More about creating the illusion of depth in landscape photographs.
More About the Depth Illusion
Shrinking Sizes
Using our common knowledge of object sizes is another great way to
trick the brain into sensing distance. Since we all know approximately
how big a person is, for example, if that person appears as a tiny dot
on a beach, we assume there is a great amount of space between the lens
and the subject. Similarly, by contrasting objects of known size--a
large person near the camera and a tiny lighthouse in the distance--you
are telling the viewer that there is space between the two. Everyone
knows that the lighthouse is really much larger than the person.
You can also use shrinking sizes to imply distance by having objects of
similar size stretching into the distance. When you're sitting in a
line of cars waiting to pay the morning toll, the car at the far end of
the line seems a lot smaller than the one directly in front of you. We
know, of course, that all of the cars are roughly the same size and
they're not really shrinking, but the distance makes them appear to be
getting smaller.
Shrinking sizes are another way to convey depth. Your brain knows these tractors aren't getting physically smaller, but it still perceives their apparently diminishing size as distance.
Because the trees on this dirt road on the grounds of Chateau Chenonceau in France appear to be getting smaller as they recede, the brain perceives this as distance.
Upward Dislocation
Whenever a particular subject is higher in the frame than a
nearby one, it appears to us to be farther away. That's just another
trick of our vision system that automatically assumes that things
higher in the frame are closer to the horizon and, therefore, farther
away. You can exploit this cue easily in a landscape by simply placing
one object--such as the sailboat in my shot here--very high in the
frame.
Another way to do this, of course, is to aim the lens down to include
more foreground space in the frame. By emphasizing the foreground in a
beach scene, for example, you create the impression that the beach is
very long and the distance to the horizon even greater.
Using Depth
Not all landscapes require a sense of distance to be more
dramatic or more realistic. But whenever the perception of distance is
important in a landscape, knowing which cues are available and how to
exploit them is a very useful tool.
A combination of at least three factors in this Iowa farm landscape help create the illusion of distance. Can you name two of them? Click on the image for the answer!
