10 Tips on How to Add Depth to Your Photos (Depth in Photography Composition)

In today’s photography tutorial, we will discuss how to add depth to your photography. There are a number of techniques you can use to enhance the feeling of depth in your shots. Today I will give you 10 such tips, so let’s get started.

1. Add Foreground

Photographing a subject at a far distance can often make it appear dull and flat. Try to include an object of interest in the foreground to enhance the sense of depth. This leads the viewer’s eye around the scene, from the foreground to the subject in the distance.

2. Use Leading Lines

Leading lines are everywhere, from curved highways to city streets, so get into the habit of constantly being on the lookout for them. Incorporating one or more leading lines into your photo is a sure way to enhance its sense of depth.

3. Shoot Wide

Photographing with a wider angle (or zooming out) helps us capture more in our frame. It naturally exaggerates the perspective in a scene, achieving a greater sense of depth.

4. Frame Within A Frame

As you are looking to add foreground, try to use those foreground objects to create a natural frame around the subject in your photograph. This enhances the sense of depth by guiding the viewer through the scene.

5. Go Vertical

In addition to clicking your photos in landscape orientation, also tilt your camera and click a few vertical shots. You may be able to capture a whole new viewpoint with a portrait orientation.

6. Use Perspective

It is not compulsory to click all your images at your eye level. Changing viewpoint has the added benefits of providing more foreground interest, and also creating a less familiar, more intriguing composition.

7. Layering

It is helpful to break the photo up into a different set of thirds: The foreground, middle ground, and background. Having three zones in the image – zones that are distinct but linked – will help create a sense of depth and three-dimensionality.

8. Use a Wide Aperture

Having a blurry background and a sharp subject creates a three-dimensional image. The blur helps separate the model from the background – and ultimately creates a sense of depth.

9. Incorporate a Vanishing Point

Visually, the space between two parallel lines diminishes as the lines recede, drawing the eye with them as they run toward the horizon and ultimately appear to converge at a vanishing point. By photographing elements situated along these parallel lines, you can define different layers within the image.

10. Shoot Through Glass

A glass surface provides a full physical divide between layers. Let the glass function as your middle ground, and incorporate elements on either side to represent the foreground (in front of the glass) and background (beyond the glass).