Get low to create depth and take your landscape photos to the next level

 

 

Jim Hamel says in an article for Digital Photography School that one sure-fire way to get better landscape images, particularly when you're approaching a scene and just don’t know what to do, is to use a wide-angle lens and shoot from behind something on the ground.

By getting behind an object on the ground and getting low, you can give your landscape images both a foreground and depth. Hamel states that what typifies a snapshot, rather than a well-composed photograph, is that snapshots are often taken at eye-level. When doing this, it's difficult to use a foreground object in a landscape image to create depth in the scene.

 

Using my wide-angle lens, I got low in order to use the grass in the foreground and create a sense of depth in the scene. (Copyright: Jeremy Gray)

So now that you know to get low and close to a foreground object to create depth and improve your landscape photos, how do you actually select your foreground subject? Hamel says that sometimes you just have to look around as there is no right answer, but he does give some excellent examples to help guide you out in the field, though: reflections in water, rocks in a creek, or shadows when shooting in harsh light.

To read more about Hamel's compositional tips for landscape photography, check out the full article at Digital Photography School. 

(Seen via Digital Photography School)