Part one of a two-part explanation of the depth illusion in landscape photography.
Creating the Illusion of Depth in Landscape Photos
Creating a convincing sensation of depth in a landscape helps create the illusion of distance in a two-dimensional image.
Learn to Create the Illusion of Depth in Your Landscapes
One of the creative problems inherent in all photographs is that they're flat.
Photographs exist in only two dimensions--they have height and width,
but no depth. While a landscape may spread across miles, your
photographs are only as deep as the paper they're printed on. The lack
of a third dimension means it's up to you to create a believable
illusion of distance in your photographs.
The reason that we see distance in everyday life is because humans have
what is called "binocular vision" or two separate images overlapping
that creates the depth illusion. The ability to sense distance can have
some useful applications--like knowing when to stop walking before you
walk off the end of a pier or how far to reach to scratch your knee.
Almost since the beginning of photography creative minds have tried to
find clever ways to bring the third dimension into still photos and
they've had some great successes. If you've ever looked at antique
stereo cards using a Stereoscope, you know just how real the 3-D
illusion can be: You feel as if you can reach in a pluck an apple from
a tree. As a kid I was addicted to my View-Master 3D viewer and I just
couldn't get enough of those round picture wheels. Mickey Mouse and
Pluto really were hiding inside that viewer
Creating A Sense of Depth
While you can't get such intense a three-dimensional experience from an
ordinary photograph, there are some visual tricks (also known as "depth
cues") you can exploit to enhance the sensation of distance in your
photographs. Knowing how depth is created is particularly useful in
landscape photographs because one of the things you're trying to relate
is the physical space involved.
Linear Perspective
One of the simplest and most direct ways to create a sense of distance
in a landscape is to include a leading line, a cue that artists refer
to as linear perspective. Lines work best when they start near the
front edge of the image and go to the far horizon (as in my shot of the
desert highway) and conclude at a single point ("one point"
perspective). Highways, fences, rivers, and telephone poles are all
things that can take the eye on a deep journey into your image.
Lines are like a siren call to the eye and they beg the eye to follow.
It's hard to look at a photograph that includes a strong lead-in line
and not trace its path--it's the visual equivalent of eating just one
potato chip--tough to do! When these lines are combined with what's
calledl a "single vanishing point" the depth illustion gets even
stronger. The vanishing point is created whenever all of the lines in a
scene appear to be focsed on a single spot in the distance. In
the photo of the military cemetary shown here (photographed in St.
Augustine, Florida) I used the lines of the headstones appear to be all
heading toward exactly that type of single vanishing point and the lure
is that much stronger.
Linear perspective is a powerful depth cue when it comes to creating a feeling of depth. Your eye can hardly help but follow the headstones to the end of the row.
Often a simple thing like choosing the right camera orientation will help establish great depth. In this case I think the vertical shot has a far greater feeling of distance than the horizontal shot from exactly the same location.
Haze causes distant mountain peaks to appear lighter than nearby peaks. This lightening exaggerates the sense of distance.
Aerial Perspective
If you've ever stood at a scenic overlook gazing out at
a mountain range you've probably noticed that the rows of receding
peaks seem to get lighter as they get farther away. That's a depth cue
called aerial perspective. The buildup of haze (or mist or fog) as the
peaks get more distant causes the more distant ones to look lighter;
the brain interprets this tone change as distance.
The best time to find haze or fog is early or late in the day or just
before or after a storm. And remember, while wide-angle lenses are
generally better for exaggerating distance in a normal landscape, when
it comes to aerial perspective, telephoto lenses (105mm or longer)
compress the ever--lightening layers of a subject and further
exaggerate the feeling of space. It's one time when a long lens
actually helps create rather than eliminate depth. I shot the photo
here from a highway overlook near Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hamsphire
(where one of my favorite Bill Murray movies "What About Bob?" was
filmed). The scene just appeared to go on forever and it was hard to
tell if the distant hills were a few miles or a hundred miles away--and
that feeling was created largely by the thick afternoon haze on a hot
August afternoon.
In this sunset photo taken in Tuscon, Arizona you can see how the layers of landscape are darker at the front and lighter in the distance which creates a sensation of distance in the brain.
