maggie’s photography notes // more nature snapshot tips! 🌼 {subjects, angles, and focal points}

hey there! welcome back to maggie’s doodles 😍 i’m continuing my photography notes series today! woohoo!

i love sharing photography tips, especially for nature photography! it’s such an awesome hobby to get out in nature and capture the beauty all around you to the best of your ability. trying out filters, visiting different locations, and going out at different points in the day (and during different seasons!) produce such epic results!

let’s go!

maggie’s photography notes //
more nature snapshot tips! 🌼

this one has an unfocused subject! the trunk and leaves take on a truly artistic quality, which leads you to noticing the sun in the top left corner. i think the last thing you see is where the camera is actually focused, which is on the trunk to the bottom left!

tip: pictures like this are awesome for backgrounds! for example, you could add text to it, put another photo on top of it, use it as a desktop wallpaper, etc! even when a photo has less photographic value, it can be a great resource and an awesome part of your portfolio (collection of photos you’ve taken + photoshoots you’ve done).

in this one, i’m gonna show you focal point! the second photo sees the goose in the very middle of the photo. while it’s centered, the subject just isn’t that interesting. the way it’s presented in that photo doesn’t give much incentive to keep looking. but now look at the first picture! by offsetting the subject, it creates more of a focal point. so sometimes, you have to work with where your subject is in the photo.

i think this is one of my favorite parts of photography! i love picturing a 9-square grid when taking pictures: it helps me to find the most beautiful spot in the photo to place my subject.

there really isn’t a right or wrong way to do photography. it’s all about your creativity and what you want to do and share with the viewer in your photographs!

i have mixed feelings about this picture! while it’s charming and provides a bit of humor with that street sign, i really struggled with evening out all the lines.

when there are stark lines in your photo, you have to identify the most important ones to even out! so in the case above, i made the text on the sign as straight as i could. by doing this, the tree bordering the left of the image (and the tree toward the middle) are crooked. the shape of the animal enclosure beneath the sign is offsetting, as well.

i love it when a photo with many lines is completely balanced out! usually this happens when you’re able to make every line even, or the most important one is lined up and any opposing lines complement it. it’s a fine art, let me tell you haha

oh, and the other thing about the picture above is the vast amount of shade. so the background being brighter than the foreground isn’t quite what i was going for 🤣

now we’re moving on to filters! i LOVE filters 😍

filters do two main things: bring color and alter brightness! so, filters can make your photos more colorful, or accent certain hues. filters can make the shadows longer or shorter. filters can make everything look flatter or bring more depth. they change the mood of photos and have the ability to strengthen or diminish their photographic qualit!

in the pics above, the first filter is warmer and the second one is colder! the first looks like an early spring afternoon, and the second makes the trunk look cold, almost brooding. can’t you just feel an early summer thunderstorm coming on? but i took those photos on the same day in the same spot, lol!

filters totally alter the vibe of your snapshots. by experimenting with them (i recommend rookiecam SO MUCH for live filters), you’ll find your favorites!

these pics are the ones that inspired this post! when i saw the difference between focusing on the background and the middle ground, i was inspired to show you guys!

see how it completely changes the focus of the photos? the background-focused picture is okay, but the second one focused on the bark just turned out really cool!

tip: when taking your pics, try taking a couple different photos of the same subject, but focused in different places! it’s awesome what a difference it makes 🤩

thanks so much for reading! i can’t wait to continue this series, and i hope you’re enjoying it so far 💖

which pic/s were your fave?
lmk if you have questions!