23 photosReflection
Scenes where light creates a second image by bouncing off water, glass, mirrors, or other surfaces.
Examples
LakesPuddlesMirrorsWindows
Browse
Ways of Seeing
Twelve lenses
for looking.
Each way of seeing is a visual skill practiced by photographers, artists, scientists, and naturalists. Choose one, then go for a walk.
23 photos
41 photosLight
The quality, direction, and temperature of light — the invisible material every photograph is made of.
Examples
Golden HourBlue HourSun RaysBacklight
34 photosComposition
How the frame is arranged: what leads the eye, what holds it, and what the emptiness does.
Examples
Leading LinesRule of ThirdsFramingDepth
18 photosPatterns
The quiet mathematics of nature — repetition, spirals, and fractals hiding in plain sight.
Examples
SpiralsFractalsRipplesLeaves
12 photosWater
Still, moving, transparent, distorting — water is a mirror, a lens, and a rhythm all at once.
Examples
Still WaterRipplesWavesShoreline
27 photosTrees
From a lone silhouette on the horizon to the tangled cathedral of a canopy overhead.
Examples
Single TreeCanopyRootsSilhouette
9 photosWildlife
Traces of another life sharing the frame — feathers, prints, and quiet, watching eyes.
Examples
BirdsInsectsTracksWebs
31 photosSky
The largest subject you can photograph, changing minute by minute above your head.
Examples
CloudsSunriseFogStars
22 photosTexture
Surfaces that ask to be touched — the frame becomes fingertip. Move closer.
Examples
BarkStoneMossSand
16 photosColor
How hues talk to each other — warm against cool, a single note against a chord.
Examples
WarmCoolComplementaryMonochrome
14 photosShapes
The underlying geometry — circles, triangles, and curves the eye reads before the mind names them.
Examples
CirclesTrianglesCurvesRadial
19 photosMacro
The world at the scale of an inch — where a leaf becomes a continent and dew becomes a lens.
Examples
FlowersSeedsDropletsInsects