Lens Artists Photo Challenge #392 – Framing Your Shots: Exploring the Foreground, Middle, and Background

For this challenge Patti asks us to focus on the photographic technique of framing the shot using the 3 grounds (or layers)—the foreground, the middle ground, and the background. She describes the 3 grounds like this:

Foreground: the part of the scene that’s closest to the camera. Think of it as the introduction to the scene and an invitation for the viewer to explore the image.

Middle Ground: the central area of your image, between the foreground and the background. It’s often where the main subject is located.

Background: the farthest point from the viewer. It provides the context and completes the visual “story.”

I wasn’t able to get out to practice this technique this week so I dug through my archives for some examples. I discovered I sometimes use this technique without even realizing it.

In this photo of Cinderella’s Castle at Disney World in Florida, the crowd creates the foreground showing a busy day at the park. The Castle in the middle ground is the main focus of the photo. The castle is framed in the background by buildings on either side and the clear blue sky behind the castle.

The following example was taken while on a train trip on the Alaska Railroad. The sky was clear when Mt. Mckinley (or Mt. Denali) came into view. The lake and green trees form the foreground. The mountain in the middle ground is the main subject. The blue sky is a perfect background for the image.

Mt. McKinley, also known as Mt. Denali, Alaska

The final example shows the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. The foreground is the green grass and bushes which are on the edge of the sand dunes. The middle ground is the sand dune which is the subject of the photo. If you look closely you can see the people who look like tiny dots on the sand indicating the enormous size of the dunes. The cloudy sky is the background.

Great Sand Dunes

Thank you to everyone who shared your great cell phone images for Tina’s challenge Phone Photography.

Many thanks to Patti for this week’s challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to Anne’s post Lens-Artists #392: Framing your Shots: Foreground, Middleground, Background.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, April 11 at noon eastern time when Sofia will be bringing us another challenge.

If you don’t want to miss any of our challenges you may want to think about subscribing to the Lens-Arrists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

For information on how to join the Len-Artists challenge please click here.

The Flower Hour #24 – Eastern Redbud

There are no eastern redbud trees where I live but I enjoy seeing their beautiful blooms when we travel. We were in North Carolina one spring when I captured these pink blossoms.

Eastern Redbud Blooms

Many thanks to Terri for this week’s Flower Hour challenge The Flower Hour #24

Terri posts a new Flower Hour Weekly challenge every Tuesday. If you want to join in the challenge you can find out more about it here.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #391 – Phone Photography

Tina’s challenge is Phone Photography. I usually take my DSLR camera and telephoto lenses with me when I am going anywhere to try to capture wildlife shots. Otherwise, I always have my phone in my pocket or purse when I am out and about. I never know when something photo worthy will come up.

I like to use my phone to capture close ups of flowers and critters I find on flowers when I am on a walk or in my garden.

This Brown Pelican was close enough to capture with my cell phone.

I often use my cellphone to capture food images like this bowl of Tortilla Soup.

When I don’t have time to grab my camera I use my phone when I see a beautiful sunrise.

On a road trip I often take pictures through my car’s windshield when I am not the driver.

The Brown Pelican was taken with my old IPhone 7 Plus. All the rest were taken with my current IPhone 13.

Thank you to everyone who shared you wonderful images in Egidio’s challenge Color in Black and White.

Many thanks to Tina for this week’s challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to Tina’s post Lens-Artists #391 – Phone Photography.

I hope you will check back on Saturday, April 4 at noon eastern time when Patti will be our host.

If you don’t want to miss any of our challenges you may want to think about subscribing to the Lens-Arrists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

For information on how to join the Len-Artists challenge please click here.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #390 – Color in Black and White

Egidio’s challenge is Color in Black and White. I wasn’t quite sure how to approach the challenge until I read his post and saw his amazing examples. In his post he tells us “Even when a scene is presented entirely in shades of gray, our brains—conditioned by a lifetime of experience—can effortlessly “see” the familiar hues we expect. We project our own memories onto the print.”

At first I wasn’t sure how to respond to Egidio’s challenge. I ended up having fun as I searched through my archives. I hope you are able to “see” the colors in these images.

American Flag
Palm Trees
Field of Sunflowers
Have you ever tasted a juicy peach? This one is a Georgia peach.

Many thanks to everyone who shared their beautiful relaxing images for Anne’s challenge Time to Relax.

Thank you Egidio for this week’s challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to Egidio’s post Lens-Artists #390: Color in Black and White.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, March 21 at noon eastern time when Tina will be hosting the next challenge

If you don’t want to miss any of our challenges you may want to think about subscribing to the Lens-Arrists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

Would you like to join the fun of the Len-Artists challenges? Please click here to find out more.