It is very likely that, if you are taking your first steps in photography, you make the mistake of not spending enough time choosing the background in your photos. This is a very common mistake for all photographers, even some of the most experienced: not working their funds as much as their protagonists work. A photograph, to be really spectacular, it is not enough to have a luxury protagonist or an amazing object. The photographs are much more than the sum of their individual parts, they are a whole and are perceived as such. Would the photograph that illustrates the article have had the same impact if it had been taken with another background? One of the best ways to empower both the protagonists of the photographs as well as the messages and sensations they transmit, is looking for photography to work as a whole, where the close-ups are enhanced by the rest of the elements present In the scene. This is why, in today's article, I bring you 11 tips so that, the next time you walk with your camera in hand, pay more attention to everything that happens behind your photographs. Are you going to miss them?
- Explore all angles
- And all focal distances
- Don't forget the depth of field
- Turn off the bottom
- Work your funds
- Create your own funds
- The background as the protagonist
- If you have no alternative, move the subject
- Fill the frame
- Plan
- Take advantage of open spaces
WHAT IS THE BOTTOM?
The background of a photograph is made up of all those elements that, not being part of the foregrounds, remain within the frame of your photographs. The background is not just a wall or a landscape, but everything that interacts in these: the sun, the shadows, people, objects, etc. That will help you reinforce the feeling of place, that is, the message and the feelings that your photographs convey. That the fund may not come out of focus or is completely out of focus, does not exempt you from paying due attention to it. The objects may not be distinguishable, if the bokeh or blur is very high, but anyway, colors, reflections or lines that would have been visible, can enhance or ruin your photographs. And not to mention yes, the background is clear and crisp, where the need to work with him becomes even more important. Look at the following example: Both photographs have been taken to the same person in the same situation. The first one, despite respecting many of the best known rules of photographic composition, does not end up causing the impact caused by the second. Why? Look at the spectacular mountains in the background: the race is no longer on a route but now it is on a hilly road, with beautiful landscapes and slopes. The fund contributes a lot in the sensations that the photographs transmit, which is why it should not be lost sight of when composing them. As I mentioned in the article " 16 Ways to Give Protagonism to Your Subjects ":“That the background is not going to be completely clear or totally out of focus does not mean that you can not worry about it. Pay close attention to the funds when making your photographs if you want them to really go unnoticed but at the same time, reinforce your protagonist. A suitable background can make a good photo, a great photograph. ”The key to choosing a background or another is: look at what you want to emphasize, that is, what will be the reason for your photography and then surround it with all those elements that help you to enhance it: place it in the frame and compose the Photograph around this. An inappropriate background may end up ruining the entire photo.
HOW TO IMPROVE THE BACKGROUNDS OF YOUR PHOTOS?
A photograph is not only a capture of a portion of the scene that is transferred to the paper (or computer), but it is an image that implies an endless number of feelings and sensations that are waiting for an observer to enjoy them. That is why it is essential that, when preparing to take a picture, never lose sight of the background and work with it as much as you would with your protagonists. To do this, I have prepared 11 tips to improve your funds and, therefore, your photos:1. EXPLORE ALL ANGLES
One of the most common mistakes when taking the first steps in the art of photography is: to remain motionless. Before taking a picture, walk the scene and evaluate all possible angles to take the shot so that you make sure that the background chosen is the one that best matches the subject and the message you want to convey. You have as many possible angles to take a picture as ideas in your head, don't be left with just one. Go through the scene and select the best ones.2. AND ALL FOCAL DISTANCES
Depending on what type of photographs you are looking to take and the amount of items you want to include within the frame , the “optimal” focal length will vary and with this, the background of your photos will vary. If you plan to make portrait photographs, where all the focus is on your subject, a background without many elements that distract the viewer will be optimal (longer focal lengths: 85mm). On the contrary, if you are about to photograph an urban landscape, where the background elements will help you place the viewer, the shorter focal lengths will allow you to obtain better results. As you increase the focal length, viewing angle or "portion of the scene", it will decrease, which will change the perspective of your photographs and vise versa. I recommend that you take a look at the following articles if you want to achieve greater understanding of this topic: “ How to Capture Splendid Compositions Thanks to the Focal Distance of your Objective ” and “ Everything You Need to Know About The Focal Distance of Your Objective ” .3. DO NOT FORGET THE DEPTH OF FIELD
