Moss and a Tree by the Creek #2. Middle Saint Vrain Creek, Colorado, 2012
That is one of the best pieces of basic advice I have been given from more experienced photographers.
When you are in the studio or in the field composing your image through the viewfinder or on the LCD, it is fine to initially capture a few images from some distance away from your subject…but, then, start moving in and try to remove the extraneous. Many, many times, I have found that the images I recorded once I moved in closer were much better than the more distant images.
As you do this, ask yourself some questions. What exactly caught my eye? Why do I want to photograph this? What elements are key to communicating my message or story? What is my message or story? What elements are absolutely necessary and which are not? Usually, the simpler your image and the fewer distracting elements you include, the better. Wait, not “usually”, always! (An interesting comparison: In painting, the artist adds elements to the canvas to meet what has been pre-visualized while, in photography, the artist tends to subtract elements from the scene to meet what is in the mind’s eye.)
There might be a couple of technical points to be brought up here. Getting closer means you won’t be cropping as much in post and thus your image will have more pixels to work with and the image quality will be better. On the other hand, in some cases you might actually want to leave a little space around your visualized image in order to leave some wiggle room for a bit of creative cropping. Generally, though, closer will be better.
So, move on in!
Leave a reply