Best Tips to Add Depth to a Photo

Adding depth to a photo is a great way to make the image more interesting. A shallow depth of field can help your subject stand out from the background, or create an effect that makes it look like your subject is in focus while everything else is blurry.

There are many ways to add depth to a photo, including taking multiple photos of the same subject at different focal points, using selective focus and blurring tools in Photoshop, or even using a camera with a wider aperture. But if you want an easy way to add depth to your photos without any special equipment or editing skills, try these simple tips:

Get closer

The best way to add depth to a photo is by moving closer to the subject. When you get closer, your camera will automatically choose a smaller aperture (lower f-stop number), which means that less light reaches the sensor at once and creates more blur in front of and behind your subject. If you want to shoot portraits with shallow depth of field, choose an aperture that’s somewhere between f/2.8 and f/5.6 on most lenses (the lower end if you have an APS-C format DSLR). You can also set your camera’s focus mode to manual so it won’t change.

Perspective and shading.

There are two ways to add depth to a photo: perspective and shading.

Perspective is the distance between objects in a scene, and it affects how they appear in your photo. If you’re photographing a building, for example, its topmost windows will appear closer to the camera than the window of an apartment below it.

Shading refers to how light falls on an object or scene, creating shadows that make it appear three-dimensional. The more light there is in your photos, the more apparent shading becomes — so if you want to create a sense of depth in an image, aim for bright lighting conditions instead of dark ones.

Here’s how to add depth to your photos:

Use perspective and shading together. By using perspective, you can create the illusion of greater distance between objects in your photo. Shading, on the other hand, can add more realism to your photo.

Use the rule of third

The best way to add depth to a photo is by using the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is a simple compositional guideline that can be expressed in many ways. It states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.

The easiest way to use this method is to imagine your picture divided into thirds along both the horizontal and vertical axis. Once you have done that, look for at least two points where the lines intersect. This will give you four points where your subject can be positioned if you want to create depth in your image.

Another technique that photographers use to add depth is by placing a point of interest off-center in their image, which will draw the viewers eyes towards it and create more depth within the photo itself.

Other methods

Use telephoto lenses for distant subjects; wide-angle lenses for close-ups (although these can also be used to increase depth).

Use a shallow depth-of-field (f/1.8) to blur out any foreground objects that might otherwise appear too close to the camera and therefore destroy the illusion of depth. This works best if it’s just one object that needs blurring out because multiple objects blurred together will look like they’re all at the same distance from the camera and therefore destroy any sense of perspective.

Take multiple photos at different angles and combine them using software (such as Photoshop) into a single image.