Tips For Composition Layering In Your Photography

 Tips For Composing Your Photographs Using Layering

As is stated in many places on this website, taking a 3 dimensional world and trying to put it into a 2 dimensional photograph can be challenging. One of the easier tips to overcome this challenge is to layer the objects and subjects in your composition. Adding these layers in your composition will add the appearance of depth in your images.

What Is Composition Layering?

Since we are attempting to make our two dimensional photograph have more depth, the easiest way to do this is to use foreground, middle-ground, and backgrounds. Adding a clear foreground, middle-ground and background to your composition is the first step in adding depth to your images. Adding to the complexity of your images, you can also use depth of field, shutter speed and lighting to provide even more depth.

Using Foreground, Middle-ground, and Background

At risk of stating the obvious, the foreground is what is closest to you, the background is what is furthest away from you, and the middle-ground is what is in-between. The smartest way to arrange these in a way that is most pleasing for your image is to move your camera to a better position until you have it just right. Another way to rearrange these is to change your focal length, which could either compress or separate the elements.

In the image below, the rock in the front right, and the tree to the left are the first layer, or the “foreground.” The main subject of the image, the massive rock arch in the center of the frame, makes up the middle-ground. The rock formations and road below make up the background. Combining all of these elements into the 2 dimensional image provides some scale, and most importantly, depth to the image. On a side note about this particular image, adding a person to the image would have been benificial. The arch in the scene is absolutely massive, and the viewer can’t really tell. The tree located on the left side of the arch is probably around 15-20 feet tall, which can give you an idea on how huge the arch really is.

Composition Layering at Window Rock, Navajo Nation, AZ

Using Layers To Add Visual Interest

An otherwise rather boring image can be made more interesting by adding some layering. Remember that each layer need not be always in focus, and adding an out of focus foreground can spice up some images. This is often used in portrait photography as well. In the image below, I simply shot the photo from a very low angle, and shot through some tall blades of ornamental grass. It not only added some dimension to the image, but made it slightly more interesting as well.

Adding a foreground layer of slightly blurred grass added interest to this image.

Tell Stories With Layers 

Using layers to tell stories with your photography is easier than it may seem. In the image below, there are different ways a story could be told. Without the fog in the background, this image would have told a much different story, by including a vast jungle background. However, the foggy background helps tell the story of an intimate scene of two women caught in a tropical downpour, while gathering for the day. The foreground and middle ground do a great job of framing the scene.

The layers in this image work to frame the image and tell a story.

The stories we convey through our photographs and to our viewers is based on many factors. As with the other “rules” of photography, these tips for composing your images with layering can help improve your photography. Make sure you start to add layering in your images and you will see the difference in improvements right away.

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Composition can help make your photography into a stunning work of art. It's a learning exercise for beginners to understand the rules of composition. Here's another useful resource to read for tips and techniques on composition in photography.