Depth
When in real life objects could be two or three-dimensional
in shape, in a picture a shape always is two-dimensional.
and
only the tonal changes throughout your picture-object
can allow
for the impression of depth. As you can see it in
these two
pictures of the wall-murals, which have height and
width only,
appearing two-dimensional, or as in this, opposite,
still-life
photo of the feast-plate, in which the present tonal
range of the
objects brings out depth of what otherwise, would
have been a
much flatter appearing collection of the still-life
picture
elements, a lack or possession of a broad range of
tones across
your objects, in itself is often responsible for the
absence or
presence of compositional depth in any picture. As
you can see it
by looking at the picture of the silhouette of the
three
fishermen in a boat surrounded by the calm lake water
and the
early morning mist, strong side-lighting helped to
emphasize
their shape and brought out some important details,
nevertheless,
having no objects in the foreground and the middleground,
the
photo still appears flat. The photo of the docked
boats, on
contrary, is a good example of having depth in the
photograph.
The picture of the steps leading to the basement and
the banister
in the foreground, has a broad range of tones that
convey a
feeling of depth in it.
