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By Steve Arnold
Photo Mastery Club
https://photomasteryclub.com
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One of the most crucial aspects that makes a photograph more

than just a mere representation of reality is its ability to depict
depth and separation within the frame.
This guide aims to demystify these fundamental concepts and
delve into the intricacies of creating depth and separation in
your images.
Depth in a photograph creates a three-dimensional illusion in a
two-dimensional space, making your images come alive.
This is achieved by portraying the way the human eye perceives
the world, distinguishing between objects near and far.
The technique of creating depth adds an aspect of realism to
your images, enticing viewers into the scene, and making the
difference between a flat, uninspiring image and one that is
vivid, dynamic, and brimming with life.

The creation of separation is especially important when your

frame includes multiple elements at varying distances from the
camera.
By establishing clear separation, you ensure that each element
within your image gets its due recognition without
overshadowing others or losing its individual essence.
However, effectively creating depth and separation is not always
straightforward. It requires a keen understanding of light,
contrast, colors, and distances. Furthermore, it necessitates
mastering specific techniques and applying them judiciously to
your compositions.
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In photography, learning is an ongoing process, and the more

you practice and experiment, the more refined your skills
become. With this guide, let's embark on this exciting journey
into the world of depth and separation in photography.
Get ready to push your boundaries, challenge your creativity,
and produce images that are truly captivating.

Separation in photography refers to a technique of

differentiating distinct elements within your frame to bring clarity
to the composition and to create depth. It's the art of identifying
and distinguishing various elements based on their relationship
with each other, their surroundings, and their distance from the
camera.
Picture a scene where there are multiple objects – some close,
some far, all existing within the same frame. When all these
objects seem to blend together, resulting in a chaotic image
where individual elements lose their prominence, it creates a
sense of flatness in the photograph.
Here, separation is the technique that can come to your rescue.
It emphasizes the individuality of each element, helping them to
stand out distinctly, making the overall composition more
interesting and engaging.
Think of separation as a way to guide the viewer's eye through
the image. It helps to create a narrative by defining a clear path
for the viewer, directing their attention to the focal points in the
composition.
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Our cameras are only able to capture the scene in front of them
at the time we click the shutter.
As you already appreciate, rarely does what the camera capture
actually depict either the pure reality of the scene, or what you
want the finished image to represent.
So, we know some amount of editing is required to massage our
RAW files into a fully finished image we can be proud of.
And if you want to do that by adding or enhancing an element of
depth and separation to your landscapes, then here are some
ways you can achieve that goal.

One of the most effective ways to create separation in your

photographs is through the manipulation of depth and contrast.
Our eyes naturally perceive objects with higher contrast as being
closer and objects with lower contrast as being further away.
By adjusting the contrast in different areas of your image, you
can create an illusion of depth that helps to separate elements
from each other.
Take a photograph of a mountain range, for example. If you
wanted the peak in the background to appear closer, you could
increase its contrast to match the elements in the foreground.
Conversely, if you wanted to push it further away, you could
decrease the contrast, making it appear more faded and distant.
This method of creating separation by manipulating contrast can
be effectively achieved using image editing tools like the Curves
Adjustment in Photoshop.
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Another technique to create separation is by utilizing colors and

tones. In regular daylight, warm colors tend to advance towards
the viewer, while cool colors recede. You can use this principle
to create a sense of depth and separation in your images. (Be
aware that colourful sunrises and sunsets will of course this
general rule)
Similarly, lighter tones tend to appear further away, while darker
tones seem closer.
By carefully adjusting the color and tone in your image, you can
direct the viewer's eye and create a clear distinction between the
different elements in your composition.

Atmospheric perspective is a powerful tool for creating

separation and depth in your images. This technique involves
simulating the natural phenomenon where objects in the
distance appear more faded and less detailed due to
atmospheric particles.
You can achieve this by adding elements like fog or haze into
your image, or by adjusting contrast and colors to mimic this
effect.
Each of these techniques can be used individually or in
combination to create a sense of separation in your images.
By understanding and mastering these techniques, you can take
control of your compositions and create images that truly stand
out. In the next section, we will explore these techniques in more
detail and provide practical examples to help you apply them to
your own work.
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Let's take a practical example of a mountain scene where we

want to create a clear separation between the foreground,
middle ground, and the background. This scene is composed of
three main elements: the closest part of the mountain in the
foreground, the big ridge in the middle ground, and the
mountain’s peak in the background.
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In this straight-out-of-camera version of the image, the

foreground ridge gets a little lost against the large ridge through
the middle.
The mountain peak in the background does, however, look
further away as it should.
As an experiment, let’s bring the mountain peak forwards in the
composition.
To do this we create a selection around it and adjust the
shadows and highlights to match the foreground.
If following along in Photoshop, grab the quick selection tool
and draw a selection around the background, like this:

Then add a new Curves adjustment layer.

The adjustment layer will automatically have the selection
applied as a layer mask so any changes you make will only affect
the background.
Now experiment with adding some contrast to the background
and notice how the background appears to “seem” closer the
more contrast you add.
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And here’s what this looks like:

The increase in contrast (and subsequently, saturation) makes

the background less hazy so it appears closer to the foreground.

To push the back mountain further into the distance, we do the

reverse. We lift up the black point in the Curves Adjustment,
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reducing the contrast and making it brighter and more faded,

thus creating the impression of it being further away.

Here’s what the result looks like, pushing the mountain peak
further back:
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Now as a further proof of concept, let’s create some separation

in the foreground/midground by bringing the nearest mountain
ridge closer to the camera by increasing its contrast.
Using the Quick Selection tool, make a selection around the near
mountain ridge:

Then add another Curves Adjustment Layer with a contrast-

increasing S-curve:

Here’s what this does to the image:

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To increase the separation and depth in this image even further,

we can add some atmospheric perspective to the more distant
elements by simply painting with a soft, low opacity, white brush
into a new empty layer.
To set this up so we can paint into the area behind the
foreground mountain ridge to increase the haze and therefore
separation between it and what’s behind it, first make a selection
around it again (just like in the previous step) or ctrl+click (on PC)
/ cmd+click (on Mac) on the layer mask of the Curves 2
adjustment layer to load it as a selection.
Then add a new empty layer and add a new layer mask to it.
You should have the following layers now if you’ve been
following along:
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Next, invert the Layer 1 mask by first clicking on it once in the

layers panel to highlight it:

Then on the keyboard press ctrl+i (pc) / cmd+i (mac) to invert

the layer mask:

Now click back onto the layer in the layers panel:

Select the Brush tool with the following settings:

And now paint directly into the image behind the foreground
mountain ridge and see how this creates even more separation
between it and the background:
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This guide has laid out some of the fundamental ideas and
concepts for adding and enhancing depth and separation to
your landscapes in Photoshop.
I hope it has given you food for thought and you are feeling
inspired to go experiment with all of this and see how it will
impact your photography.
There is a lot more to discover, and if you want me to guide you
through all of it by way of extensive video tutorials and lessons,
then you’ll be interested in taking the next step.

Click here now to find out more

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