Composing a Shot Through the Woods

To compose a shot through the woods is very difficult for me. It seems you are always looking for a focus point, yet you don't want to leave out so much of the other beauty in the surruonding area. So just where do you compose your shot..? In this particular photo I was using the red maple leaves as my focal point.

Especially in this shot. You have strong vertical lines that you don't want to overpower your shot and at the same time you have many horizontal branches that seem to make the picture more busy and complex.

Then comes the hard part of directing the symphony of "Color". I tried to show the color of Autumn through the complete spectrum of green all the way to brown.

Anyway, it's a great challenge so feel free to express your thoughts and opinions.

i really like all the colors you got....

I'm with ya Harold. I'm curious what others think as well.

The colors are great. It is a bit dark on my monitor.

Same here, a nice shot but a bit dark.

Steve

I to think it is a bit dark. But the red looks good in the dark. I like the tree bisecting the shot. SandyLee

Looks like you did a good job to me, Harold, especially if you lighten it up a bit. I look for a focus point or organizing principle when shooting through the woods, such as an anomalous color or shape (red in a sea of green, an arching tree among straight ones), different bands of color, shapes, or textures, or lines to draw the eye in (tree arrangements forming an assymetrical triangle, flowers leading through the frame in a swath). Once the focus point or organizing principle is defined, the key issue is camera placement to minimize mergers of trunks, etc., to give a sense of spaciousness and depth. I think you've done these things well here.

Lori

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I find it difficult when posting low light images in the small format parameters that we use here in this forum. Others may notice this also. I am still working on the perfect recipe for posting shots here.

This is a repost of the same shot with the exposure boosted.

I also purposely left off the black frame which tends to make the photo a little darker.

Does this make the photo more appealing to the eye now....?

Thanks again for all your tips.

Harold

Here is the same shot cropped down a little. Better /Worse...?

Thanks,

Harold

I like the croped version better. It feels a little less busy.
I do know how you feel. I have never taken a "Through the woods" photo that I like.

Bruce

The "through the woods" shots are difficult for me as well. I think Lori's advice gets to the heart of the matter. Unless you have a grand wide scene with perfect color, it is usually best to "zoom in " to the details in the forest.

i like the uncropped but brightened pic the best

I prefer the first version, Harold. Good photography.

I think you did a great job with this shot and these type of shots are very difficult to pull off. My challenge with these shots is too compose without too many distracting elements in the scene and to find a nice focal point as well. The lightened up version is really nice.

I like both versions (cropped and uncropped). Nice job.

Harold,

I used to have a hard time shooting forest scenes, these days they are my favs.