Foreground

Video Tutorials

Get Low and Mean It: The Composition Shift That Changed How I See the Land

I spent the better part of my first five years as a serious landscape photographer drowning in composition theory. Rule of thirds. Golden ratio. Leading lines. Foreground interest. Layers and depth. I had notebooks full of it. And when I finally arrived at a location, often after a 4am wake-up and a long drive through the dark, I would stand there with my tripod and freeze. Too many rules competing for space in my head.

August 5, 2026

Composition

Composition in Landscape Photography: Beyond the Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is where most photographers start learning composition, and there is nothing wrong with it. Placing your horizon on the upper or lower third line and positioning key elements at intersection points produces balanced, readable images. But staying there forever limits what your photographs can communicate. Here are the composition tools I use most often in the field, and how they work together. Leading Lines Lines guide the viewer’s eye through the frame.

February 9, 2026