PhotoFidelity

  by the sea the sea

I have used the term “perspective” before ( here and here), but gave no explanation of what is meant by perspective, why it is important to understand, and how you should use it to improve your photography. So, I am going to do a short series on perspective over the coming weeks to answer these and other related questions.

Instead of starting off by giving a definition of perspective, I am going to first give examples of different types of perspective. Then, in a later post, I will present some of the different definitions of the term and how these differences cause misunderstandings and confusion.

We start this series with what is referred to as Atmospheric Perspective; also known as Aerial or Haze perspective.

ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE

Light from distant objects appears to travel to our eyes relatively unimpeded. But, there are times when it is apparent that something is obscuring a pristine view.

Light is scattered as it travels through our atmosphere, due to Rayleigh scattering, making it appear bluish during the day and reddish at sunrise and sunset. Additionally, light can be scattered by fog, dust, pollutants, ice crystals or smoke suspended in the atmosphere. The air between our camera and the scene always contains particles or moisture. It is when their amount increases that the effect becomes more noticeable, even across relatively short distances. For example, it is quite apparent when looking through dense fog or smoke.

THE EFFECT

The filtering effect of atmospheric perspective, which increases with increasing distance, reduces the following:

Contrast

Contrast is what makes blacks look black and whites look white. A loss of contrast shifts everything towards gray.

Contrast normally decreases as distance increases, but haze, smoke or dust in the sky accentuates this effect. You undoubtedly have seen photos where hills receding into the distance contain less contrast (see examples below).

Lower contrast also tends to flatten out the appearance of distant scenes.

Saturation

Saturation defines how pure the color appears. A fully saturated color is the purest form of that color.

Saturation decreases with distance. Just as blacks and whites are more distinguishable closer, so are colors.  As distance increases, colors fade and eventually turn bluish, reddish or grayish.  The perceived color depends on the light, its position relative to the observer and what is suspended in the atmosphere.

Detail

The ability to distinguish shapes decreases with distance, even without the presence of dust, fog or other particles. This decrease in detail occurs naturally due to our eyes limit in discerning objects; that is, its visual acuity.  The filtering effect of moisture, dust or pollutants merely enhances this effect in proportion to their quantities.

RELEVANCE

So, why should you care about this? It is not as if you have the ability to alter the atmosphere.

True, but you do have the ability to take advantage of the atmosphere when it presents an opportunity.

Take a few minutes and study the examples below to see how the sense of depth is improved through the use of atmospheric perspective.

EXAMPLES

Atmospheric perspective when looking towards the sun.

  by polandeze

 

Atmospheric perspective when not looking towards the sun.

  by orvalrochefort

Atmospheric perspective used to separate foreground from background.

  by eye of einstein

 

A lovely use of this effect with mist.

  by a.pitch