Halifax: Day 10, Forest Lines and Light

There are many ways to create depth in a photograph. It can be particularly challenging in a forest. Try it: Next time you're walking in a wooded area, look around you. Find a scene that you find pleasing. Then, close one eye and look at it again. Cameras don't see in three dimensions, and much of the instant beauty you see in a forest scene is lost immediately when you look at it through a viewfinder (or through only one eye).

To salvage the effect of depth you must instead use a variety of tricks. The one I tried to focus on today was basic composition; using elements of the environment to create a sense of depth and separation. I am getting better at it; so much so that with the exception of some wet spider web photos I want to capture, I'm ready to leave the peace and quiet of the woods behind Tim's house and venture outward.

My first Halifax harbour sunrise. I've been up for a couple but this was the first one where the weather co-operated.

Finally managed some depth in a stand of trees.

An isolated rotting stump. Fortunately, there are many stumps to shoot; finding a good one is a matter of looking around at the right time of day and finding one being appropriately lit. Or, as was the case here, cheat and hit it with fill flash.

Perfect natural spotlight on some leading lines.

Tattered stump and some engaging 35mm bokeh.

Another stand of trees with depth, this time relying on a natural spotlight and a strong diagonal line.

Depth via an isolated tree balanced with open space.

Leading lines slow the eye to a hard stop.

Leading grain on a tree stump. Should have taken this photo with the 105mm, but I was traveling light and didn't have it with me.

Two points of light draw the eye; probably should have isolated one and focused on it. As it stands, one detracts from the other. The strong leading lines salvage enough of it to make it seem better composed than it is.

A burnt tree stump creates a leading pattern.

A mountain range in miniature.

© Jeremy Buehler and Bug Noir (www.bugnoir.com), 2010.