Dave Moser

This is the first in a series of journals where I’m going to rant about my landscape technique.

Today I’m starting with foreground elements. This is, in my opinion, the single most important element to creating engaging and dynamic landscapes. Look at some of the most impressive landscapes being shot today, like those of Darwin Wigett, and you will see that great landscape photographers always compose shots with foreground elements involved. If you simply take a shot of a distant mountain everything seems to be about the same distance from the viewer and the image looks flat like a postcard. By incorporating a foreground element you give the viewer perspective. If you show them the gravel on the ground near the base of your tripod (you are shooting with a tripod, right?) before you show them the distant mountains they’ll feel like they are standing there with you observing it.

So what kinds of foreground should I shoot? If you’ve found a compelling landscape you want to shoot the first thing you are probably going to need to do is move from the spot you’re at. Take a look around. Are there interesting rock formations? Is there a stream or pond that will provide movements or reflections? Can you find some interesting vegetation? All of these things will provide context and depth (if they are a close foreground element) that add immeasurably to your composition.

My goals in this compositional element:
Today’s landscape photos generally show the gravel/vegetation/etc at the shooter’s feet to give the composition depth. While this achieves the effect of depth it has become rather cliché in the world of landscape photography. I want to find a composition where my foreground element is on the side of the frame. I’m actually agonizing about how I could frame a composition where the foreground is actually the top of the frame. My current thinking is that I could use the end of a tree canopy at the edge of a wooded area to frame a distant landscape.