I will sometimes post links to articles or "recommended reading" that I come across in my photography research on the web. The article in the attached link provides a great summary of the process Art Wolfe used to "construct" his composition of a temple near Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Art Wolfe is considered one of great contemporary nature and travel photographers. I had a chance to sit in on several of Art's presentations, and talk with him at length during the North American Nature Photographers Association (NANPA) Summit in Albuquerque, New Mexico in February of 2009. Not only is Art a great photographer and artist, but he is a genuinely nice individual that will "tell it like it is."
What I find so interesting about this article is that it illustrates that even the great photographers don't expect to get a perfect composition right off the bat, but instead expect to "work the scene" to eventually construct an image that brings all the important elements together into a successful composition. This article is an "easy read" and well worth adding to your "recommended reading" list:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/constructing.shtmlKeith
