Pond Photography
by Benjamin Timmermans, Liquid Landscapes, Inc. Publisher's note: We thought it was a good time to revisit this Flashback article from 2013. With the Water Artisans of the Year contest right around the corner, what better time than now to refine and perfect your water-feature photography skills?
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Tips for gorgeous water-feature photography July/August 2020
've been building water features for several years now and have come to realize that no matter how well you describe a water feature, you can only convey the art and feeling with photographs. That is, if you have great photos that are able to capture those feelings with artistry. It was a few years ago, when a local pond builder showed me some pictures that he had taken of his work, that something clicked. One of the pictures he showed me happened to be of a water feature we service yearly, and the picture, though nice, did his work no justice at all. It was at that point that I realized that capturing the beauty and optimal photographic potential is a skill. I began to look at photos of water features and try to determine if the picture was as effective as it could be at representing the feature. Through the years I have seen hundreds and hundreds of waterscapes that could have been represented better if some proper equipment and simple photography skills were utilized. Photography is an art and skill in
its own right and can take years of practice to hone, just like building water features. I am by no means an expert in the field of photography, but I hope that some of these basic principles and tips can help capture the photographic potential of your water feature.
Break your frame into imaginary thirds on both the horizontal and vertical axes. Place areas of interest at the points at which the lines intersect or along one of the lines. Composition Simple and direct compositions with two or three key picture elements usually create the most powerful and captivating photographs. Composition is the key to successful water feature photography, and if you don’t know where to start, use the “rule of thirds” to get things going. Break your frame into imaginary thirds on both the horizontal and vertical axes. Place areas of interest at the points at which the lines intersect or along one of the lines. The key is to keep the composition clean and not cluttered with subjects. There should be no question as to what the focal point of the photograph is. To make certain you have accomplished this, it is best to
POND Trade Magazine 55
