2 Create balance

Use compositional devices to frame your shots at the point of capture

Compositional devices are the perfect way to bring balance to your images, and to lead the viewer into and through your landscape captures. The main three guidelines that you can use are the rule of thirds, foreground interest and leading lines.

The main image on the right uses the rule of thirds to create visual balance in the scene. The rule of thirds is where you imagine the camera frame is divided by two horizontal and two vertical lines, forming nine equally sized rectangles. Focal points and foreground interest are then positioned at the four points where these lines intersect, and the horizon is placed on the top horizontal line. Many cameras allow you to turn on this grid in the viewfinder and on the rear screen to aid with composition. It’s simple, but highly effective.

Leading lines are linear elements in a scene, such as a road, a wall, a stream or rocks, that typically start in the bottom area of the frame and lead the viewer’s eye into the scene.

Foreground interest is an object relevant to the scene that’s composed in the foreground to fill empty space, and to create a visual stepping stone into the image.

By composing the most prominent rocks in this scene according to the rule of thirds, the rocks are visually well-balanced and act as foreground interest within the sky-reflected water.