Technique Behind Horsetooth Photography
Horsetooth Reservoir is perhaps the most photographed spot in Fort Collins, Colorado. Most pictures are captured from a parking lot that is easily accessible and shot directly up the reservoir.
When I first moved to Fort Collins, I lost count of how many times I took a picture of the reservoir from the parking lot.
I eventually met a girl from Fort Collins who took me on a small hike up a rocky path to another spot at the reservoir, and I began expanding my Horsetooth photography portfolio.
Above is an example of the “stereotypical” photo as well as a more unique edition.
One of the photos is taken during the season most people go up to the reservoir, whereas the other one is during the winter, which provides a unique view of the reservoir with the addition of snow.
Technical photography terms such as rule of thirds and depth of field can come into play at Horsetooth. What many people may not know is that rule of thirds and depth of field can be utilized by someone with a smartphone.
Let’s start with the rule of thirds. Have you ever noticed that weird-looking grid on your smartphone’s camera? If not, you probably have never enabled it in your phone’s settings. Once it is enabled, you have full access to the rule of thirds. Photos that are pleasing to the eye are typically framed up properly beforehand using the rule of thirds. In the picture below, I lined up the tree in the center of the rule of thirds grid on my camera to lead the viewers’ eyes to it.
According to David Peterson, a photography teacher and creator of Digital Photo Secrets, uses the rule of thirds and says “if your subject is in the middle of the image, it’s considered static. Your eye is drawn to it then has nowhere to go from there because the object is equal distance from all sides,” which is displayed in the photo below.
This photo also uses leading lines, which is shown by the miniature path leading to the tree.
The other popular method is depth of field. Depth of field is when the subject in the foreground of the picture is more in focus than the background. This method is often used to make objects or people appear bigger and more dominant in the photo. In the photo below, I used the picnic table in the foreground to make it appear bigger, with the reservoir in the background slightly blurry.
The picnic table appears much larger in this photo than it might in person. I framed up the top of the table level with the reservoir so the viewer can only see parts of the water.
Rule of thirds and depth of field are both important in photography because they make a photo more aesthetically pleasing to any viewer. These rules can be broken in certain circumstances, but utilizing them at Horsetooth can allow for more unique photos, whether it be taken from a professional camera or a smartphone. There are plenty of other methods that can be used, even if you are a beginner. I have been using these methods for several years to capture pictures at Horsetooth that many people may not otherwise see.
