Than you for the most informative article. My wife and I both have fallen in love with Landscape-Layers-03.jpg. That photograph is stunning.

Thanks so much Gene! That photo was taken during sunset in the winter at Lake Vermillion near Banff. Most people take photos in the opposite direction. The water is only open because there is a hot spring feeding water underneath. Temperatures were pretty cold at the time ~20C

Thank you for a really helpful article. It helped by providing a structured approach to composing a photograph. Regards. Michael.

That’s great! The key is finding a way to incorporate it when you are out in the field staring at a beautiful vista

Your foregrounds are extremely sharp. Did you use a tilt shift lense on any of these photos?

Hi Mark, no I didn't use a tilt shift lens. I don't actually have one in my arsenal.... might be an idea

You put into words things I'd been doing intuitively without knowing for years. Now I know why--thank you, Mark.

Thanks John! Sometimes it seems like I am simply stating the obvious. I think putting into words a description of what many people seem to be able to do instinctively can help those people understand why they like doing thing they way they do (if that makes any sense).

your words remind of something pope wrote about wit. here it is in its entirety:
“True Wit is Nature to advantage dress'd
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd;
Something whose truth convinced at sight we find,
That gives us back the image of our mind.
As shades more sweetly recommend the light,
So modest plainness sets off sprightly wit.”

― Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism

Thank you

This well written short post has given me a greater understanding of some landscape photography with clear (stunning I may add) visual examples, giving me the hope and understanding to achieve similar results. Thank you!

Thanks Suzanne! I’m glad it resonated with you. I realized as I was writing the article that, while I understood the concept intellectually, as I was selecting examples I clearly sometimes forget this composition approach when I’m in the field.