Creating Depth in Photos on Samsung Galaxy

When shooting with your Galaxy phone’s camera app, remember that photos are two-dimensional, so depth has to be implied using visual tricks your brain is used to interpreting as distance when looking at three-dimensional scenes. Psychologists call these ‘monocular cues’ (since they work with just one eye open!), and they can be harnessed in your compositions to great effect. While there are quite a few, here are seven to get you started, with the Galaxy lens or mode that can help you utilise each one.

Seven depth techniques at a glance

You can mix and match these in one frame since each one uses a different depth cue. Lens options correspond to the Galaxy’s zoom buttons, but only some models offer the 3x or 5x telephoto options. The camera settings guide explains the modes mentioned here.

Foreground, middle ground and background

The most reliable way to create depth is to have foreground, mid-ground and background elements: a foreground rock only a metre or two from the lens, a person or structure in the mid-ground, and a background horizon. Ultra-wide (0.6x on the Galaxy) can help this by emphasising the size of foreground elements and shrinking backgrounds, enhancing the sense of depth. Get low so the foreground occupies the bottom third of the frame, but make sure you’re not obscuring your subject! Almost everything from a couple of metres to the horizon will be in focus, thanks to the relatively short focal lengths of phone cameras. This won’t necessarily be true for very close foreground objects, so focus on your subject and see if you can still get away with it. The foreground interest guide has more to say about the bottom third, while the hyperfocal distance explainer explains some of the reasons everything looks so crisp.

Overlapping objects

Overlap (or interposition as it’s referred to in OpenStax’s psychology textbook) is where one object partially obscures another object. Our brains interpret the obscured object as being farther away. The textbook lists this, along with relative size and linear perspective, as depth cues that can be effective even in two-dimensional images.

Look for opportunities to step to the side in one direction or another to take advantage of this. Think of a person walking past a doorway farther down the street, tree branches in front of a mountain in the distance, leaves across the edge of the frame in a portrait, etc. Just be careful of objects that appear to be touching as this can make your image feel more flat, not less.

If you have access to a longer focal length (say the 3x on your Galaxy), you can stand further away and zoom in to compress the distance between objects and enhance the effect of overlap.

Converging lines and linear perspective

The Galaxy Ultra’s ultra-wide camera has a 120-degree field of view from the S23 Ultra through the S26 Ultra (per GSMArena’s handy spec sheets), so lines near the frame’s edges will appear farther apart at the start of their trek to the vanishing point, and seem to converge all the faster. Get low, hold the phone level (if you want the vanishing point to be near the centre of the photo), and point it down the lines. Get as close to the lines’ start as you can. The National Gallery credits Brunelleschi in early 15th-century Florence with pinning down linear perspective. Roads and railways (plus corridors and escalators) all show the effect. On Samsung phones running One UI 7 and later, turn on Composition guide (Grid lines on earlier versions) to display a grid and level in the camera viewfinder. On One UI 9 you can choose to see just the level or just the grid (always 3x3 as of this writing; confirmed on a Galaxy S25 Ultra in November 2026). There are more examples of lines that lead your eye in the leading lines guide.

Haze, fog and atmospheric perspective

When light travels through the atmosphere, blue light scatters more than other colours (this is also why the sky is blue, according to NASA), giving objects in the far distance a paler, bluer appearance. This effect, known as atmospheric perspective, was used by painters as far back as the early 15th century, according to the National Gallery, to add depth to their works using gradual changes in tone from foreground to background.

Photographers can replicate this effect on hazy days in the hills, on misty mornings or on foggy days beside a river. Use a telephoto lens (say 3x or 5x) to compress the image and emphasise overlapping rows of trees or hills, each receding layer paler than the one in front. Avoid blowing out highlights in the furthest layers by tapping to measure exposure on a mid-grey tone.

Size and scale

Relative size, another monocular cue, is also helpful in creating an impression of depth. Familiar objects that repeat at a diminishing scale towards the horizon line (think lamp posts) indicate depth and distance.

OpenStax also lists proximity to the horizon line as a monocular cue. A person is perfect for giving an indication of scale and depth, especially when shooting landscapes. The human form is instantly recognisable and we all have a rough idea of another person’s height. So place them in the far distance of the frame amongst cliffs or sand dunes and you instantly give an indication of just how vast the surroundings are.

On a 0.6x ultra-wide lens this effect is exaggerated as foreground subjects look disproportionately large and scale diminishes rapidly just a few metres away.

You don’t necessarily need to place the person in the immediate foreground either. Even quite small in the frame, they can still act as a focal point and help show scale and distance. Try to avoid placing them right on the edge of the frame though as ultra-wide lenses can distort shapes. And if the person is going to be quite small in the frame try to dress them in a brightly coloured jacket or top so they stand out.

Selective focus with Portrait mode

Blurry backgrounds can make flat photos look like they have depth. This happens because our brains see the blurry part as being on a different “layer” from the in-focus subject. Samsung’s Portrait mode uses software to figure out what’s the subject and what’s the background, then blurs everything except the subject. Samsung says Portrait mode doesn’t always work when the subject is skinny or transparent, blends in with the background (colour, pattern, etc.), or when there’s movement. Hair and eyeglasses can be tricky, so inspect the edges at full size. For the S21 series, Samsung’s guide says to open the Camera app, find Portrait in the list of shooting modes, pick a background effect and drag the adjustment bar to make it stronger or weaker. The effect usually looks more natural when it’s not set to the strongest level. Start with a lower level and increase it if the background is still distracting. On phones running One UI 8.5 you can also change the blur afterwards in the Gallery editor. The Portrait mode guide covers the other effects.

Side light and shadow

Shadows help describe form and give clues about depth, so try to compose with side light if you can. Side light occurs when the sun is low and to one side, most easily found during the first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset. Indoors, compose so that windows light your subject from the side.

Flat frontal light, either from the flash on your phone or from the sun directly overhead at midday, will flatten features and hide form. To keep the shadows dark enough to read, tap on your subject and lower the exposure slightly. If possible, include shadows that point toward the camera to encourage the viewer to explore your image. In the arcade below, the repeating pattern of light and shade draws the eye to the end of the tunnel-like stone archway.

Putting the cues together

Layers add depth, and depth adds realism. While a single cue for depth will help, two or three will make the difference between an image that looks real and one that looks flat. In the example below, there’s a boat in the foreground, a bridge in the midground and trees disappearing into mist in the background. Run through these steps on your next walk, and see the perspective guide for how camera height changes the result.

1. 1

   Build three layers

   Look for some texture in the foreground (rocks, flowers, etc.), something interesting in the middle distance and some hills or a skyline in the background.

2. 2

   Get low with the ultra-wide

   Use the 0.6x setting and crouch down so that the foreground takes up the bottom part of the frame and any lines lead away from you.

3. 3

   Wait for side light

   Try to take pictures either early in the morning or late in the afternoon/evening when the sun is low and casts shadows on the texture in the foreground.

4. 4

   Add a line or a figure

   Having something like a person or path in the middle distance will help give a sense of scale/distance to your viewer.

5. 5

   Check the overlaps

   Before taking a picture, move around until objects in the middle distance slightly overlap the background instead of just touching it at an edge.