Using a Strong Foreground to Move Beyond the Snapshot
Strong foreground element
When I visited Mt. Rainier National Park a couple years ago I was standing near the start of a popular trail in a meadow. I observed an interesting occurrence. Tourists would rush out of their cars, point their cameras towards Mt. Rainier, and start happily snapping away. Since then, I have witnessed this scene repeated hundreds of times in numerous other national parks and scenic locations.
Not to take anything away from those happy tourists, but I think they could have improved their photos by introducing a foreground element into the shot.
The foreground element adds depth
A straight-on snapshot of a mountain or a lake is nice to look at, but if you really want to have your viewer make an intimate connection with the scene, sometimes it is very helpful to include a foreground element. At Mr. Rainier I took great pains to find nice wildflowers to have in the bottom of the frame so that the viewer of the photo could fully appreciate the beauty of the meadow as well as the face of the mountain.
In the photo of the lake, I set my camera very low on the tripod to include those cracked rocks in the scene. The cracks in the rocks draw the viewer’s eyes up from the bottom of the frame towards the lake and the more distant mountains.
A foreground element in a landscape scene can consist of just about anything. Rocks, plants, logs, birds, shells and anything in between can be used to turn a snapshot into fine art photo.
Editor’s Note: You can see more of Daniel Ewert’s nature photography at www.EwertNaturePhotography.com
Ive always liked strong foregrounds.
I guess it’s kinda like when you look off in the distance, you still come back to the foreground, making the entire picture interesting.
I find it hard to restrain sometimes but the snap shot tourist isent going to get it. even if you explain it to them. They don’t perceive the difference between the minds eye and what the camera sees. They don’t have the know how the patients or often even the desire to to learn how to create, wouldn’t it be cool if ????. It’s not the equipment its the person adjusting it. Which the tourist most often does not. Auto focus, auto exposure, auto flash.. yuc.. A person who presses record is not necessarily a recording artist. Photography is a perceptual art and the practice, patients and desire to make that vision a reality is what sets us apart.