When I was much younger senior landscape photographers taught me that pure landscapes cannot have any man-made or human influence present in the image. I used to believe that once. I thought that we were purists. One day the thought dawned on me that I am an artist and that I have the right to include whatever I wanted in my images. I realized that I was enjoying photography and that I was shooting for me; not them. Since that time I now include people in the odd image here and there.

• People help to create a sense of scale

• People act as a point of interest to anker the viewer's attention

• People add a sense of adventure and exploration

• People are inviting

So now I include people in some of my images:

In other images I make them the main object of the image within the landscape:

With yet other images I forget about the landscape and just capture the person:

When making images of people I still follow the same ideas regarding composition. People need to be looking into the image and not out of them. There needs to be more space in front of them than behind them (unless they are moving backwards). They still need to be placed at good compositional positions such as on lines of thirds (see previous blog on composition). Show them doing something.

          Remember your manners. Ask permission before you take their image. If you are planning to use an image of someone please get a signed model's release. Give them a copy of the image as a courtesy.

          Consider adding people to your images from time to time.