Is Your Composition "Tight" Enough? A Reprise on a (very) old Post from the Early Days Here

[As I post this, we are just two days away from our somewhat traditional, Carribean Cruise. This is kind of a break in the series on our England and Norway cruise back in 2025. I left off there with our final day in England. The rest of the cruise covered Norway and rather than break that up, I am posting this interlude. I will start with Norway when we return from the Caribbean. Thanks - as always - for reading and stay tuned - next up Alesund, Norway]

Fleury Maple Farm - Richford, Vermont
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

WAY BACK in the early days of this blog, one of my first posts held the title: "If You Look Closer." In that post, I noted that one of my most frequent comments about an image (if asked) was to "get in tighter" with the shot. 

[we] often get caught up in the overall scene (or something in it) and do not appreciate that the viewer doesn't automatically sort out all the extraneous things in an image and focus on our subject. That is our job. When on scene, we often see our subject and our very capable brain "filters" out distracting elements

READING BRENDA Tharp and Jed Manwaring's Book, "Extraordinary Everyday Photography," recently, one comment stood out. They noted that photographers often get caught up in the overall scene (or something in it) and do not appreciate that the viewer doesn't automatically sort out all the extraneous things in an image and focus on our subject. That is our job. When on scene, we often see our subject and our very capable brain "filters" out distracting elements. If we are not thinking about this in our composition, it is easy to end up with a photo that is really neither cohesive, nor representative of what our eyes were seeing. One of the "cures" for that is to get in much closer to the subject, isolating it from extranea and zeroing our viewer in on the subject. In other words: Get Closer. 😊 

Fleury Maple Farm
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved (as revised by Janice Noyce)

RECENTLY, A friend, photographer, reader and observer reminded me of my mantra. In addition to being flattered that anybody remembers that, it stimulated some thought and conversation. She offered a suggested (and certainly effective) edit to one of my recent images posted on line, in the same vein. Her comment was short and tactful, merely noting that she liked it better a bit tighter. I appreciate honest and thoughtful critique. I think it is how we learn as artists (and sometimes as technicians). And my friend knows how to do that right, perhaps stimulating discussion, but in a polite way that promotes openness. I think it is important both as the giver and the receiver of crique, that it isn't about "right or wrong," and there is plenty of room for variety of vision. So, as is my nature, I couldn't help engage in some commentary of my own. When we "worked" the scene, I made several different compositions, including some that were indeed much tighter, even than Janice's version (note that I exclude both the large maple tree on the right and part of the road). Looking at her crop, I might re-think my exclusion of part of the road.

Fleury Maple Farm - Richford, Vermont
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

MY OWN approach to composing an image that contains multiple elements is to ask myself what I am trying to do with a particular "take." Because there is a lot to work with here, I made different shots, each with a slightly different goal in mind. When I made the image, I gave some thought to composition, and shot it rather wide, purposefully leaving certain elements in the overall image. I particularly wanted the wider mountain range in the background,  Some viewers would say it it means there is too much going on. Others would perhaps see my way of thinking. Neither is wrong. Neither is right. Or, to quote the lyrics of Dave Mason's biggest single hit: "there ain't no good guy, there ain't no bad guy . . . we just disagree." I know I am taking license with the precise meaning of the song, but I think it underscores my thinking about the approach to photographic composition.

TO ME, it is pretty obvious that the barns are the subject here. Given that, I want to draw the viewer's attention to those barns. There are several elements in the photograph that I though might work to do that. The road, of course, makes a nice leading line into the image, leading to, and beyond the buildings. But the other consideration is how to portray the farmstead. Our "tighter" views give a more intimate feel for the farmstead, as if we could almost step into the barnyard. The image below probably comes closest to her suggested crop, but it is made from a quite different viewpoint. In this case, the "in tighter" was done with my feet, rather than a crop or a zoom. I think that perspective is better.

