Compose with your Feet: River Frog

We say it all time in our workshops and on our photography hikes, and we recently heard a well-known Florida photographer say it to his audience: Compose with your feet!

What does that mean? When taking a photograph, always look for every angle and shoot from as many as you can to make your composition. I encourage people to get down and shoot up, shoot straight on, shoot down, and move around to change the background. Even moving two steps forward or back can make all the difference between a good photograph, and THE ONE.

Recently a river frog kindly sat on a stick and totally ignored me, allowing me to get several shots.

 First, I shot down. It took some adjustments because the auto focus had some issues with reflections in the water.

 Next I moved up the boardwalk a few steps, got down, and shot straight on.

In my last attempt I backed off on the zoom to get a shot of the frog in his environment, with his reflection in the water.

Which of these is the best? Well, they are all technically good. The best one depends on the viewer, and the purpose of the photograph. In this case, I was documenting the hike so any or all would work for me.

Remember, with a digital camera it costs nothing to take many shots. Professional photographers shoot hundreds of photographs to get the perfect one.