Perspective in photography is very important, especially in taking photos of landscapes, and sometimes close-ups. The idea with perspective is to put something in the photo that will help the viewer get a better idea of how big the landscape is, or how far something really is from the camera. In the photo above, the man walking the railroad tracks gives you the feeling that the man has already walked a long distance, but still, he has a long ways to go.

Sometimes perspective gives you a false sense of the distance.

Can the eye do this naturally? No, this is something that you can play with in photography. This is because your photos are in 2D, not 3D. You can have a lot of fun with this as you can see.

This kind of photography is limited to your imagination. Try it sometime to help you understand perspective.

With all kidding aside, how do you use perspective in your landscapes? With some landscape photos you need to use perspective so you can tell how big everything is in the photo.

If you did not have the building in the front, you might not know how big the rest of the buildings are, further down the road. Use something in the foreground to give you some idea of size.

Is this a photo of the people, or the building in the background. It’s that building. Everyone in the foreground is looking at the building. How big is this building? You get a great idea of how big it is by having the people in the foreground. Keep that in mind when trying to show size of something.

Trees are especially important to show perspective. Now this tree, you can tell, is just a small tree, maybe 5 inches in height. But, is part of a bigger tree that has fallen.

Some really good photographers “frame” their photos with a natural foreground, such as this photo above. This is just a natural way to use perspective, plus, make a better photo.

These are all great examples of “framing your photo”, but, is also a great example of perspective. The framing in the foreground adds to the dimensions of what you see in the background. Try framing your photos and see if you like them better.

Want to know how big those trees are that you are standing in the midst? Shoot up, get the tree closest to you to be somewhat in the foreground. And now you know why those trees seem so big. Another great example of Perspective.

Conclusion:

With the proper placement of your camera, you can use perspective to your advantage to make better photos. Putting a subject in the foreground, gives you a dimension of the whole scene that most people would miss. Also, learn to “frame” your photos. That just makes you look more professional and a nice touch of using perspective as well.