If you’ve ever gone shooting with a nature or landscape photographer worthy of their salt you’ll notice that they turn around a great deal.
Good photographers are not Prussian soldiers with ramrod straight backs looking only straight ahead.
They have hungry eyes. They look, they peer, they bend to see the view from unusual angles.
When you think they will be shooting vistas they come back with a macro. When they go out to shoot close-ups they come back with something else.
If you want to make interesting images, you must be alive to the serendipity of the world. When facing a famous view, you musn’t forget to turn around and see what might be behind.
Turning around is one of the most important skills you will ever learn as a photographer.
Case in point: I was facing Horseshoe Bend as dusk turned to night. Turning around, I saw the last light glow red on the clouds above this desert landscape. I made three quick captures using a 12mm wide angle lens at 1/8 of a second, 1/4 of a second, and 1/2 of a second. Each exposure was shot at f/7.1 and ISO 200.
Combining the exposures created an interesting image, palpably exciting when I converted to monochromatic.
twforbear
7 Jul 2011And don’t forget to look up as well. I’ve had some really great shots come out of the simple act of looking toward the sky. Some good advice Harold.
srosthal
7 Jul 2011And down at the little things beneath your feet.
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