Guidelines for including vegetation in compositional photographs

21 March, 2013

Vegetation like trees, plants and their branches can easily be included in the foreground on the bottom-right or bottom or top-left intersection of the frame to add extra interest to the image of a subject. Only point to be kept in mind is the third-line in the horizon doesn't cut the picture in half.

For photography of vegetation in the foreground, even go for trial-and-error to get strong compositions rather than strictly following the rule of thirds and other conventional compositional principles. Rather, try getting down low and shooting up if you on the ground.

At times, look around and find something to stand on to shoot down. In addition, play around with the position of the camera until everything in the picture looks balanced and solid.

Either, focusing on vegetation or keeping it in the foreground helps to frame photos and will often give the image a sense of depth and atmosphere. Moreover, the wide-angle lenses work well in such a situation when we are shooting at ground level and the subject is close enough to the lens that it will dominate the image.

Macro lenses are particularly good for low-angle shooting and close by small subjects and smaller size vegetation. If you get to eye level with your subject, or even below it, you can turn a field of grass into a forest, or a praying mantis or other insects into images larger than life.

When shooting through vegetation, switch to manual focus to avoid focus on foreground vegetation and keep it on the subject rather. If you’re using a zoom lens, you can often focus through fences and thorny bushes.