Beginner Looking for composition advice?

[Steve922]

A rank beginner and here is my first try. Hoping for some criticism which might help me with composition. Walking around looking for something 'interesting' to try out my new hobby on, I came across a fishing match at a local lake and this is my picture of it.

As a beginner I'd appreciate any comments here. Is it just dull and uninteresting? Have I included too much? The fishermen, the lake, rescue buoy, car park with 'burger van, access, etc. Does it suffer from no 'major' large subject? It was a cold and overcast morning (yep! that's fishing as I remember it!) and a featureless sky. How could I have improved this?

Taken with a Nikon L26 Point and Shoot camera.

View attachment 40390

 

[Rich_Ellis]

Hi Steve
I think you probably know already by your comments. Composition is actually simpler than you think. As a starting point, it sounds like you had a good basis for a good shot. The memory of fishing under overcast skies on a cold morning. Now look at your photograph. Put yourself in the viewers shoes ie we weren't there with you. Does your image capture fishing, cold, overcast, ie your intention? I think you know it doesn't.

Now think what might have captured the things you wanted to put across. Firstly, fishing, I can just make out two humans far away on a bank but cant tell they are fishing. Get up close to them. If its cold, show them wrapped up against the elements with a flask of hot coffee in the background (or something!). A simple quiet, "are you ok if i snap a couple of pics?" works wonders and can get great results.

Read up about rules of thirds etc and understand them but dont be obsessed with rules. Be free but think about your shots and what you want to put across and then try it out. Otherwise they become merely snapshots.

In this image my eye is immediately drawn to the path in the middle that leads to nothing and then the empty park benches with nothing on them, I missed the fishermen altogether! How do I know its cold?

Hope this helps

Rich

 

[Steve922]

Thanks so much for your comment, Rich.

... think about your shots and what you want to put across and then try it out...

This is how I need to approach things more, perhaps? You seem to have pointed out things which should have occurred to me - but didn't; neither before nor after the taking the shot. They seem obvious as you mention them!

Otherwise they become merely snapshots.

Which is what I think this is. Thanks again for clueing me in to the reasons why.

BTW, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable approaching close and taking a few snaps. They'd think I was weird or something!

Steve

 

[ghoti]

BTW, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable approaching close and taking a few snaps. They'd think I was weird or something!

Steve

If you feel really weird about it, you could just lie to them I suppose. You could say something like "I'm taking some shots for a brochure of the local area/for the council/for the park/for a website". None of these are particularly consequential fibs. It's not going to matter terribly that you've misled them a little.