Digital Diversity

Canons 70-200 range are fairly well known for their high quality and being some of the best zoom lenses you can buy from Canons range. There are (at the time of writing) 5 versions of this lens available. 2 versions at F4 and 3 versions at f2.8:
Canon 70-200 F4
Canon 70-200 F4 IS
Canon 70-200 F2.8
Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS
Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS mkII

After using the canon 55-250 IS for some time I found it a great set of focal lengths for shooting nature and wildlife that I can get relatively close to. For this reason I have had my eye on getting one of the 70-200′s as a replacement. The problem with these lenses is price. They aren’t cheap. The most reasonably priced one by far is the Canon 70-200 f4 without IS (image stabilization). To get the version with IS costs almost double the price and that is something I cant afford to do at this point in my life. So this clearly led me to purchase the non IS version.

Canon 70-200 F4 L, size - 76x172mm, weight - 705g

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A while back I wrote an article about my first time going to the zoo with the intent to take decent pictures, rather than just on a day out with friends. That was back when I was using a superzoom bridge camera (Panasonic FZ28). I came away from that trip with some images I was very pleased with and was surprised at the decent quality shots such a camera allowed me to get over the likes of a cheaper compact like my Ixus 75.

I have been back to the zoo since then with my DSLR (Canon 500D) and thought it would be good to share my thoughts on what advantages I had this time round with a more advanced camera.
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There are many aspects to photography with several being key to producing great images. While an image can still look great if a little soft, noisy or desaturated it can’t without a decent composition.

Composition is the layout of the photo. Where the subject is placed, what’s included in the image and where you took the picture from are all key aspects to this. It can be hard at first to find a composition that works as most peoples first experiences with photography are snap shots while on holiday or at a party. These images are taken in a hurry and for fun as all you want is to snap a quick memory. As you start to want to create images with more impact you will find the need to slow down your photography process and start to think about the subject you are shooting. You will end up taking pictures of the same scene / subject from different angles and even in different light till you get the shot you want.

But where do you start? Are there some guidelines to follow that will help you get started in improving your composition? Yes, is the short answer. This article will go through some fairly straight forward rules that will help you get started. Once you have mastered them you can bend these rules to create unique compositions that suit your style of photography.

The rule of thirds

This is possibly the most taught rule there is regarding photography. Its a simple concept that allows you to place subjects within a scene in a manner designed to be more eye catching than just having them randomly placed.

The rule of thirds is where you place subjects according to the following grid.

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