The #1 Mistake That’s Ruining Your Photos (and How to Fix It)

Do you know why this photo is boring? There is one fatal mistake that is ruining this photo. Can you see it? Now, this one is controversial. I made a short video about this one that got over 7 million views, and the comments were spicy. So, I'm going to go into more detail here and give you a little test for you to see if you think this mistake is happening in your photos. So, looking at this photo, I can tell the photographer wanted the subject of the photo to be the house far away on the hill. But the fatal mistake in this photo is the strong horizontal lines that are blocking your eyes from looking at the house. Naturally, the human eye wants to go from the bottom of an image into the center and then out to the top. The best photos use hidden natural patterns to lead the eye where you want it, but this one does the exact opposite. The harsh lines created by the snow actually trap your eyes in the foreground and make it hard to focus on the subject. You can test this right now. Close your eyes for a second and look at the photo. Where do your eyes go? Do you find it hard for your eye to focus on the house? Now take a look at this photo from the Florida Keys. Look at how the line where the tide hits the sand pulls your eyes into the background of the photo. When you first look at this image, your eye settles in on one place and this is called a leading line. It's a point of high contrast that pulls the attention in the frame. Now take a look at this image of the Toroweep overlook at the Grand Canyon. All the lines are pointing into the frame which pulls you into the horizon until you eventually see the person standing on the edge. And this is my wife Leah who bravely stood there so I could capture this photo. and it's one of my favorites. I have it hanging in my living room right now. But in the previous image of the house on the hill, the lines are horizontal and they stop your eye from reaching or being able to focus on the house. They are called blocking lines and they will ruin your photos. Try this test on your own photos and let me know what happens down in the comments below. Have you made this mistake? It's one of the most common mistakes I see new photographers making every single day. So, here's what you need to do when you're out taking photos. If there are strong horizontal lines in the foreground of your photo, move left or right to turn horizontal lines into vertical lines that draw the viewer's eye towards your main subject. You can also use features like logs, rocks, or rivers that break the horizontal line, just like I did in this photo captured at Morin Lake. And for a photo like this one, that might mean going for a long hike, but I promise you, the results will totally be worth it. If you want to learn how to take amazing photos like this one with the camera you already own, you can get my free camera settings cheat sheets book shipped to your door today using the link in the description below. This book contains over 60 cheat sheets that will show you how to take the best photos of your life and it comes with a free trial of Photography Academy Prime where you get live training from me every week. Prime is the best place on earth for photographers because it comes with the landscape photography success path training. It comes with free tools and books and even we build a customizable photography website for you. So, check out the link in the description and get your free camera settings cheat sheets book mailed to your door and check out Photography Academy Prime for 14 days. I promise you are going to love it because it's the best place on earth for photographers like you.