Fleury Maple Farm - Richford, Vermont
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

THE OTHER approach, here would be to have the barn nestled into the scene, off in the distance a bit, but still close enough to give it appropriate weight in the image, while portraying it in the broader backdrop of the distant mountain range. The mountains say "Vermont" to me, and in the opening image, that started this conversation, I have tried to do that. What I also tried to do was render the image in black and white. The clouds held some detail and interest, but they were mostly grey. In pure black and white, I am afraid the barns blended in too much. I was looking for a way (maybe a gimmick) to bring the viewer's attention back to the barn, and my solution was to "colorize" just parts of the image. Looking at it more carefully, I also noted that there were some rather dramatic blue patches in the sky and I thought highlighting them would give more "life" to the image, and bringing out the red in the barn and yellow flowers in front of it would pull the viewer to the barn.

Fleury Maple Farm - Richford, Vermont
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

ANOTHER WAY to look at a scene like this and the application of the "get in tighter" thought, is a concept sometimes referred to as "the image within and image." What do I mean by that? When your survey a scene, sometimes you see just the "big picture," and can include all that (sometimes distracting) extranea that Tharp and Manwaring talk about. Sometimes we need to try to narrow our focus. What is really the subject? Which external elements detract from and which complement that subject? My goal as a photographer is (normally) to draw the viewer's attention to the subject I want them to look at. It is also true that sometimes, that picture within the picture may be one of 2 (or more) different images. I think this scene is one of those times.

London 2025 - The Last Day

The Battle of Britain Memorial - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

ALL GOOD things must at some point, come to an end. Sunday was our last day in London (for this trip). We had scheduled a tour and admission to the famous Winston Churchill War Rooms. Our tour meeting time was late morning. We decided to take a walk around the general area of Westminster, as our meeting place was right next to the Westminster Bridge, on the governmental side of the river. To our disappointment, when we met down in the lobby, Todd informed us that Heather was feeling a bit "under the weather," and would be staying in for the day. It turned out to be a good call for her, as by the time we boarded our ship at mid-day on Monday, she was feeling a bit better. Unfortunately, I picked up whatever "crud" she had and by Tuesday, I was down for the count, skipping our first excursion day to Bruges.

Near the Entrance to the Churcill War Rooms
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

WE MADE the best of it, the 3 of us taking the Tube to the Westminster stop, where we walked around the Horse Guards grounds, and then on up to Trafalgar Square, taking in some of the grandiose buildings as we went. We found a pub (of all things 😁) where we stopped for refreshment, and then headed back to the meeting point next to The Westminster Pier on the Thames.

Governmental Buildings outside of MI-6 headquarters (Horseguards entrance in the background) - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

WE HAD not done the Churchill War Rooms on our week-long visit to London in 2021. I think Todd had been there years ago, but he was game to see it again. Since 2021, we have heard time after time that we missed one of the best things about the area. A "must do" excursion. So of course, we booked it. I think, sometimes, when we hype something that is indeed very good too much, it sets unrealistic expectations. This may have been one of those times. It was worth seeing, but I felt just a bit underwhelmed. The basement headquarters where the team of British leaders - military and political - did the behind the scenes work of defending Britain (and indeed Europe) from the Nazi incursion, is certainly impressive. It is one of those places that gives you a heartfelt appreciation for the mix of sacrifice, brilliance and perseverance of these men and women. Fascinating. But I will say that I think they could make some substantial improvements to the presentation. It is one of those deals where you go in, pick up one of those radio outfits with earphones, and then follow along. That basement facility is already a bit of a maze, and it is probably challenging to figure out the most logical way to lead people through. But it was very confusing, with what I think is probably a too complicated layering of the narrative, numbers and letters. That took a bit of the lustre off that part of the excursion and toward the end, we basically turned our units off and just walked through, reading the placards as we went. That needs improvement, in our opinion. In spite of those shortcomings, I think it qualifies as a "must see" in London.

The Red Lion - London, England
Close to Parliament, Almost every Prime Minister - including Churchill were at least ocassional patrons - as well as other Members of Parliament
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

I DON'T want to completely throw cold water on the experience, though. It was well worth it and I would still recommend it and even agree that that entire excursion that we did is a "should not miss," event. In my view, the best part of it was the first hour or so, where we took a walking tour of the immediate area, spending some time at the WWII memorial next to the Westminster Pier, and then walking past Downing Street and MI-6 headquarters. Our guide was an enthusiastic and erudite historian of the war years and it was fascinating to follow along, see some of these very historic sites, and learn a bit about the history of London during that critical time in history.

