Stop these COMPOSITION MISTAKES and improve your photos
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- Опубликовано: 25 мар 2023
- Are you not happy with your photos? In this video I go back and look at some of my photos and explain how they could be improved with these simple composition tips.
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NIKON GEAR (Main STILLS camera)
Current landscape camera - Nikon Z7 - geni.us/nikonz7
Awesome telephoto lens - Nikon 70-200m f/2.8 - geni.us/nikon70200
Great ultra-wide angle lens - Nikon 14-30mm f/4 - geni.us/1430mm
Hiking mid lens - Nikon 24-70mm Z f4 - geni.us/nikon2470
Sharpest mid lens - Nikon 24-70mm Z f2.8 geni.us/2470mm28
Very long lens - Nikon 500mm F5.6 - geni.us/nikon500mm
FILM GEAR
AWESOME DRONE - geni.us/dji_mavic3
Nikon Z6 - geni.us/z6nikon
Nikon 20mm Z F1.8 - geni.us/nikon20mmz
Nikon 24mm Z F1.8 - geni.us/nikon24mm
Nikon 50mm Z F1.8 - geni.us/nikon50mmz
Nikon 85mm Z F1.8 - geni.us/nikon85mmz
OTHER PHOTO GEAR
Clever camera strap (peak design) - geni.us/PDstrap
Microfibre Cloths - geni.us/microfibre
Rab Downpour Pants - geni.us/rainpants
Awesome sensor brush - geni.us/brush4sensor
GorillaPod - geni.us/Kb9mV
The great printer I use Canon P1000 - geni.us/cIIc
Great bag for hiking - Tenba 24L - geni.us/orPwh
Great bag for travel (carry on) - Tenba 32L - geni.us/tenba32l
Super light Benro Travel Tripod UK - geni.us/Benrotravel
A must have for tripod (L bracket) - geni.us/myLbracket
Lightweight tripod - Benro Mach3 Carbon Fiber Tripod - geni.us/benromach3
Paper I use for all my prints - Fotospeed - geni.us/fotospeed Use DANSON10 to get 10% off your paper.
The learning curve and mindset changed over your last years and this is so fruitful for all photographers. Never stop developing yourself! Challenge yourself at any time.
Seeing your "average" shots is very encouraging for the normal mortal 😅. So there is hope for improvement!
I really appriciate your analysis and your tipps.
Love your channel Nigel. As someone who has only just started on my photography journey, you really do help simplify things. Every time a video of yours pops up, it always inspires me to get out with my camera.
We get badly misled by our bodies in two ways. Firstly, we see in 3D but photograph in 2D. Secondly, our brains "zoom". These two factors cause us all to try to photograph an image that isn't really there! :-)
Thanks for the video. Good tips.
One mistake I always find myself making is rushing to take that shot. Need to work more on that. Thanks for great advice
Great tips - thanks Nigel!
Good reminders here Nigel. I sometimes cringe looking at my old photos…. The scare thing is, Instill find many cringe worthy photos I still take to this day! 😮. Thanks, and as always, keep snapping!
Just 3 hours ago I was walking my dog on some property and some guy asked me what I was doing on his property. "I'm just scouting out some prospects for my photography," I answered. He looked at me quizzically for a moment and then grinned and said, "Carry on!" I know for a fact that he was not the owner of the property as the real owner had done some work for me in the past. I get home and am watching different YT videos and yours comes on and the tip at the end saying to 'leave your camera, leave your tripod in the car' and just look into the composition brought it all together for me remembering earlier.
I am late commenting but this is so so useful! We learn best from our mistakes, apparently. But when someone as talented as Nigel is willing to share his mistakes, it speeds up our learning process almost exponentially. Thank you!
I agree, Nigel.
Less is more. My favourite of this video, trees shown at 9:30
Enchanting
Made us all feel better. We probably all got images that were good then, but they never were.Thank you
Whilst you put out very high quality content each week. I think this in terms of my learning is the best yet. It really, in such a practical way has helped me in thinking about composition. What would be good if whilst out in the field in real time you could show compositions of a scene or subject that someone may take aka your early photos and then recompose the shot to show and explain how it works so much better.
