I saw some absolutely incredible art today that dramatically demonstrated the importance of perspective. In photography, as well as painting or drawing, we are translating a three-dimensional object into a two-dimensional rendition. In order to see a three-dimensional object in that flat, two-dimensional image we need to pay attention to a number of details—light, shadow and perspective. Without these, we get a two-dimensional object that does not represent the three-dimensional object we saw. For that reason I tend to favor side lighting over front or back lighting. Side lighting provides shadow and light that helps to provide the illusion of three dimensions in our flat photographs. Perspective also adds depth to our images. Straight lines that converge and near objects appearing larger than distant objects create depth in a photo.
South Park sunset
You can see examples of light, shadow and perspective in this photo. Even though this is backlit it does provide excellent light and shadow on the snow drifts to give them shape. (As I said earlier, I tend to prefer side light, that doesn’t mean that front or back can’t be used effectively, also.) The parallel lines of the road, fence and telephone poles all converge creating depth in the image. Also, we know that the telephone poles are, in reality, the same size, yet they get smaller with distance, again creating the illusion of depth.
And what was the art that inspired this post? This guy really understands light, shadow and perspective to create these incredible images. Take a look for yourself. Be sure to scroll to the bottom to see what the “wrong” perspective looks like.
Enjoy.
Frank