In spite of . . . shortcomings, I think it qualifies as a "must see" in London

IT WAS mid-afternoon by the time we finished up in the War Rooms, and we headed back to our hotel to freshen up. We had reservations at a well-regarded Indian Restaurant in SOHO: Tamarind Kitchen. This one did meet expectations. I have a mixed history when it comes to ethnic food. Forty years ago, during my college and law school years (and before), I had never eaten any Asian food and generally turned my nose up at even the thought. I went to one Chinese restaurant in Washington D.C., with some office mates one night. They knew my history, and steered me toward a very bland chicken dish. The closest I had gotten to anything "exotic" was Mexican (in fairness, American "Tex-Mex"), and maybe some Italian. My diet was pretty much American mid-west (meat and potatoes and a small variety of vegetables). After I got married, my wife set out to change that. We took our daughter to Disney and Cape Canaveral (then Kennedy) one year and she insisted that we go to a top-drawer Chinese restaurant and eat (more or less) family style. I became an immediate convert. I loved the food in Japan when we were there in 2015, and by that time had already acquired a liking for sushi. I had tried, and liked, the Indian "fusion" Chicken Tika Masala. But until this night, I had still never eaten true Indian food. So it was an adventure for me. As I had expected by now, I liked it. My only reservation there is that they do tend to prepare their dishes eat a little too spicy for me. Although we sadly missed Heather's company, it was a really nice finish to our eventful week in London.

TOMORROW, WE would head on to Southampton and new adventures - in the Norwegian Fjords.

Our London Pub Crawl

The Old Bell - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

EARLY ON in our pre-planning for this vacation, I floated the idea of a "pub crawl." We agreed we would set aside a day for just that. I don't remember how many pubs we eventually stopped in, but there were a few. There was history for all them which made it fun and interesting, also. Their interiors remained mostly unchanged from the days when they first opened. At one of them, we shared a traditional British Pub Food Plate (including a Scotch Egg, Pork Pie, and some wonderful artisan cheeses). Knowing this was going to be a long day (I am pretty sure we started sometime late morning), culminating with reservations in one of those somewhat famous London Pubs, Todd wisely set our pace by starting with a 1/2 pint. I followed his lead, and that worked well for us all day. He and I stuck to beer. The girls had a variety of other cocktails. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

St. Paul's Cathedral - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2021 - All Rights Reserved

STUDENTS OF history know that the city of London was originally built by the Romans (Londinium) beginning shortly after the birth of Christ. The Roman settlement grew into a city over the years and survived through the "Dark Ages," and into the Renaissance. Those students also know that in the late 17th Century, the ancient walled portion of the city was nearly completely destroyed by "The Great Fire of London." While there are undoubtely a lot of people who figured into the rebuilding of the great city, one stands out in history: Christopher Wren. Widely credited with a "plan" for rebuilding the city, Wren was involved in a great number of the building projects in London at that time. As is the case for most historical great cities, the central architectural focus was generally the church. In London, the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of London it the magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral. Shortly before the great fire, Wren was commissioned to re-build the church. The original St. Paul's church was built there around 600 A.D. The fire swept the city just as Wren brought his first plans to the powers that be, destroying much of the church, but leaving its steeple and some building around it intact. Wren remained and became the principal architect of the Cathedral (as well as being involved in the design and construction of over 50 other churches, and a few other notable projects involving castles and other municipal buildings). The new cathedral got its own Baroque style dome, but the original steeple was left intact as part of the grounds.

Remnants of the original (pre-fire) St. Paul's Church - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2021 - All Rights Reserved

WHAT IN the world, you may wonder, does any of this have to do with a "pub crawl?" These massive construction projects require artisans and workers. Wren realized that in order for them to be in the city and working on the churches, there would have to be infrastructure to feed and house them. So even before they could begin construction of the church, they built a handful of pubs (short for "Public House"). All of them are within close walking distance from the cathedral. Which makes for a pretty easy, and (weather permitting) enjoyable walking/pub crawl tour of the city. And that is what we did. The weather cooperated splendidly for us. We rode the Tube from Paddington to one of the stops near St. Paul's, and began our great adventure.

