Viewpoint
If you find yourself standing upright looking through the viewfinder at your intended shot, think again. Almost everyone sees the world from that perspective and it’s likely that your image will be less interesting as a result. Get higher, get lower or make an angle to make a new perspective.
The two images below demonstrate how moving your position, even by just a few feet, can make a huge difference to the outcome. Showing the peace bridge in Calgary they are both solid shots yet very different in appearance, the entirety of that difference was created by moving less than 2 metres to the right of the initial shot.
The two images below demonstrate how moving your position, even by just a few feet, can make a huge difference to the outcome. Showing the peace bridge in Calgary they are both solid shots yet very different in appearance, the entirety of that difference was created by moving less than 2 metres to the right of the initial shot.
Viewpoint will also help you eliminate unwanted items from your shots. When visiting Peggy's Cove on the East Coast of Canada I found hundreds of tourists all around the lighthouse, I walked the area for quite a while to find this location (marked with the red circle) where I had to lay down to get the reflection and to eliminate the people filling the background, this alone moves the image from a tourist filled snapshot to a much more pleasing shot overall.
The shots below show two views along the Golden Gate Bridge from one of the decks using just a slight change in viewpoint. By leaning forward a little, combined with a lowering of the camera to hide the vehicles on the highway I created an entirely different image that is less cluttered. There is no right and wrong here, no particular 'best' of the two just a demonstration of how a slight change in your position can bring about significant differences in the end result.
The captioned gallery below shows more examples of changed viewpoints bringing greater interest to the shots which will cause the viewer to linger just a moment longer. In a world of a million images a minute, someone taking a moment to really view your shot is all you can hope for.