Some artists pause when walking along the sea shore or the side of a mountain as the sun rises or sets. They exclaim that the beauty would be regarded as ‚chocolate box art‘ if they managed to paint exactly what they saw. But for a photographer some beautiful pictures of nature are just too good to pass up, and with careful composition the chocolate box feel can be lost leaving an ore inspiring image.

The painter has an advantage over the photographer when he sees a scene that he would like to paint. He can move objects around, shift them slightly or increase their size. The photographer has less room to manoeuvre. In some ways this can make his work more challenging.

Some professional photographers are given commissions to take pictures of the most photographed scenes in the world. One thinks immediately of the Christ statue in Rio de Janiero or the Great Wall of China. This creates the challenge of presenting the view in a new light, for someone who believes that it is not so much the subject, as the skill with which a picture is composed that makes the difference between a point -and-press person and a professional.

Another important aspect that many are aware of including novices is a foreground, yet it is frequently over looked. This should be an element that leads the eye into the scene or landscape. A pretty girl is commonly used in the foreground, but she runs the rise of becoming the main focal point or looking a little artificial. An overhanging branch or shrub can work well to guide the beholder’s eye further into the landscape. A foreground object should not be too prominent in itself because its function is really to usher the eye towards the scene and not attract attention to itself. It is a foreground and not a focus of the picture.

Lines are important in composition. Vertical lines can be used to suggest tension and horizontal lines expansiveness. Many photographers make use of the rule of thirds where an image should be divided with two vertical and two horizontal lines and that a focal point should be at one of the intersections, depending upon other elements in the composition. It is said that this rule helps to establish a balanced composition.

Other techniques such as getting the best distance between the subject and the lens are also important. A naturally talented artist may get most things right with very little instruction. However, even a talented person can improve through learning the basic rules and adding them to his repertoire of natural skills.

Beautiful pictures of nature cannot just be the outcome of rigidly prescribed and applied rules. Beauty and nature tend to have flaws and it is often these flaws that are responsible for the unique qualities of a scene. Nevertheless behind the colors, shapes and textures that make up the details of a scene there is usually an anatomy which is the foundation of beauty like the fine bone structure of an attractive face.

Get more information and details about how you can take beautiful pictures of nature more easily and effectively. You can find landscape photography tips and find simple methods and techniques for shooting photos that are memorable and stunning.