How to Create Depth

Photographs are limited by being two dimensional, having height and width with no depth. The illusion of depth is completely left in your hands in knowing how to bring that sense of reality and creativity to the picture. Depth helps to bring an emphasis to the subject of the photograph, softens any distracting backgrounds or foregrounds and can help to create a dream-like and romantic atmosphere.

How Do You Create Depth?

I. Shoot Manual Mode

Open up your aperture and focus your lens on your subject to blur the surroundings.

II. Distance

Use your aperture wide open in manual mode and focus on your subject. While doing this, place your subject further away from other objects/people/backgrounds to create a wider separation between the objects. The greater the distance, the blurrier it will be which gives it a more prominent separation to help focus on your subject.

III. Linear Perspective

Line up people/objects so that the closest one starts in the front near you, and then it extends to the opposite side of the image plane to the farthest horizon.

Creative Ways to Enhance Your Depth

I. Contrast

Utilizing contrast to aid in depth helps when you can set your object against a dark background for maximum contrast. Using this technique helps to accentuate the details of your subject and pop it out.

II.  Layering

Helps to define the depth, especially when you use translucent objects (such as veils, screens, leafs, glass, etc) to focus through. Depending on how you execute this, it can bring a sense of reality in how the human eye would perceive it, or can even lend a sense of romanticism to the atmosphere.

III. Framing

Arrange positive/negative space to create and support depth.

About the Author:

Jana Morgan was born in Thailand and grew up in Bangladesh before moving to America in 1992. With her international travel experiences, her interest in photography began with a documentary style of influence. Jana currently resides in Hawai’i with her husband and two dogs and shoots weddings internationally.