Compose Don’t just take !

A student expressed to me once that he didn’t pay that much attention to the composition when taking a picture. He said he could always photoshop later.  I replied “when you build a house with no plans and later realize you forgot to add a bathroom…”  Let’s face it! Post Production editing of a photograph is creative  but in my eyes it only allows you to enhance what is already a good picture .  So take a good composition to begin with . Think about how you are going to arrange your subject elements by using eye level, angle, and vantage point. Think about negative and positive space to best convey your idea. Does it look best in front, back, side or muted light.  Are you taking it in a vertical or horizontal format?  Do you want to compress the image by using a telephoto lens or show depth with a wide angle lens?  All the above mentioned  ideas really can’t be manipulated in photoshop,  so take your time and take it right!  Let’s put the JOY back in Photography!