Composing a foreground - part 2

Saturday 12 July 2025, 16:32 by Nando Harmsen | 2,284 views | 0 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Are you choosing a foreground for your landscape photo? Then also think about where you want to draw attention. Is it the background, or the foreground? There is no right or wrong, only a choice.

A foreground can add a lot of dynamism and depth to a photo. Just look at the photo below. It is a beautiful landscape, but not very exciting. In fact, it does not show the actual landscape.

The landscape in the photo was much more beautiful in reality. A familiar problem.
By including a foreground in the photo, you get the chance to show the actual landscape. In this case, there were buttercups in the foreground.

Because this photo was taken with a long focal length, it is not possible to get both the foreground and background sharply in focus. You have to choose. Either the background sharp, or the foreground.

The background is sharp and the foreground is blurred. There is a repetition of the colour yellow. The blurred flowers at the front, and the yellow tint of the flowers in the background.
You can keep the background sharp, as I did in the photo of the landscape without a foreground. The attention is drawn to the background, and the foreground has become a view through to it.

By keeping the foreground sharp instead, the buttercups become the subject. They are standing in the landscape that is present in the background.
You can also show the foreground sharply. The foreground then becomes the subject. You show the buttercups in the landscape. The focus of the photo shifts.

There is no right or wrong here, only a choice. Make that choice consciously when you are there. If you do not know which will turn out best, take both. Also play with your depth of field. It is often better to have real blur than something that is almost sharp.

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