Background vistas with foreground subjects: Kelowna

I used the boulder as a foreground subject to add depth to the image.

Whenever I come upon a lovely scene, something that calls my inner being to photograph, I always look for a foreground subject that will add extra appeal, meaning, or depth to an image.  It could be almost anything, but usually it is something of nature or people visiting the area.  If you want to go for a contrasting scene, you can pick a foreground/background combination that are antagonistic.

In the case above, I drove along the short escarpment road until I found a favourable subject.  The rock was perfect as it complimented the rugged nature of the area and the mountainous backdrop.  The trick was to position myself and choose a focal length that would not make the rock either too small or too big in the shot.  In this case, the focal length was 70 mm on a full-frame body.

Depth of field can be a little touchy at 70 mm, so I had to use a small aperture and alter the point of focus to extend it as much as possible.  In this case, I focused just beyond the rock, locked focus in place (shutter button half-way down), and took the photo.  You can always check to see if all the elements of your shot are sharp by pressing play and zooming in on each critical section.

The end result was pleasant and I am pleased with it.  Not one of my better shots, but nice enough to display here.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com