In the interest of sharing what I have learned over the years, I decided to start a new feature that I hope I can update on a regular basis. I went to Honeymoon Island yesterday evening and found wonderful lighting and some great images to photograph. As I approached one of the benches there and was drawn to the lighting, I went through the process of eliminating all extraneous parts of the image almost automatically. As I paused, I realized that many may not have the benefit of my experience. So, here is the do not do:
Obviously, a nice bench, nice lighting, good sea oats, nice sky…But, my shadow, cars in the background, horizon line not level… so, try this…
Better, but lighting flattened out and I lost the tops of the sea oats.. so … try this…
Much better lighting, my shadow is gone, the sea oats are in the sky so that they stand out, the parking lot is all but gone, but the horizon line is still a little bit askew, so … go ahead, take one more…
Horizon line much straighter, the bench now appears to not be leaning forward, the sea oats are more pronounced in the blue sky and even in the clouds. You can find great images anywhere, just look. Then look again, adjust your position, walk around the image, get down low or up high, until you find the look you are looking for. Make your images great!