The Beauty of Lonely Trees in Landscape Photography + Few Tips

Hi Friends!

When I am out, looking for something to shoot, I always look around to find some "points of interests" - POI - well known for all the computer game players ;).
It also works the same for photographers.

In such POIs we have greater chance to find something interesting to shoot.

What are POI for me - well it depends of the type of the landscapes.

Good ideas are to look for rivers, small lakes, any water... we can check the edges of different landscape types - on the edge of the forest, lake and sea shores... in the mountains - good to scan the map for any waterfalls or cliffs.

One of the element we can look for in every type of landscapes are lonely trees.
We can use them as a main subject of the composition, we can use them to show the scale of the landscape, as an anchor points for our eyes and perception.

My advices.

What we can do to improve our tree shots?

look around for trees which have interesting shapes or are much older then others
look for different species which can stand out against the background or surroundings
take Your time when looking for composition - try many different placing of Your tree in the frame - You can pick the best composition at home later
walk around the tree in a large distance - check how it fits in Your frame and how it looks against different backgrounds
check how the light works with the tree - side light for example will give the 3D effect when the light from behind Your back, will flatten the look of the tree. Interesting effect we can get shooting towards the sun.
You can try to go low with Your camera, maybe You will find some interesting elements in the foreground, maybe You will get more interesting perspective of the tree, You will get better view on the sky, if its interesting.
be mobile, take Your camera in Your hands, use tripod when You will find composition, don't walk with camera on tripod. With the camera in Your hands You will be more creative.