I'm currently taking a beginning black and white photography class and I had a quick question. Could someone explain to me a little bit better about what does foreground, middleground, and background mean ? The professor wants us to take photographs of something that has a foreground, middleground, and background in it and I want to be sure I know what I'm doing before I take the picture. Thanks.

-- Missy McCarthy (jmccart2@san.rr.com), September 05, 1999

Answers

Hi Missy

It's simple. Your professor wants you to take a picture which has subject matter at different distances from the camera. For example, you might take a picture of a landscape with mountains against the horizon, a tree standing alone about 20 feet in front of you, and a fencepost about 4 feet away. A picture like this will look very 3 dimensional. Good luck in your class.

Bob

-- Robert Lyman (railroad@northweb.com), September 06, 1999.