A lot of the technique of photography is not choosing WHAT you photograph, but HOW you photograph it.

Here’s an example that dramatically shows this. Below is an image uploaded to the Digital Photo Forum of a bridge towards the Adriatic Sea.

(C) 2005, EjlaNow, here’s the same object at a different time of day, and a slightly different angle.
(C) 2005, Dean NovackIsn’t that a dramatic difference! Here’s how it was done.The second shot was taken by making two changes :

• moving the camera away from eye level. In this case, closer to the ground to accentuate the curve of the bridge
• taking the shot at night to add color, drama and better shadows

With only two differences, you get a much better shot.

There is a difference in camera too. The first shot was taken on an Olympus Point and Shoot camera, whereas the second was taken using a Canon EOS 300D SLR. The SLR camera would have made taking the night shot easier, but the second shot would still have been very possible to take with the Olympus.

It can be that simple. Next time you’re out shooting, try this experiment :

Just after you take a shot, make one change (change the shotting angle, the Depth of Field, the time of day, a camera setting, or something else) and try the shot again. If you have time, repeat this process 3 or 4 times and see if you can get a better image.

Thanks to our Forum member Elja and Dean Novacki for permission to use the images.