Nature Photography Tips 9
We’ve covered six different kinds of straight and curved lines in our nature photography tips so far. Now we move on to triangles. Nature photography can be based on either upright triangles, like a pyramid, or inverted triangles, essentially standing on end.
Upright triangles occur naturally in nature photography, especially when shooting mountains, or certain trees, but many subjects can show a triangle with a little thought. Upright triangles emphasize a sense of solid strength and stability, and serve to direct the eye to the top.
I made a very interesting discovery while looking through my photos for upright triangles. I had taken quite a few pictures with a composition based on triangles, but I couldn’t find even one shot featuring an upright triangle. They were all inverted!
Inverted triangles are easy to find, too. Deciduous trees and valleys come to mind, but it seems I’ve subconsciously found inverted triangles all over the place. Inverted triangles express tension derived from instability, and also a sense of freedom resulting from the rising and ever widening expanse.
Nature Photography Tips:
Look through your nature photography files to see which type of triangle you have been favoring. Are you like me, attracted to inverted triangles, or do you see more beauty in a sense of solid stability? I have no idea what this could mean on a psychological level, but I could take some wild guesses.
Try to capture some triangles in your photo lifestyle. Take some obvious shots such as mountains and trees, but see if you can find some more subtle triangles to shoot as well. Keep snapping away, as there are more photography tips coming soon.
Thanks to my dad, Ted Wilkinson, for the photo of Mt. Shasta in Northern California.