Foreground Magic
By Patrick Arseneau – Let’s talk about landscape photography. It is probably the most popular type of photography for vacation souvenirs, picture frames, road trips, sunsets, nature lovers, etc. But how often do you hear someone say “The pictures don’t do it justice. You had to be there”. The reason why ‘pictures don’t do it justice’ is that no matter how advanced camera technology has become, it is not even close to what your eyes can see.
Let’s see what we can do to make your landscape pictures a little more interesting.
Composition
Before you take a picture, think about what you want in your picture. There should be one or two main subjects; i.e. a mountain, a tree, the sun. Then ask yourself what makes that subject so interesting and why do you want to take a picture of it? Why do you find a certain tree interesting enough to take a picture of it? Is it because it’s bigger than the other trees that surround it? If that’s the case, you should include the other trees in the frame to put its size into perspective.
If you come upon a really nice mountain view that takes your breath away, you’re gonna take a picture of it. Most people will instinctively frame the highest mountain top and maybe even zoom in on it to get a closer shot. That’s a mistake that will make them say “you had to be there to really appreciate it”. What makes the mountain so beautiful is it’s size and natural position among the rest of the natural beauties (trees, water, sky, clouds). To get a good capture of a mountain you should get as much of the surroundings as possible. Usually it’s best at the widest lens angle or even multiple wide angle shots (multiple panoramic shots stitched together).
Good:
Foreground
Now for the real magic. Once you learn how to properly compose landscape pictures, you can also add a little bit of spice to it and make the picture a little more interesting. Adding a foreground subject to a landscape picture adds perspective and life. The best way to explain it is to show you a picture with and without a foreground subject.
This is a nice picture of the morning sun over the Varadero beach in Cuba. The composition is ok but there’s nothing special about the picture:
By putting a foreground subject in the same environment, the same picture becomes much more interesting:
Adding a foreground subject to your landscape pictures will make them stand out and make people say “WOW”. Try it! It’s not as hard as it sounds. Good composition is the key.
