Zoom as Compositional Aid

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

I saw this post over at Digital Photography School on using your Zoom lens to compose the photo, and it occurred to me that I do this all the time, without ever really thinking about it.

When I’m traveling and shooting photos, especially in popular tourist places, there are times I want random tourists in the photo to give it scale or character, yet there are also times when I don’t want them in it. That can be difficult to accomplish when you’re one of 50-100 people trying to get a shot of a specific site. I’ve had some success in those situations by having a zoom lens on my Nikon, and lining up a good shot of what I want to get, then waiting patiently for the exact moment when there’s no one in my shot. For example, these two shots from Scotland were taken despite the presence of many other folks in the vicinity.

Boat in Tobermory Swilcan Bridge on the 18th

Simply lining up my composition to cut out the other people who were around, and waiting for the exact moment when everyone was out of the shot, made it possible. Doesn’t always work out, but if you have a few moments to wait, it can be worth it. I’ve always done it instinctively, never really thought about it until I read the post today, and saw the examples! Definitely something to practice with when you’re out shooting!

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