Showing 'Steepness'

[BassLine]

I am looking for ways to capture the steepness of a hill when the photographer is standing on the hill. The two thumbnails below (not taken by me) do a fair job of establishing the vertical perspective with people strung out from top to bottom ... but such a nice string of similar sized objects is it is not generally available.



Any suggestions for ways to show off vertical perspective?

 

[2Bhumble]

Yes similar sized objects like the width of the road gets smaller as it gets distance and the bicyclists are smaller in the background. But, you'll also notice the background trees etc. fade back - less color. Colors fade with distance because of atmospheric conditions such as pollution or fog. Another way to create depth is depth of field - in other words the farther away an object is it loses focus (blurred). So, less contrast in color and less sharpness in focus as things get farther away. Overlapping objects in the forground with background objects can help too.

 

[Southern Cross]

Go down to the bottom of the hill. Lie down in the road with the widest angle lens you have and get very close to the road with your camera. Use a small depth of field - f8-f16 - or smaller if you don't have a wide angle lens - and shoot very close to the ground with the summit of the next hill near the top of your frame.

The goal is to bring everything into focus - the gravel 6 inches in front of your lens, the summit 1/10 mile away.

It's just a different perspective. Lighting during different times of the day can play a part as well. Think about shadows at dawn and sunset and how they accentuate distance, depth and height.

Please don't get run over by a truck.

 

[BassLine]

Go down to the bottom of the hill. Lie down in the road with the widest angle lens you have and get very close to the road with your camera. Use a small depth of field - f8-f16 - or smaller if you don't have a wide angle lens - and shoot very close to the ground with the summit of the next hill near the top of your frame.

Good thoughts ... I'll have to try that next time out.

I was thinking another thing that might help is to keep the camera view as horizontal as possible. I.e from the bottom of the hill, place the horizon close to the top of the frame (show less sky), and from the top of the hill, place the horizon closer to the bottom of the frame (show more sky).

Please don't get run over by a truck.

Right

L