FIND SUBJECTS WITH IMPACT

The world is awash with images, so to create interest, you need to shoot something a little different

Photographs that turn heads are usually full of impact – the impact of colour, the impact of light, and the impact of a location. For example, rather than a plain blue sky, people generally react more strongly to wispy strands of mist curling around a mountain peak. Our eyes simply like to see something interesting and intriguing.

The easiest way to create images with drama and impact is to photograph subjects and scenes already exhibiting these features. This may mean changing the time of day or the types of weather you shoot in, or travelling to locations where the subject matter is so different to your usual surroundings, it has impact on your audience at home.

Finding the best, most impactful subjects to shoot can simply be the result of lucky happenstance, but you’ll improve your chances if you set out to purposely capture images with impact. Chances are you’re already doing this to some extent.

For instance, begin with an exotic location or subject – like a temple in Bhutan, as in the image above. The small kingdom’s culture, architecture and landscape are completely different to the likes of the United Kingdom and Australia, and it is this difference that can give your images impact. Of course, the same photographs may have limited differences when shown to a Bhutanese audience, so what has impact for one audience may have less impact for another. But it is a great excuse for planning a trip away and experiencing a culture different to your own.

When you’re at your exotic landscape or with your exotic subject, the light, camera angle, composition and gesture can have a huge impact on the resulting photographs. The solution is standard photography advice: be there and shoot lots! When travelling, we might not be able to return as often as we’d like or when the weather is perfect, but we can ensure the alarm is set to wake up for that sunrise, no matter how unlikely a good one is. Being out there and constantly on the hunt for opportunities is the best way to capture images with impact.

Left aboveFIRST LIGHT Even with dramatic subject matter, photographing it with great light and weather remains critical. a 2am start was required to capture this sunrise

Left DIFFERENT CAMERA ANGLES if you have the budget for a flight, or perhaps you own a drone, looking for aerial camera angles with a difference can add serious impact to your photographs