Be creative when photographing your subject

Saturday 28 June 2025, 16:08 by Nando Harmsen | 2,804 views | 4 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Have you seen something you'd like to photograph? Don't just point your camera at it and take the shot. Think about composition and framing. Look around carefully first and consider the possibilities. Make a choice before taking the photo.

As an example, I am using a pigeonnier I saw in the Tarn in France. A pigeonnier is a tower for pigeons, whose droppings were used to fertilise the vineyards. This was a fine example, standing on little legs.

The pigeonnier in the field, with the church tower of the village behind it. I don't want the church tower in the frame, only the pigeonnier.
Behind the field is a village with a proud church tower rising above everything else. I choose not to include it in the frame so that the pigeonnier gets all the attention. I choose a focal length, a clear view, and take a snapshot.

You can simply point the camera at the pigeonnier and photograph it. But that will be nothing more than a snapshot. It needs to be better.
Although this snapshot isn't wrong, it creates little tension in the image. It is just a photo of a pigeonnier, nothing more. So I look around further and see a tree that could serve as a nice subject in the foreground. It adds depth and allows me to hide the church tower behind it.

A tree in the foreground is already more interesting. It adds depth and fills the image more. But choosing a wide angle makes the tree more important.
As the field is next to the road, I am standing close to the tree. With a wide angle, I get both the tree and the pigeonnier in the photo. But the latter is further away and therefore small in the frame. The attention is now entirely on the tree.

Nando Tarn 2025 pigeonnier focal length 2

Using more telephoto has made the pigeonnier larger in the frame. The focal point here is the pigeonnier.
I decide to stand on the other side of the road and choose a longer focal length. This keeps the tree almost the same size in the frame, but the pigeonnier appears much larger. The result is that the pigeonnier now gets all the attention.

I decide to walk around once more. I can't enter the field itself, so I am limited to standing on the road. But I find a gap through the trees. Unfortunately, the church tower is positioned exactly behind the pigeonnier. Here too, standing further away and using a longer focal length helps. I manage to hide the church tower.

The gap through the trees gives a completely different view of the pigeonnier. It took some puzzling to hide the church tower in the background behind the leaves and the pigeonnier.
Remember that this isn't about right or wrong. The most important thing is what you, as a photographer, like. But you have to work that out when you are there.

The advice is, don't just take a photo of a subject. By looking around carefully first, you can often photograph a subject in a more beautiful or interesting way. Even with whatever limitations there may be.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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4 comments

Donald Willemsen wrote on Saturday 28 June 2025 at 21:44 | reply
Nando, I think it is an educational story, but at the same time also a subjective story. What you do or do not consider an exciting photo may be completely different for another photographer. That is not wrong, mind you. But opinions are divided. A discussion about that is difficult to have. There is simply no arguing about taste.
Often, examples of contemporary photographers are referred to. If you then mention the name of a photographer from the past, you get a look of: Who in God's name are you talking about.

Visions change over time and if you are a fan of an older vision, you are old-fashioned.
I don't think your vision is wrong, but my vision is different. I am a bit more old-school.
For example, take the photos of Oradour that I showed in the forum. I very deliberately post-processed them as you saw them. That was and is my vision. You look at them differently. That is also your right. When I was there, I felt a certain atmosphere. I also felt the horror of the atrocity that took place there.
You experienced it differently, very matter-of-factly and as a tourist attraction.
For me, it was not that.
Such feelings and impressions play a role in taking a photo and that is different for every photographer. Those differences are allowed to exist.
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Sunday 29 June 2025 at 21:42 | reply
The message of the article is clearly expressed in the last paragraph.
Translated from Dutch.

ifiamminghi wrote on Tuesday 1 July 2025 at 11:47 | reply
Nice structure of this article, I think this will be enriching for many (although we all know that it can be different for every photographer and/or viewer).
But I already find the underlying idea enriching.
Translated from Dutch.

MARCEL Govaerts wrote on Tuesday 1 July 2025 at 12:39 | reply
I thank you for this explanation, as the reader's attention is drawn to the importance of the choice of lens in relation to the composition the photographer is aiming for.
Translated from Dutch.

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