Into the Woods Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge Stevensville, Montana |
Photography is a two-dimensional medium representing a three-dimensional world. One of the ways to suggest that three-dimensional reality is to create a feeling of distance or depth in a picture. Including a path that starts at the front or bottom of the image and leads to the back or top of the frame creates a sense of moving from near to far. As the viewer's eye follows this actual path from the physical world, they experience the image as having depth. The path also directs the eye to other parts of the frame, preventing the viewer from getting "stuck" in the middle.
Learn more techniques for making effective images in Fundamentals of Photo Composition, an online class in Missoula, Montana, beginning October 28, 2020. Click here to register.