Canon EOS Rebel T3i / 600D Sample Pictures

A low and close position combined with a wide angle focal length results in strong perspective imagery.

Image stabilization provides great assistance when handholding a camera in low light. While IS can help with panning motion, general subject motion cannot be stopped with image stabilization. Use the subject motion to your advantage - to show action.
 
Never stop watching the background - it is important to your composition. Note the dog coming over the horizon in this shot.

Always be on the lookout for patterns in nature as they often provide a nice composition.

Your kitchen cabinets contain a huge supply of subjects for a macro lens. Even though the Canon MP-E is capable of up to 5x magnification, any good 1:1 or 1x-capable macro lens lens can make your salt look like this.
 
Lighting for this shot is from a non-modified Canon 580EX II positioned just outside of the frame and remotely fired.
 
The salt was not so pure white - DPP's clone stamp tool was used to remove the brown spots.

Backlit tree trunks and shadows create strong lines running throughout this image.

The woods takes on a new look when it is raining. One example is the tree bark that gets dark, making the Lichens really pop.
 
It was actually raining when I took this shot. This camera and lens are not weather sealed so my weather protection solution was to use a large re-sealable bag. By positioning the lens at the opening, I could open the bag when I wanted to take a picture. Looking through the bag to see through the viewfinder did not offer the greatest visibility, but it worked. And the price was right.

This room is about 15' wide x 11' deep and I am working a comfortable distance from the wall for this 10mm perspective.

Bright yellow daffodils bend over in the rain. I oriented the camera from an aerial view so that all of the daffodils would fall within the sharp plane of focus.

The same 15' wide x 11' deep room shared in the 10mm sample picture takes on a different look at 24mm.

Early spring is the toughest time of the year for landscape photography where I live. A lens that focuses closely will allow you to capture the earliest spring arrivals.
 
This image represents the minimum focus distance of this lens with a widest-angle-available focal length.

Going beyond what normal macro lenses can do, the Canon MP-E 65 1-5x here shows what table salt look like at 3x magnifcation. 3x magnification means that the image is rendered 3x life size on the sensor - which means it is huge when displayed on a monitor.
 
As with the 1x salt picture, lighting for this shot is from a non-modified Canon 580EX II positioned just outside of the frame and remotely fired.
 
The salt was not so pure white - DPP's clone stamp tool was used to remove the brown spots.

At least they look really tall when shot with a 10mm lens leaned against the trunk.

By shooting with a level camera, vertical lines remain straight in the frame.

A small piece of Epsom Salt appears as large as a bolder when imaged at 5x on a high density APS-C sensor. Tack sharp images are elusive at 5x. Diffraction becomes noticeable at the f/16 aperture setting I used to get adequate depth of field.

Water drops cling to this white pine tree during a rain storm.

Large roots of a beech tree twisting up through the ground are emphasized by the close focus distance and wide angle focal length used for the shot.

Looks like wild garlic is on the menu at the Pallet House. And someone is happy about that.

Bare trees great the early spring sun. Allow a little direct sun to shine past a tree trunk to get a burst of light in your image.

A slightly-motion-blurred Golden Retriever moves along a trail in the woods. The distant mountaintop is level in the frame with just a small amount of the gray sky included. The tree on the right helps frame the image. The trail leads into the composition about 1/3 of the way into the frame and a large lichens and moss-covered oak tree anchors the other side.

Get down near the ground and hold the camera at an angle for a new view of barn doors - or anything else.

During a rain, the lichens and moss on the oaks in our woods appears vibrant. In this picture, I aligned two small white pine tree trunks between the three larger tree trunks.

White and cream rule in this ceilling shot.

One of the easiest ways to get an attractive image is to include only the sky in the frame. An infinite number composition possibilities exist up there. Pick a day with good clouds. Then adjust contrast and saturation during post processing.