Manipulating the foreground in fall

Mission Creek walkway in Kelowna, BC.

Tom, my friend from school, and I were walking along our preferred trail yesterday and were enjoying the colours and falling leaves.  The predominant colour was yellow, but ahead of us was a small mountain ash boasting some wonderfully red shades.  The young tree was much taller than either of us, and its position did not warrant a photo.  However, if my walking buddy could bend the sapling over, it would be in a much more scenic position.

The idea here is that backgrounds often provide the sense of where and when, it is the foreground that gives context or subject to an image.  The disappearing path and fall theme are nice, but somewhat empty without a strong foreground.  I could have used a person, a bench, or some other object to draw attention, but I found the contrasting leaves exceptional.

Whenever I find an attractive background, I like to supplement it with a compelling foreground.  It often means moving about, sometimes moving things, and occasionally enlisting the help of a fellow traveller.  The results aren't always spectacular, but then the whole point (to me) of photography is to take the beauty of what I see and turn it into a pleasing image.

If you notice, I have used the rule of thirds, leading lines, and contrasting shapes and colours to mould the photo into just that.  I don't consider it an excellent shot, but it fits into the attractive category.  Besides, I took it with my iPhone and shot it using Apple's HEIF format, which I will do a blog on another day.  If you don't know what HEIF is, you will want to find out.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com