MASTER SUBJECT POSITIONING
Andrew Goodall (naturesimage.com.au) gives us his advice
1 EVALUATE THE OPPORTUNITY
Backgrounds matter as much as the subject in a successful wildlife photo. When faced with an opportunity, consider every part of what you can see, including the setting. if it is busy or distracting wait for the subject to move to a better spot.
2 ON THE RIGHT TRACK
When a decent opportunity presents itself, start working on composing your photo. Conventional wisdom tells us our subject should be ‘looking into the frame,’ so we should allow more space in front than behind. But how much space is enough?
3 CONSIDER THE ENVIRONMENT
Decide if the setting improves the image. here the subject is on the right, facing left – overall the composition is fine, but with little interest in that location, there is no reason to show as much of it. this opportunity needs more bird, less background.
4 ELIMINATE WASTED SPACE
this is the same image cropped to bring the bird closer and remove wasted space, while the subject is still looking into the shot from right to left. i like to have the eye positioned along the top ‘rule of thirds’ line, ensuring comfortable spacing around the head.
5 CONSIDER VERTICAL
in all the previous shots, i have opted to create landscapeoriented photos. But if i am framing an image around a largely vertical subject, i never forget to try turning the camera sideways to build a portrait composition.
6 USE EFFECTIVE BACKGROUNDS
the termite mound makes a more interesting setting, so i was happy to zoom back and make it a feature. With so much extra space it is important to get the balance right. the subject is placed near the intersecting point of the grid.