Removing the extra stuff that distracts the viewer unnecessarily
Strategic cropping to emphasize the parts of the picture that are special to you!

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My camera has a 3X optical zoom along with a 4X digital zoom.

I have my digital zoom option turned off since photo editing software can usually do a much better job of zooming in digitally then the camera can natively.

The original picture contained a lot of extra stuff that didn't add any value to what I was trying to convey. In fact the central focus of the picture was the chipmunk and he was definately lost in all of the clutter.

Cropping the extra stuff placed the focus back on the chipmunk and created a much stronger image in the process!

This picture was taken in Sauble Falls during my Round Lake Huron tour.

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The stern rails of the ferry added no value to this picture of the Mackinaw bridge. I could have improved this picture further by leveling the horizon so that the ship wouldn't look like it was going uphill!

From Day 9 of my Round Lake Huron tour.

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The whole point of this picture taken during my Round Lake Erie tour was to have a picture of this car that I could show to my brother.

The extra clutter added absolutely no value in my opinion!

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Removing some of the foreground placed much more emphasis on the shoreline and the sunset colours.

The remaining change consisted of adjusting the colour, contrast and brightness to make the sand a bit more visible.

From Day 8 of my Round Lake Huron tour.

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Here's a case where I was lazy (and in reality much less experienced then I am now). Rather then move closer before taking the picture I just took a quick shot.

I was able to retrieve some of the picture by removing the useless foreground and reducing the width of the picture giving me the equivalent of zooming in.

Of course it's not exactly the same since you never capture as much detail from far away as you do when you are up close.

From Day Three of my Round Lake Erie tour.

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This is another picture from Jim Oliver's Eastern Canada journal.

This picture is captioned "A perfect ending to a perfect day" in his journal. Depending on the mood he is trying to convey he may choose to include the beer bottle or zoom in on the sunset.

Both are excellent pictures and both invoke different feelings and thoughts!

Remember that when everything is said and done the pictures you use and how you present them comes down to a very personal decision on what you think matters.

I am very, very impressed with this set of pictures from Jim's journal. They rank highly in my personal favourites list!