Pixiq

Pay attention to shadows when you shoot.  They add strong graphic elements to your images, and in some cases they can make or break a composition. The shadows should in most cases be as sharp as possible, and you can see in each of the examples I’ve included here that all of the shadows are sharply defined.  To capture shadows with sharp edges, the subjects must be close to the background or the area onto which the shadows are being projected.

It’s not necessary to have definition in the shadows.  The frog on the leaf is an example where definition and texture in the shadow of the frog isn’t necessary.  In other instances this kind of detail can work into the overall artistry of the image, such as the shadow of the palm trees on a beach in the Domincan Republic, below.

What this comes down to is simply being aware of light and form when you shoot.  These are the two ingredients that most influence the successful or failure of photographs.