The picture is often behind you.

None of these need a better camera. All of them need a bit of discipline, which is exactly what a day in the field with six people and one tutor is good at building.

Liked this? It’s one hour of our Composition in the Field day β€” come and do it properly.
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