This is why I love your channel: Every time, it feels like I can learn something new and jot down a few notes about other lessons I've learned on landscape photography. Plus, I really enjoy the way you share your experiences with us, the audience. :)
Reviewing your less satisfying shots is very useful. Of course I like them (almost) all but I get your point. Thank you.
Thanks for another coffee with Nigel Sunday morning.
This advice is pure wisdom for anyone wanting to be a better landscape photographer!
An excellent tutorial, Nigel. With the Yellowstone shot, the bright highlight in the bottom right catches my eye and won't let go.
As a hobbyist, I still find it useful to review images I've taken in the past, even going back years, to see what I could have done compositionally to improve the image. It's a great self learning tool and thank you Nigel for covering this topic. It truly does assist in making you a better photographer.
Just the other day I was looking thru some photos of my Dad's shop that I took in 2006 and as I was looking at all the tools that he had, I was thinking to myself, "That's where I got that hammer, that tape measure, that Amprobe, that mortising machine, that tool, that other tool, etc..." I inherited all his tools within a couple years of that time. He was a woodworker. I have all my photos stored on my computer and I go back thru some of my photos to see where I have, and still need to improve also.
Great tips. I often find …… rocks are just rocks ……. or flowers are just flowers. When I’m at 24mm or wider my compositions often become a hot mess. Thank you.
I watch all of your videos. Personally, this is one of the best. I really like how you critique your own work and intertwine tips and ideas on how to improve. Keep doing these as I learn a lot from this type of instruction.
Thanks Nigel - I find these compositional review videos soooo helpful!
Great video which lays bare exactly the mistakes I am making currently. That last tipp of yours is gold.
8:48 "Absolutly useless, is it not" 😂 Love your way to give your self critique, and nice to see that it actually IS hard to get that one great photo.
Many useful tips reinforcing the things I need to be paying more attention to when shooting!
Helpful! Thank you Nigel!
It like you are digging through my files! Alas, so many errors made - and yet to be made!
So timely for me Nigel, thanks! I too find that I take far too many images similar to your examples, and your suggestions for improvement will certainly help my compositions. Also, thanks for sharing yours - gives hope to us mere mortals that you sometimes make / made the same mistakes. Your closing thoughts on waiting & observing - I recently read "Change the way you see, and the things you see will change" and found that, once I got my head around this statement, and then applied it to my photography, it does indeed make a big difference. Thanks again, until next week.
Fantastic video Nigel! I can't wait for your book to come out!
Great advice Nigel. Loved this!
It’s something that we could all do, go through our old photos and see where we have improved and what still needs work. Thanks for sharing again Nigel
Stay safe 🇦🇺
Really appreciate the honest and discussion, so helpful!
Thanks I love these tips
Excellent tips, thank you!
Great tips as always, Nigel. Thanks for all of your excellent content.
Than ks Nigel, fantastic tips.
I enjoy these types of videos. It reminds us that are just staring out that photographers like yourself also stated somewhere and have taken plenty of average photos through the years. I was surprised how many of the photos you showed I actually thought how to make it a better shot before you came with a tip. Must be learning something then.. 😂
Thanks again Nigel.😊
Really enjoyed the walk through memory lane. A really effective way to demonstrate what to think about. The best part of the video is the reenforcement that everyone starts somewhere and always room for improvement.
Great video Nigel. It’s good to see how these images could have been improved with a small change in composition. Your honesty in your own critique is refreshing. Keep up the good work 👍🏻
Thanks for all of your help. I went to Maryland’s Eastern Shore recently and you were in my head every time I took my camera out.
Love the look around tip! It is actually true.
I have a thought that I always try to remember when I'm hiking and shooting photos: "Remember that people almost never look back!"
One of the coolest photos I had in Iceland was just that: some guys had stopped the car to shoot at a landscape on the right. I stopped to do the same... But I remembered "people never look back", and there was a whole family of sheep on a hill with a foggy mountain on the background.
I remember so many cars saw me and stopped to have the same photo... the sheep just scattered and I was the only one that had it :')
Really enjoy your composition videos, thanks.
Thank you so much for these wonderful videos. I am enjoying them so much.
Great video as always. I hear your voice in the back of my head every time I’m hiking. Thanks for making me a better photographer.
