Leading lines and one-third composition

This Mormon Row Barn near Jackson, WY and the famous Grand Tetons is the most photographed barn in the world. I wanted a little different take on it, so I backed up and set my tripod low to include the fence and side trees to provide some nice leading lines and a circular flow from left to right. An interesting composition invites your audience to linger longer and enjoy all parts of the image story. Remember to put something in the foreground. Out of 50+ photographers who captured this barn the same morning, I was the only one to try this vantage point. I had to wait until they were all out of the way, but the sun was lighting up the scene better by then anyway. The clouds were hiding the early alpen glow that morning anyway, so for the conditions of the morning, this was the best shot.

Now, more about this composition…Your eyes can start at the left trees which lead you to the barn and mountains, then the trees on the right take you to the right end of the fence, which brings you back to the little ditch, that, in turn, takes you to the left trees and the cycle repeats itself. So the next time you set up to take the same thing everyone has done, look around and get lower, get higher, get back, get close, get left, or get right for a more unique composition.

Finished panoramic blend of three images – Photoshop Photo Merge feature – Caryn Esplin

Three original images for the Mormon Row Barn Pano – Caryn Esplin

I included a more traditional panorama below, which is still nice, as long as you remember to keep your basic lines on the one-third. Of course these images that are wider, are three-shot panoramics, which is another way to set yourself apart from every other photo, and an nice way to show so much more of a charming scene like this.

Rule of thirds> Horizon on the lower one-third line; Mountain tops on the upper one-third line and the barn approximately on the one-third left line and pointing toward the open space for lead room.