"The Wedding Church" - St. Bride's - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2021 - All Rights Reserved

I AM going by memory, here, so I likely won't get the exact order correct (trust me, after a few pints, it doesn't matter 😁) but we hit most of our pre-planned goals. We started with The Old Bell, which has entrances on Fleet Street and around the back. The Bell was built on the site of a previous tavern (The Swan) which was destroyed along with most of the rest of the city by the fire. Wren re-built it shortly after the fire. My notes indicate that at the time it was actually built to accomodate artisans working on a different church just up the street from St. Paul's (St. Bride's church, which has served as the inspiration for the design of many wedding cakes over the years - hence, its nickname: "The Wedding Church").

The Old Bell Tavern - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

THE OLD Bell had what was a more or less typical old British Pub vibe, we were to find, as we hopped from one to another. We liked it. The dark wood interior is certainly "period" (Wren was known for his "Baroque" style architecture), and played (sometimes) dramatically with the sunlight (when present). It does make casual photography in these places problematic, though. I basically only made "smart phone" photos inside these places. The exteriors were a different story. Almost always adorned with colorful flowers, the "old school" facades create picturesque looks. But this was a pub crawl day, and I didn't even carry the camera with me. I figured I could rely on my phone for any photos I wanted to take, especially knowing I would only be able to use that on interiors.

The Old Bell - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

OUR NEXT destination was Ye Olde Watling, just up the street. Equally "clubby" and dark, it certainly met our expectations. We tried, whenever we could, to sample the local brews and ales.

Ye Olde Watling - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

I FIRST spotted this pub in 2021, from a distance, while standing in front of the certainly overshadowing St. Paul's Cathedral entrance. But it stuck in my mind and planted the first germ of a possible "pub crawl." The name and the look drew my attention, however briefly, and I told myself I would be back there one day. Today was the day. 😊

Ye Olde Watling - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

SEVERAL OF the pubs we visited had spaces where people would often gather just outside on the sidewalk for a drink. It was oddly random, but some of the pubs were very crowded, while others (like The Old Bell, for instance) were essentially empty. Unlike the gentlemen here, we were somehow able to find a seat in this one.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

YE OLDE Cheshire Cheese, was again just up Fleet Street (less than a block from The Old Bell). We had passed it during our 2021 walking tour, and - taken by the unique name - I photographed the sign on the alleyway entrance, just beyond Williamson's Tavern which would be our next stop after this one. On this trip, I really noted the front entrance for the first time, but I wanted to show the others the alleyway entrance so we walked around the corner and went in that way.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

ONE ONLINE description I found said this one is "probably the most famous pub in the world." Not sure I buy that, but it certainly does have a certain cache'. The same writeup describes it as one of London's few reamining 17th Century Chophouses. Again, rebuilt after the fire, it was known to have been frequented by the likes of Charles Dickens, W.B Yeats, and Mark Twain, and was even feature in Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities." There are actually several rooms in the Cheese. We found the cellar room and it was appropriately atmospheric. Having sampled several drinks so far this morning, we decided this was the place to get some food. We ordered a kind of "variety plate," that I would guess is popular among us tourists. Touristy or not, it was very tasty! 😋We didn't leave anything on the plate. Pidtured are Pork Pie (we cut it in quarters, as we did later with the Scotch Egg, also), Scotch Egg, artisan cheeses and bread, and a couple "chutney" type spreads.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

WE WALKED down the alley which has entrances to both Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and Williamson's Tavern in 2021, and they both "notched" on my subconscious "pub crawl" list. I think it was Williamsons, though, that solidified in my mind that there would be pub crawl on our next visit to London.

