Blend In A Point Of Interest

James Paterson shows how to add a focal point using masks, blends and simple selection tricks

- James Paterson

One of the most useful, and simple, 'rules' of photography is that every shot should have a subject. This is true whether you're shooting a portrait or a landscape. Even abstract photos work best when they have a point of focus — something to draw the eye to a certain part of the image.

Sure, all rules were meant to be broken, but having a subject to draw the eye can often lead to a stronger, more cohesive shot.

But what if there's no subject in sight? We've surely all come across beautiful scenes or gorgeous moments of light that don't have a point of interest, but we go ahead and shoot anyway. Like our starting photo here, the resulting image will probably be decent enough, but slightly bland.