A great one, Nigel. Watched it three times. Learned a lot. Thank you!
Thank you once again for your brilliant insight and guidance.
Very helpful tips. Always looking forward to your videos.
Thanks Wolfgang
Thanks for sharing this video with us. I am sure its quite humbling to show us some of your photos from 10-20 years ago when you were where many of us are today in our walk. It’s wonderful to see the progress that you have made in your art and it gives us all hope that if we continue to work on our craft that we can see similar progress.
Good tips, especially the last one.
Extremely helpful information. Thanks
Thanks for such an honest look at composition errors. Am guilty of pretty much all of these. Good reminder for tomorrow when I go out to photograph vast valleys & power stations 🤔
Love the extended ending - boom!
It is so good to see, that even great landscape photographers have a learning curve and they also shot pictures that haven't been great!
So educational! Thank you very much
It's sometimes a good reason to reconsider your photographic work. Thanks for your illustrative video.
Such great learning. Thank you Nigel for sharing your wisdom. Always so interesting. Keep it up!
I specialize in photographing beautiful flowers with effects lenses which is great fun. However, when going over them some time later, doing what you demonstrate here, I find how maybe I could have made the picture better. I will do this especially now that I've watched this video, and take greater care in taking the initial photo. Truly, this video is good for everyone, no matter the subject matter of each photographer. I've learned a lot watching your videos. Thank you for all you do to help us to improve our photos.
It can be hard, but so helpful to look at your past pictures and see how you've improved over the years, what you are doing better at, and what you can still improve upon.
Great content and insight.
Great video, thank you for sharing..
Thank you!
Very interesting to see some of your older photographs! And your self review is very helpful. I never take time to watch my first pictures taken with my dslr. Thanks to this video, I'm going to take that time; surely it will help to evaluate my evolution.
Thanks for sharing Nigel! That last tip is the most significant to me: Just look at first and don’t shoot!
Great tips!
Thank you ... very informative and enjoyable video !
It is reassuring that even the most experienced of photographers have this experience. We all probably take too little time finding the right composition at the taking stage and instead substitute quality with quantity in the hope that we can make some images. But, that is part of the journey. Finding those compositions at the editing stage by being critical is what guides you later with your finger on the shutter release. It is a circular and iterative process.
I can't count how many "palm-to-forehead" slaps I've done looking at my images from the past... (sometimes that past was just minutes ago...). I've had a camera in my hands for the last 5 decades and your vids always inspire me to pick it up and go hunting... perhaps for my next palm-to-forehead slap? We learn by doing; and "we" (photographers) are our own worst critic. Love the vids and your teachings - looking forward to your next video! Cheers!
Most enjoyable and quite informative. Composition is the main thing I am working on this year. I look forward to your new ebook on the subject, Nigel. Cheers.
Nigel, thank you. That was probably the best composition advise, captured so succinctly, that I have watched.
This video was so very helpful. The more photos one takes, hopefully we do improve, and I love seeing you critiquing your early work.
Great video Nigel, hope you are feeling better. Just got back from the Faroes with Mads, and it's difficult in the field to think of everything... at least it is for me. I think if I could just slow down while shooting it would help a lot. thanks for these tips !! Love the snowy tree photo from Iceland !! keep them coming.
excellent tips!
Great honest knowledgeable content with real ways to improve composition. Thanks 🙏
What a amazing video, I have only been doing landscape for a few years and this one, if you’re honest with yourself as a photographer is so true of all of us . The journey we are all on at different stages of our lives . Look back and laugh at those first images. Then look at you’re progress. Loved your honesty. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for sharing, a great sesion can identify with all you have shown, only hope I remember the tips about how to improve. Learning so much from your generosity.
As always, very informative and honest reflection. I like how you get me energized to improve without getting discouraged. Be safe!! Mike from Chicago
👍 Thanks for good lesson of composition,
Excellent tutorial with case studies. Thank you so much, it solved one of the major confusion.
Great!
This is exactly what I suggested you to do a couple of weeks ago.
I was very curious about the way you look back at your previous work.
Thx!
This is a super useful video. I really struggle to get good photos and your ideas about where the problems might occur really make sense.
