6 quick tricks to add depth to your landscape photos

 

 

With photography being a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional space, photographers are often trying to find ways to represent the depth and scale they see in the real world in their images. In the video below, photographer Nigel Danson offers six quick tricks you can use to give your photos more impact and a three-dimensional look.

While healthy human vision relies upon using two eyes to see the world in depth, you can still perceive depth, albeit with less ease, by using only one eye. This is accomplished because the brain is able to rely upon visual cues. We can think about depth in a similar way when considering a photograph. The relative size of objects, how light is falling on an object and much more can be utilized within a composition to create a sense of depth in an image.

As photographers, we must come up with ways of illustrating depth within an image. The first topic Danson discusses below is size. Using an example image showing trees at different depths in a scene, it's obvious to anyone viewing the image that some of the trees, those which are smaller in the frame, are further away than the visually larger tree in the foreground. By incorporating familiar elements at different distances from your camera in your landscape composition, you can easily create a sense of depth.

The second way to create depth is through the use of texture and shadow detail. Our brains are very good at seeing how light is falling on an object or series of objects and using this visual cue to understand how close or far away something is. To see the other four ways to add depth to your images, watch Danson's full video below.

(Via Nigel Danson)