Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

My hope for this thread is to stimulate ideas for new photographers, as well as anyone feeling a bit stuck or in a rut with their compositions. Please post a photo and discuss how it relates to any of the below terms. Many thanks!

Perspective - the sense of depth or spatial relationships between objects in a photo.

- Relative size, distance from viewer
- Linear perspective, vanishing lines
- The role of focal length
- Atmospheric conditions
- The fun stuff: photographing from a lower or higher angle than "normal" and optical illusions via forced perspective.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

To start us off, exploiting the unique properties of an ultra-wide angle lens to play with how we perceive depth and distance, as well as relative size. The near apple is only about 8" from the lens - the Canon EF-S 10-18 mm.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Be careful about using a lens to show perspective. While an ultra-wide lens does tend to emphasize the near-far appearance. the ONLY thing that changes perspective is the camera-to-subject distance. Change lenses (focal length) never changes perspective. MOVING the camera always changes perspective.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Thank you, Cliff. Our perception of the scene changes, though, right? Regarding telephoto:

"a combination of long lens and camera-to-subject distance gives the viewer the impression that distant objects are larger than they actually are. As a result, it gives the appearance that the background has pulled in closer to the subject."

https://photographylife.com/what-is-lens-compression

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randomeyes Loc: wilds of b.c. canada

Shot turned around lying on my stomach shooting the opening I crawled in. Used a 10-22mm. This is a sandstone cave used ambient light. Most lines of view point to the opening.

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CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Yeah, the perception may change, but it is a visual lie. That compression is nothing more than an "optical cropping" of the scene. Take two images from the same place - one at say 200mm and one at 35mm. Crop the 35mm image to the same angle of view as the 200 and.....NO DIFFERENCE!

A discussion of how perspective works in composition is good. Using focal length to demonstrate it is incorrect. That is my only point.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Hopefully Admin will move this to the gallery or other section where it belongs, because it is directly against forum rules to post it in Main Photography Discussion!

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

"Main forum: This is where we talk about anything related to photography. The Main section is meant for discussions. Sometimes pictures are appropriate in the Main section, but mainly when used to illustrate a point or help the discussion."

Talking about composition, with photo examples...how is that against main forum rules? You must have missed CatMarley's main forum discussion topic on light, which was filled with photos:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-526180-1.html

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Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

I’m really glad you started this topic because it is of great interest to me and I imagine to many others. I don’t have a specific shot to add at the moment but I am going to take a look. I do know that discussions of this sort really influence my photography. I just got home from a volunteering session at a local theater. When I got there (on time) no one else had arrived yet. I didn’t have my camera with me but still walked all around the building (a very old and unique former school house) trying to find pleasing perspectives. There is a fence on one side and I found myself trying to line up a potential shot that would allow me to use the fence as a leading line in the composition. There was a time when I would have just shot the building head on and centered, making sure to include every corner of the building. Now, thanks in large part to the things I have absorbed from UHH, that shot didn’t even cross my mind. That head on shot probably has its place but it wouldn’t convey the special character and history of this charming old building.

I hope to find some interesting examples to share.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Thanks very much for your time and clarification.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Leading lines round and round, drawing me right into a space that appears uncomfortably small. Thank you!

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Thanks Carol! I would love to see more main forum discussion on the actual content of photos

I was inspired to start this one after seeing UHH user pmb's clever "Perspective" topic this morning:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-548713-1.html

There is a lot of potential to explore! To Captain C's and your own point, one way is to move your feet.

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

The same scene can provide many photographs. One way is to use spot [single point] focusing. Center the spot on the thing you want to emphasize, depress the button half way to compose the entire image, and shoot. In the first example can be seen (L-R) an "Auto" shot with focus set to the whole scene [Auto Area]. Next is a spot focus to make the arched tree and its reflection stand out. Finally, the spot focus is used to make the water stand out.

In the two other photos included here, spot focusing was used to get the shot I wanted rather than full auto. BTW, full auto is quite often fine if you are going to do post processing.

As to the terminology, it may or may not differ with your camera. I was using a Nikon. Looking up the terms used here for your camera should work.

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Bill_de Loc: US

If you move to the Gallery you'll have to say it all with pictures. This topic will garner a lot of conversation. Better stay where you are.

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Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Bob, thank you for expanding the bullet points to include the role of focus. Here is an article that applies, especially the section titled "think abstract."

https://contrastly.com/perspective-in-photography/

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