When we arrive on location, on of the first things we look for is a “foreground object”. We are looking for something distinctive. Something that stands out from the surroundings, and helps to define the area. In the finished image, that object will provide a sense of place, and a point of interest for the viewer.
Here are a collection of images with distinctive foreground elements. What does each object contribute to the composition? Can you imagine the photograph without that object? Do you think the image would be as effective without it?
The little red leaf in this shot provides a counterpoint to the bright yellows across the stream.
The incredible details in the ice are gorgeous at Lake Erie in the winter – and getting up close and personal lets the viewer see the beauty in the details. Sometime, a location offers a variety of unusual foreground objects. In this case, getting in close lets the viewer examine the unusual formations and gain a better understanding of what they are looking at. From further away, the unusual stones would be hard to understand and identify.
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I love shooting at Cannon Beach in Oregon… and this was my first experiment in long exposure photography. I used a 30-second shutter speed to capture the shot.
I had to wait until long after the sun went down to get this shot. At the time, I had only a single 4-stop Neutral Density filter, so I waited until the light was low enough for me to push the shutter speed to 30 seconds. An added benefit of waiting was that I was able to get the deep blue colors of twilight.
This is a shot from the “House on Fire” Ruins in Mule Canyon in Utah. The sun was high in the sky when we arrived, but the ruins are in shade under a shelf of rock. The stone structures are incredible all by themselves, but when the harsh mid-day light reflects off the sandstone at your feet, it makes the ceiling glow with a brilliant light. That’s what we were after. And we got it.
We’ve seen this effect in countless canyons. The light bounces off one wall onto another, and the reflected light makes the canyon glow. Here, though, the unusual patterns on the ceiling add a whole different dimension to the photo.
I used a wide-angle lens to get as much of the ceiling in the shot as possible. The lens adds a bit of distortion – which also adds some depth to the image. For this shot, I turned the camera at an angle to remove the foreground rocks and help simplify the photo. Post-processing was minimal. I used the default “shade” white balance in Photoshop – and brightened up the ruins by about a third of a stop. I left the “flames” alone.
Who’s been here? I found out this morning (too late) that there are hand-prints in an alcove nearby! I was in that alcove, but didn’t see them. Darn! I guess I’ll just have to go back! Anyway – if you haven’t been, it’s an easy hike and worth a trip. Definitely!
In many cases, a photograph will require small adjustments to specific areas to bring out the details and colors throughout the image. We refer to these adjustments as “targeted adjustments.”
Here is an image from San Gregorio Beach in California. In this image, each area of the image looks correctly exposed…but the camera did not capture the photograph that you see above. Because the light over the entire scene was somewhat uneven, the camera underexposed some areas and overexposed others. The image below shows what I mean.
To restore details, colors, and contrast in each part of the image, I used layers and masks in Photoshop. You can see all the layers and masks I used to make targeted adjustments below. I also used the clone tool to clone out the distracting elements in the scene.
You need knowledge about layers and masks to make similar adjustments in Photoshop. Targeted adjustments allow me to bring out rich details and colors in my photographs.
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Here’s a shot from the Florida Keys. At the end of the day, a group of us were shooting on this beautiful shoreline. Others were trying to capture the last glow of the sunrise in the sky – but I wasn’t inspired by the sliver of light behind me. Instead, I found myself captivated by the much more subtle glow on the mangroves.
This is one of my favorite times to shoot. When the light is nearly lost – and night is just about to gain the upper hand. But it’s not always easy to capture the beauty of the moment. It’s brief – gone almost before you have time to set up your camera. So, when I already have my camera out and ready (because I’ve been shooting the sunset) I try to grab the opportunity if I can. I am constantly turning around as the sun sets – checking the sky behind me for color, and checking the ground for that gorgeous, fleeting glow. :)
On this day, I grabbed up my tripod as soon as I saw it, and ran along the shoreline towards the mangroves. When I reached the waters edge – I searched for the composition I wanted. I had scouted the area earlier in the day, so I knew what my options were, and I waded out into the calm water to find my spot.
I needed to set up my tripod in such a way that my shadow wouldn’t be in the image – which is a challenge when the sun is behind you! So, I looked for a spot where I could shoot at a slight angle. My shadow stretched to the left in this shot… carefully placed just outside the frame. I wanted to show the beautiful patterns under the water, so I used a circular polarizer to cut through the surface glare. A graduated neutral density filter was unnecessary, because the sky was getting darker and the foreground was lit just slightly. So, I ended up with pretty even lighting overall. My camera had no trouble capturing the entire range of light with a single exposure.
