If you are excited about photography – and want to move your photos to a whole new, higher level – the key to success often is the photography background!
One of the vital differences between amateur and professional photography is the professional has learned to manage and manipulate the photography background – where the amateur focuses all their concentration on the subject and typically simply lets the background happen on its own.
Have you ever been so caught up with your subject and lights and so forth that (when you look at the finished photo) you discover a huge rubbish can – right behind your subject – spilling garbage all over the ground? In every photograph? And you never even noticed it during the photo shoot!
Or, maybe you have been guilty of having tree branches seeming to stick from the subject’s head, like horns?
They are ridiculous mistakes that are easily fixed and can promptly raise your photography’s effectiveness.
The unpleasant news is we don’t actually perceive how much better our pictures are! Let us face it; if you don’t have garbage or horns and so forth, you never stop to consider how much better your photograph is…you simply do not notice. Our attention only comes to bear if we overlook something and screw up (we all do every so often).
If you would like admiration for your creative undertakings, you can’t let these problems into your photos. It truly is an easy fix…just remember to check out the background and all four corners in the viewfinder before you press the shutter button – after that you adjust accordingly.
If you have a tough time remembering, take a piece of masking tape and write – in huge black print – “CHECK THE SURROUNDINGS”. After that put the tape to the backside of the camera. This will help remind you until it becomes a habit.
You will never be aware of how many photos you’ve saved, but it’s well worth the effort.
The following most straightforward photography background procedure – to make your subject “pop” from our photo – is to isolate them.
I am certain you’ve seen photos where the subject is in clear, razor-sharp focus – but the background is totally out of focus and is nothing but a wash of color.
This is done with controlling the depth of field.
Depth of field establishes how much of the photo is in focus. One can find complete textbooks written re this area (heck, I wrote one myself!) but the easiest ways to do this “wash of color” technique are to:
1. Use the longest focal length lens you can.
2. Open it up towards the widest aperture possible – this would be the lowest f-stop numeral.
3. Place the background as far to the rear of the subject as is practical. Or else locate the subject as far in front of the backdrop as you can.
Plainly each of the 3 tips has many variables. Through adjusting the options presented to you, you can make your photography background as focused or unfocused as you would like. There is not any right or wrong.
Absolutely out of focus, to some extent in focus, sharp as a tack…that is where your creative eye comes into play.
After you’ve mastered the “in camera” strategies of controlling the backgrounds, then it is time to consider making some fabric backgrounds. This will give your photography a professional “studio” appearance.
A pretty good quality backdrop can literally cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Consequently, in lieu of shelling out the big bucks, I recommend creating your own. Luckily a photography background is simple to generate and can be made for pennies on the dollar.
Pay attention to your photography background and you will be shooting professional quality photos in no time.

