Thank you to everyone that participated in the "Near, Middle, Far" assignment. The guidelines for the assignment were to compose your image so that it includes "near," "middle," and "far" compositional elements in order to convey a sense of depth and draw the viewer into the image.
Congratulation to Tom (Kermit) who's Black Canyon Sunset Point was selected as the People's Choice and Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit.
Black Canyon Sunset Point
Tom used a wide angle lens to emphasize the foreground elements in this scene and "expand" the perceived depth between the foreground and distant river. The foreground rocks provide an interesting compositional element, effectively frame the scene, and provide a size reference for the viewer, who subconsciously compares the size of the rocks in the foreground to those in the middle and far distance to get a sense of the distance between the walls of the canyon (linear perspective). In addition the course of the river acts as a leading line to draw the viewer into and through the scene and provides the primary distance cue. Our minds subconsciously compare the size of the river in the middle distance and the size of the river in the far distance (linear perspective) to get a sense of the distance between these two views of the river. The image also illustrates the use of atmospheric perspective (reduced contrast from haze in front of distant objects) to convey distance.
Naomi's beautiful "intimate landscape"
Eden image was awarded an Honorable Mention.
Eden
I really liked this image; however, my first impression was that the image was a bit too cool, which robs the golden grasses of some of their original vibrancy. This can be corrected with either a white balance adjustment or, as was done for the image below, using a "warming" photo filter in Photoshop.
Thank you again to everyone that participated in this assignment. As I mentioned during the initial discussion on this assignment, "near, middle, far" composition is probably the single most important technique for creating a successful "grand scenic" image.
Keith
P.S.
I apologize for being late to post the feedback and results. Rebecca and I were travelling this last week and had very limited internet access. We'll be home this evening, and I will post the assignment for the week of 1 - 7 September. (Can it really be September already?)
