Foreground - Make or Break

Foreground can be such an important aspect to certain pictures. The foreground of a picture helps set the mood you want the image to portray, adds depth to the picture, and is very interesting to look at, if used correctly. When looking at a picture, the foreground should help lead your eyes up to the rest of the photo.

Around this time of year is the perfect time to test out using foreground to your advantage. With all the snow melting leaving large puddles behind, there is so many good opportunities to try this photography skill out. Puddles are great to use in foreground because it may capture the reflection of whatever your subject is, which can make for a very interesting photo.

Here is an example of a picture I took using this clever photography skill. You can see the reflection of the trees in the foreground, and it actually adds more depth to the image. The darkness and contrast of the photo gives off a dreary mood, and the stillness of the puddle makes the environment seem very calm and hushed.

The foreground of an image can actually make or break a picture. Here is the same picture as before, just with the foreground cropped out. This picture actually looks boring compared to the original, and is not as interesting to look at.

Using the foreground to your advantage is an excellent way to capture a great image. I am excited to use this skill more in other pictures I take in the future!

Click the link below to read more about using foreground in your pictures!
The Importance of Foreground

Editing

Before

Editing photos is something many people do to make the pictures they take even that much better. You can't control what the weather will be like, so on cloudy days, like the day I took these pictures, your pictures may not turn out how you intended them to be. Just slightly editing the picture, for example, boosting the colour, or cropping it to your likings, your picture can have the certain look that you intended on having as an end result.

Here is an example of a picture showing the 'before editing' and 'after editing' results.

After

For my editing purposes, I simply just used iPhoto, but there are many different editing applications you can use. As you can see in the 'before' picture, the colours and lighting of the picture look very dull and gloomy, due to the cloudy day it was taken on. All I did to edit it was boost the colours more, and enhanced the contrast, and as you can see, the picture already looks a lot more appealing. The trees and the wagon have a much more contrasted look to it, and just by boosted the colours the picture pops out at you.

Instead of having a dull and gloomy picture as a result, these simple editing steps I did make the picture a lot more rich in colour, and makes for a more interesting photo.