Composition
There are several image composition rules professional photographers employ when taking pictures; however, they are too comprehensive to explore in detail in this article.
Suffice to say, the photo should be balanced in its content, use of texture, structure, and perspective. These are trained and practiced skills that take time to develop. They are not photographer tricks but more so a balance of training, understanding of light, and skill of using photographic equipment on a given site at a given time of day.
Looking good
Staging a photo shoot can be time consuming. For instance, depending on when the swimming pool and/or landscaping were completed, the photographer may have to deal with everything from scattered pool toys to dated patio furniture—all of the things that are around when the pool is actually used and not seen in magazine photos. Even though these items can be removed using a photo-editing program, it takes as much time moving them while on site as it does on a computer.
Post processing
The best magazine photos are taken with digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, which allow the setting to be captured in manageable, high-resolution digital files. The improvements the average photo usually requires are those that are seldom noticed. However, any touching up, ‘Photoshopping,’ or air brushing of the image is usually referred to as post processing. This is the act of manipulating a photo, usually by computer, to enhance or improve the image quality.
Other manners of digitally manipulating an image are to have undesirable elements removed and/or desirable ones added.
Software programs that enable these types of enhancements are not inexpensive. Many professional photographers have also invested their time and money into these programs to make the final image worthy of a company’s portfolio.
The RGB effect
When digitally enhancing photos on the computer, or hiring a professional to do it, one will notice the colours that originally come out of the camera may seem to be washed out or bland. In these cases, some advertising agencies will make adjustments to emphasize and balance the colours that make the project look its best.
The colours most are naturally drawn to in landscape photos are red, green, and blue (RGB). Most of these can be emphasized using the colour tones that are present in the average backyard swimming pool/landscape image with a few adjustments via staging or post processing. Making sure all of these colours are present and in balance can greatly improve the attention the photos will receive.
Red
Everyone is naturally attracted to red. In landscape, red represents warmth and comfort with the presence of cooler tones such as grey, black, and blue. Red does not necessarily need to be present as long as warm tones are existent in orange floral blooms, brown wood, terracotta brick, or coloured fabric. One tip is to have red pillows on hand to place on furniture in the absence of other sources of red tones.