I'm new to this hobby. I will enjoy and learn. Thank you.
Excellent and clear advice. Thank you for being willing to show your mistakes, it gives the rest of us hope that we can improve :)
Loved this video. I thought some of your early images were amazing. You can see the growth though and it's good to get tips to help us grow. Thank you!
Watching and enjoying it from the other side of the planet. I keep making the same mistakes…
This is great. Practical advice with illustrated examples is such useful guidance for visual thinkers. Thanks for this.
Great bunch of tips and Advice. Slowing down is something I have to do, I always seem to be rushing...
I agree with the 6th option Adam. I just purchased my first printer after watching yours and Gary Goughs various vlogs about printing, and it really does put the physical icing on the photography cake!
Oh this is so good. Some of the early photos remind me of my current ones. So just 20 more years. 😀
Observe the scene first. Something I fail doing but hope to get better at. I'm amazed at how brilliantly you've critiqued your own photos which at first look one would never have known they weren't perfect in the first place. You are really good at composition. Thank you for passing your knowledge onto so many of us aspiring photographers. Hope your recovery is continuing to good movement.
I’ve really enjoyed watching this one Nigel. I enjoy all your videos, but seeing where you were 10-20 years ago has given me confidence and inspired me. Thank you as always, Richard Harris
As ever, fantastic video. Your compositional tips are always so practical and intuitive, you genuinely inspire me to get my camera out and try your tips. Thank you so much. 👏
Great to hear!
Thank you for this! Good tips for me as i have really bad problems with compositions. It feels like i should spend more time looking at the good spot, sometimes when i get somewhere with amazing scene i just panic and cant get in to the creative mood especially when there's some other photographers. This happened to me in lofoten islands in norway just a week ago. I need to get there back to someday find some more interesting spots and lights.
Nigel, that really is one of the most helpful composition vlogs I have seen for ages. Maybe because it talks to so many of my own failings. I want to work on this in the coming year ( improving my composition that is) and your last tip I think really is one I need to implement first. I also find I see everything as a big picture wide angle view and struggle with isolating using a longer lens…more vlogs in that as a topic?
Thanks for sharing, to take time means also to arrive on time and when in Iceland don't have an overcrowded travel plan (hard thing to do since there's soo much to see). My personal tip would be to always look around and behind for other compositions than the main event.
A good set of reminders here...thanks, Nigel! In a way they are all connected by a need to slow down, see in detail what's around, and think. I need to remind myself of this all the time, and I'm not always successful at at that. Scouting a location in advance helps with that, since it reduces the headless chicken mode when the great light is only around for a few minutes.
So, twenty years on you've made some progress. That's always a good thing.😉
I'm guessing the Maui shot was a snap of that "Oh Wow" moment after you've climbed the steps to the observation area from the car park, you're cold and out of breath because of the altitude, and you see the massive Haleakala crater for the first time. Anyway, that's the way I felt. Great discussion! Carry on! 👍🥂
Just read your newsletter The very last shot black and gold Luskentyre is utterly fantastic Nigel. I totally love the abstraction, wonderful shapes, minimalism and composition. 🎉
Oh and the video review of old photos was super helpful and encouraging
Nigel, I must say that I really, really like THE WAY that you teach, as well as WHAT you teach. You are so comfortable in your profession that you demonstrate with your own early shots and are happy to criticize them; you don't put yourself on a pedestal and say: 'look at my images, look how great I am!' Instead, you review your previous images, highlighting the mistakes you made and then show the progression with your more recent work. Secondly, WHAT you teach: many creators on RUclips, focus on 'PS magic' to transform images; however, if the composition is wrong (sub-optimal) there is little that PS can do to help. Simply, stopping looking for the composition, perhaps eating that apple, to get the feel for a place and then composing the image that captures how we felt about a location is such a key skill IMHO and one that you teach so well. Many thanks :)
Really enjoy your videos, Nigel: very informative, therapeutic and the pacing allows me time to think. Currently, I think I am at your 2002 stage of photography :-), but with your help, am already picking up on the faults in my compositions. Thanks!
What a lovely episode this was, a bit nostalgic for "old" iceland there, I think you could be a better guide on iceland for me than myself, even though I live here.
Great video.