Part 5 of 6
CREATING DEPTH
In this article, we will continue our second journey in the “Learning to See” series. During the fifth part of his hike, Chris Eyre-Walker steps on an adventure, seeking not only for a great image but also to explore the history of an old zink mine where nature is taking back over. See what he discovered on the way to the nature conservation area.
How to use the foreground to get depth to the scene?
“The obvious shot”
OM SYSTEM OM-5
M.Zuiko Digital
ED 20mm F1.4 PRO
N 50° 31’ 13”
E 6° 04’ 35”
Focal length: 20 mm
Shutter speed: 1/160 s
F-Stop F2.5
ISO 200
And, there it is, an old, fallen tree, forming a natural bridge over the trail. It’s been like this for a while as new life has sprouted all over it again. An endless cycle. This almost feels like a gate to another world. There’s a sign nearby: Nature Conservation Area. I couldn’t agree more.
Lesson 5: see how it was done
What to avoid?
Some scenes require more than the main subject despite how beautiful it is. See beyond it and take into consideration the surroundings and what leads to it.
Depth
“Don’t be afraid to step back and allow room for your subject to stand out amongst the masses.”
- Breaking the Pattern
creates focal point - Diagonal Lines
movement - Rule of Thirds
Balance - Colour Contrast
leads the eye to the point of interest - Path & Right Foreground
create balance - Foreground Blur
creates more depth
How did I see the photograph?
Exploring a lesser-known trail off the beaten path, I embraced my inner explorer, drawn by the nearby mine, steep banks, and lush forest. Amidst this enchanting setting, I discovered something extraordinary—a natural bridge formed by a horizontally positioned tree, a rare sight in this area. Despite the challenge of capturing its essence, the unique location inspired me. It took several attempts, but I eventually found the perfect angle to showcase this captivating scene, proving that curiosity indeed pays off.
Things to consider:
Benefit from where you are
It’s the odd ones out
Usually, we tend to notice the things that break a pattern: A fallen tree in a forest full of vertical ones, a crooked old tree amongst straight pines, a dead tree among alive ones. It’s these trees that make for nice photographic subjects. But only if we show their surroundings, the actual pattern that they are breaking, they become obvious. So don’t be afraid to step back and allow room for your subject to stand out amongst the masses.
Don’t be shy to try all kinds of perspectives
Even once we find our subject, a forest can be quite a ‘mess’ to organise into a nice composition. A good practise is to either raise or lower your camera. Especially by lowering your perspective you can compress, hide and/or blur out the foreground to tidy up the bottom half of the composition.
Don’t break the magic - Avoid the Sky
Usually the sky is much brighter than a forest scene. Avoiding the sky in these kinds of photographs allows you to stay away from too high of a contrast in your images.
I also find that forest scenes without the presence of a sky tend to create more of a mystical, magical mood.
Elevate the experience
Read up about the area you’re exploring. Even it’s your home area. Knowing the history of a place can be incredibly inspiring and allow for a fresh perspective on the already-known.
Had I not read up and known about the old mines here, I would probably have stayed on my trail and wouldn’t have gone to explore the paths around them.
Make the extra time, let the curious explorer in you take over and follow your gut. Find the thing that breaks the pattern and try to question how it does so. Is it a different colour, an unusual position, a stand-out object in the scene? All of those can make for fantastic subjects.