Williamson's Tavern - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2021 - All Rights Reserved

IT PROBABLY goes without saying that you should take much of what you read online with a proverbial "grain of salt." As wonderful a resource as it is, there is much misinformation and also opinion (disguised as fact) there. Again, one resource describes Williamson's Tavern thusly: "From the outside, the building does not seek attention from the visitor, but its interior is well worth the visit." Hmnn. It is true that it does not have a "Fleet Street presence," and is somewhat tucked away back in the alleyway. But from our perspective, we found the exterior attractive and very much inviting.

Williamson's Tavern - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

THE INTERIOR was - more than any of the others so far - brighter and more "airy," with a more "modern-traditional" sweeping bar design. The decor and the personnel in the pub were cordial and welcoming. Personally, from an aesthetics point of view, I found this one to among my favorites. Indeed when we walked past it in 2021, I knew I would be back to sit and have a beer one day. And I did.

Williamson's Tavern - London, England
(that's Todd buying us drinks. Nice and generous guy 😀)
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

WE STILL had a couple others on our "list" for the day. The Blackfriar has a more distinctive exterior look, and color scheme. It was next. One of those buildings built at the peak of an angled intersection, it is impossible to miss as you walk by. Which may explain why (though my photo doesn't really show it) this one was completely packed! Standing room only inside and in most of the relatively large outside area with tables. We didn't let that stop us from partaking, however.

The Blackfriar Pub - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

AROUND THAT corner and up the street to the right, under the overpass, was our next stop, The Cockpit. Unsurprisingly, this part of the city is known as "Blackfriars." The street we sought was another left turn onto St. Andrews Hill. From the photograph, it feels quite ritzy, with the St. Andrews Hill name feeling appropriately posh.

St. Andrews Hill - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

THE COCKPIT's, exterior is, likewise, pretty ritzy looking. There is a saying: "looks can be deceiving." 😏 The Cockpit's interior is what could only be described in America as a "dive bar." It is a bit of a shock walking in off that street. Don't get me wrong. I don't have any problem at all with "dive bars." They certainly have their own atmosphere and can often be a lot of fun. This one is. In spite of the "decor," it has a family feel to it and we - of course - enjoyed yet another 1/2 pint while we took it all in. Not shockingly, the pub - formerly a gatehouse to the Blackfriars Monastery - was later a spot that hosted cockfighting. Hence its namesake.

The Cockpit Pub - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

WHEW. THAT was a long pub crawl and a long day. We were pretty much "pubbed out." But it turns out we were not yet finished. 😊 Some good prior research by Todd and Heather had turned up a couple great restaurant suggestions. Tonight, we had reservations at one of them; yet another Pub/Tavern: The Ship Tavern. They determined that it got good reviews and booked the reservation weeks before we all arrived in London. Not sure what we were thinking, but we decided to walk there. It wasn't really such a bad idea at the time. On the map, it is about 1 mile from The Cockpit. Having been on our feet with a few beers in us, it felt like a lot more than a mile. Our thinking was we would go for a while and if the spirit (see what I did there?) moved us and we saw yet another pub, we would stop, rest and refresh. And guess what?

The Viaduct Tavern - London, England
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

THE VIADUCT Tavern wasn't even on our radar. But we spotted it from across the street and, like a magnet, we were drawn in. It had its own gin brand, and we (my wife and I) are gin drinkers so of course we had to try it. It was good.

EXHAUSTED AND hungry, we finally arrived at our Ship Tavern. We knew the way home would be Uber, and looked forward to a relaxing and enjoyable meal. We were a bit early for our reservation and our table wasn't quite ready for us. But hey, we were on a pub crawl, after all, so we ordered a beer and sat at the bar to wait. At the street level, The Ship was yet another pub, much like many of those we had been in already during the week. But upstairs, the restaurant was another story. It was obvious, as we ascended the stairs, by the smell, that we were in for a great dining experience. The entrance was down an alley and I didn't really bother to try to get a shot of the Tavern itself. But it is worth the visit. We had a great meal, and headed home to a much anticipated, good night's sleep. Tomorrow would be our last day in London, and we had the Churchill War rooms ahead of us, and then an Indian Food restaurant that Todd and Heather had also scoped out pre-trip.