All in a line!

[Mike G]

Another from my recent travels!

[Jan Anne]

Mike, all I see is an empty background so half an image.

Put something (or someone) in front of the lens thats interesting to complete the image

[Mike G]

J-A thanks I did ponder wether to crop out the foreground water, it was the line of trees that I liked!

[Jan Anne]

Better, the trees are now center stage but by removing all the water you're also removing part of the story (line of trees at the shore) as well as a layer of depth.

So add some water again to the image, ideally the band of water should be 20-100% taller than the band of sand because the eyes expect things to become smaller in the distance. This way you're not only adding another layer of depth but also a layer of depth that makes sense to the human brain

[Mike G]

Thanks Jan-Anne

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Landscapes tend to have most perceived depth if three main elements (fore-, middle- and background) compete for the viewer's attention. That makes the eye travel back and forth inside the composition and thereby a highly static impression is alleviated. If we remove one of the three, the image is much easier perceived as flattened unless contrasting colours come to the rescue...

The hackneyed version of a landscape is shooting with a very wide angle up close to some object of a known, small size to make it appear "dramatic" and in the process, by needing to move in close, the middle- and background lose a lot of their impact and scale. Even high mountains become just wiggles in the horizon.