Landscape/Travel Shots

Characteristics of this type of shot: A lighthouse image taken late in the day, using negative space to draw you to the subject.

(1) This shot has a very painterly look to it, helped by the fact that it was taken close to sunset. That ensures that the light hitting the lighthouse will be soft, warm (yellowish), and interesting (just lighting part of the subject). So, the first ingredient is great light.

(2) The low angle really helps a lot. This wall of grass helps hide all the touristy things going on around the lighthouse, including signs, marked pathways, and, of course, tourists walking around the lighthouse. The low angle hides all that stuff and simplifies the scene big time. The shot is also helped by the clouds, which make for great landscape and travel shots, and help give the image its painterly look.

(3) The big compositional ingredient is a technique I covered back on page 37, which is the use of negative space, while utilizing the rule of thirds at the same time. By putting the lighthouse way over to the right side, with nothing else in the shot to compete with it, your eyes are instantly drawn to it. The horizon line is in the lower third, which makes the image more dynamic, as does the placement of the lighthouse in the right third (see page 31 for more on the rule of thirds). Lastly, it’s a simple image. It’s not busy. There are no distractions. It’s clean. It communicates the idea and the subject in a simple way, which makes the image really strong.