Sentence:  <WSD>Long</WSD> observation has taught Mason that most landscape can be reduced to three essential planes : a foreground in sharp focus - either a light area with dark accents or a dark one with lights ; a middle distance often containing the major motif ; and a background , usually a silhouetted form foiled against the sky . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified