One of the things I have learned over the years (and it’s taken years for me to learn it) is that, in many cases, the simpler the photograph, the better the photograph. Of course, every photographic situation is different and, sometimes, more is better. But, I have found the “less is better” approach often makes for a stronger image, and it’s easy to use. It doesn’t require new or fancy gear. It simply requires me to have a clear understanding of what my subject is, include only those items that will complement the subject, and avoid including everything else.
Several years ago, I made a trip to Lake Buena Vista, Florida, for a business conference. During my free time, some coworkers and I visited Epcot’s World Showcase, and one of our stops was the Morocco pavilion. As I walked around, I spotted this small tree growing in front of the wall of a building and instantly noticed the way the trunk curved.
Despite the large number of people milling around me, I was able to photograph several different compositions, such as including a door that was just to the left of the tree, a window that was just above the tree, and then both the door and the window. But, reviewing the images on the back of my camera left me disappointed. Then, I realized that it was the curving tree trunk that had caught my attention, and that including those other elements was creating a distraction from what I intended to be my subject: the curving trunk.
I zoomed out to the longest focal length I had (105mm on the 24-105mm lens I had brought with me), but that still left a lot of “extras” that I did not want to include. Fortunately, the solution to that problem was easy — I took a couple of steps closer to the tree to get the exact framing I wanted. I left a small amount of foliage at the top and bottom of the image to provide a sense of context. But, by keeping the image simple, I was able to create an image in which there is no doubt what the subject is and an image that I quite like.