I needed a long shutter speed in order to get enough light – 20 seconds was enough to get the shot. And it’s a good thing I was ready… because by the time the shutter closed, the light was gone.
So, what can you learn from a shot like this? First, arrive early so you can scout the area in advance. You want to know where you want to shoot when the moment arrives. Second, keep checking over your shoulder. Changing light means changing photographic opportunities! Don’t let that great light get away from you! And third, have your camera ready to go so that when you find your spot you can get your shot. :)
This year, Jay and I have been invited to speak at the 2012 Photographic Society of America Conference in San Francisco. The conference is September 16-22, and we’ll make an announcement as soon as we know exactly when we’ll be speaking. This is a major event for us, and we feel enormously honored to have been invited. We hope that we’ll see many of you there – and that you will introduce yourselves to us while we’re there!
Look closely at this photograph…Do you see the ghostly image of the geese as they fly through the photograph? I timed my shutter release so that I would catch the birds as they were flying overhead. The tall silo prevented me from the using a GND filter, so I used manual blending for proper exposure and colors. The composition showcases the spectacular sky.
This little farm is just a couple of miles from our house, and the barns you see here are schedule to be demolished to make way for a housing development. This photograph seems to be an appropriate goodbye to Corbett’s Farm – a place that meant a lot to the children in this area.
Anyway. This photo is about color and form. I have a black and white version of this shot – which was published in Popular Photography magazine a few years ago – and in that version, I’ve taken away the color to make the image entirely about form. I’ve never been able to decide which version I like best. Some days I prefer the black and white version, and other days I prefer the color version. Go figure.
Here’s the black and white version:
The entire scene is strange – so it grabs the eye right away. There’s a lot going on here – “windows” in the rock, thousands of little segmented pieces of cracked mud on the ground, stripes in the sandstone, brilliant colors… but somehow, the image doesn’t feel busy (at least it doesn’t to me!). Why not? Because there is a sense of order to it all.
The colors are intense – but they are confined to a narrow range of oranges and browns. The monochromatic color scheme helps simplify the scene. The cracked bits of mud form a single, meandering shape within the frame… and that simplifies the image even further. Rather than seeing those individual pieces, your brain does what it does best – it organizes them into a single category… a recognizable pattern that leads us right through the image. The windows in the rock are arranged in a neat line that follows the pattern on the ground – the repetition helps to simplify the image even more. You brain doesn’t need to process each of those openings separately. Once again, the human brain categorizes and simplifies the scene. The same goes for the repeating lines in the sandstone.
Light is an important element here, too. Though you might not notice it at first because it’s not dramatic. I came upon this location when the sun was high in the sky. Half of the scene was brightly lit, and the other half was in shadow. In order to simplify the image even more, I waited several hours to take the shot – until the entire scene was in the shade. Harsh lighting would have been yet another distraction. Instead, the light is soft and even. The brilliant colors are an effect of the bright sunlight bouncing off the far wall of the canyon and reflecting off the orange sandstone in the photo. Scattered light is perfect for a shot like this.
The wet mud in the foreground is darker than the mud surrounding it – so you have a nice place to rest your eye. We call that a point of interest, right?
So there you go. A jumble of parts come together to create a simple composition.
Understanding a little bit about how the human brain works makes photography even more challenging. When I look at a scene, my brain automatically starts to break it up into its individual parts in an attempt to figure out what I can build from the elements in front of me.
Here is a photo of St. Mary falls in Glacier National Park. You can see exquisite details and vibrant colors in every part of the image. But did the image come out looking like this, or did we have to make adjustments to the original? Most landscape photographs require some amount of post-processing for a natural look, and this photo was no exception. I made selected adjustment to the image using layers and masks in the photograph. The video below explains the adjustments I made and why I felt they were necessary.
Layers and Mask are valuable tools that have the potential to dramatically improve your photography. To learn more about Layers and Mask check out our webinar below:
Coyote Buttes is a fascinating area in Northern Arizona. There, you’ll find vibrant colors and beautiful patters in smooth Navajo Sandstone. One of the most famous formations in the region in called The Wave. On this particular visit, I encountered more water than I had have on previous trips. I used the reflections and the patterns to fill the frame, producing an abstract composition.
As always, these images are provided for personal use as computer wallpaper or backgrounds ONLY. Copyright belongs to the photographer, and photographs cannot be used, redistributed, or recreated in print, on the web, or in any other medium without written permission from the photographer.
Sometime, a location offers a variety of unusual foreground objects. In this case, getting in close lets the viewer examine the unusual formations and gain a better understanding of what they are looking at. From further away, the unusual stones would be hard to understand and identify.
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Q & A – Finding the Balance