Most composition books start with diagrams.

Leading lines.
The rule of thirds.
The golden ratio.

This isn’t that kind of book.

Stillness & Structure is not about memorising formulas or placing subjects on invisible grids. It’s about learning how to feel your way through a scene — and understanding why certain photographs hold together while others fall apart.

If you already know how to operate your camera but find yourself wondering why some images feel flat, cluttered, or unresolved, this book is for you.

Instead of focusing on compositional “rules,” I explore the quieter forces that actually shape a photograph:

• Flow — how the eye moves through a frame

• Visual weight — what pulls attention first

• Balance — why some images feel steady and others don’t

• Negative space — giving a subject room to breathe

• Rhythm and repetition — the subtle music inside a landscape

• Light, weather, and season — how mood reshapes composition

• Imperfection and mystery — leaving space for the viewer

• Intuition — trusting the pause before you know why

This book is built around the idea that composition isn’t something you apply after the fact. It grows out of how you respond to light, atmosphere, and place in the moment.

Over three decades of working in forests, mountains, deserts, and coastlines have taught me that the strongest photographs don’t come from forcing a formula onto a scene. They come from slowing down, noticing what actually matters, and arranging the frame so the image feels the way the moment felt.

Throughout the book, I include RAW files alongside final photographs to show how subtle decisions — often very small ones — shape the final result. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s clarity. Intent. Presence.

This is a book for advanced beginners who are ready to move beyond “Where do I put my subject?” and start asking deeper questions:

What is this photograph really about?
Where does the eye go first?
What can I remove?
What does the light want to do?
Why did I stop here in the first place?

Composition, at its heart, isn’t geometry.

It’s awareness.
It’s patience.
It’s intuition built from time in the field.

If you’re ready to step away from rigid formulas and develop a more personal, responsive way of seeing, Stillness & Structure will help you do exactly that.