The level of sharpness or blur that you will achieve in each of your photographs will depend on the focal length (which I just mentioned) and the aperture of the diaphragm you choose to make them. The more open the diaphragm (f / 1.8, f / 2.8, etc.) the greater background blur you will get and the more closed it is (f / 16, f / 22, etc.) the greater the depth of field and therefore, the more funds crisp To better understand this concept, Mario explains it phenomenally in this video: If you want to enhance the prominence of your subjects or objects, separate them from the background by blurring: use wide open apertures (f / 1.8, f2.8) so that the backgrounds do not distract the viewer's gaze. If you are interested in having the background turn out well, try to close the diaphragm, in this way you will get more depth of field and your funds will be well focused. Check out the following article: " 16 Ways to Give Privilege to Your Subjects ."4. TURN OFF THE BACKGROUND
Unfortunately, there is no switch to turn off and turn on the funds at your leisure but, if you use the flash or other light, you can darken it while highlighting the close-ups. How? The flashes have a certain range: if the subject is far enough from the background, when the flash fires, you will illuminate the foreground and the background will be darker when it is not reached by its light. In the same way you can use sunlight, the light of a lamp or any other type of light source that allows you to differentiate the light between the planes of your photographs and their backgrounds. In this way, you will ensure that the focus is on the reason for your photos, while the background, being a little more "off", will not distract the attention of the viewers. To better understand how the flashes work and be able to get all the juice out, I recommend that you take 5 minutes and read the following articles: “ Everything You Need to Know About the Flash ” and “ Tricks for Better Use of the Flash ”.5. WORK YOUR FUNDS
The background will always be present in a scene, so one of the first things you should do is verify that all the elements of the scene, not just your protagonists, are arranged as you want. In this way, you will not leave anything left to chance and you can enhance the implicit messages in each of your photos. One of the most frequent mistakes of the photography enthusiast is to concentrate all efforts on the motive of photography and forget about the frame (background) in which he will place it. The background can enhance the sensations that your photos transmit or ruin them. Never stop working with them if you want to achieve the best results. Once you have decided on the background of your photographs, it is time to frame it. Check out the following article: " Everything You Need to Know To Frame Your Pictures ."6. CREATE YOUR OWN FUNDS
As much as it may seem strange, the background is not always given by the scene. Whether you work inside your home, in a studio or why not, in some open space, you can always model the funds yourself. Although these types of techniques are used mostly in studies, where you can, using infinite backgrounds, fabrics, etc., modify the background of a photograph, nothing implies that the same techniques cannot be used outdoors. The key to doing so is: imagination. If you make the most of your creativity there will be no background to stop you. Notice how with a black background sheet and a flash you can manipulate the background:7. THE FUND CAN BE THE PROTAGONIST
There are certain situations, such as the one you will see in the photograph that accompanies this council, where the background can be so spectacular that it does the reason for the photograph. The fact that a fund is usually chosen that accompanies the main reasons does not prevent things from happening backwards. If you want to portray the spectacular nature of a background, landscape or sky, you can give greater prominence in your photography by increasing the portion of the frame that it will occupy in the final photograph. Look at the following example, the photographer has portrayed a spectacular sky and has chosen a girl to reinforce the message of the final photograph. The land line or horizon has been placed so low that it detracts from the girl and is almost completely assigned to the sky.8. IF YOU HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE, MOVE THE SUBJECT
If you have traveled each and every one of the possible angles to frame your photograph and still you are not satisfied with the background of it, do not be shy, kindly ask your subjects to move to another place, or, if it is an object move it yourself. While it is true that under ideal conditions you must move, this does not prevent that, if you consider that the impact of your photographs is enhanced by changing the background, you cannot kindly ask your models to be placed elsewhere. After all, you must be the director of the entire scene, not just the one in charge of pressing the trigger. Check out the following articles: " 11 Tricks and Tips for Awesome Portraits " and " 26 Easy Tricks and Tips for Professional Portraits ."9. FILL THE FRAME?
Before taking a picture, you must decide how much of the background you are going to include in the scene. This decision is fundamental since, the mode and the “amount” of the background that will appear in your photographs will significantly affect the messages and sensations that they will transmit. In the article " Everything You Need to Know to Frame Your Pictures ", I commented that:“The more portion of the frame occupies your motive, the more prominence it will have and you can also capture it in all its splendor (in great detail). Now, perhaps the environment makes photography and the relationship of the motive with it reinforce the message that it conveys, such as a photograph of a passerby and the background city as a framework. ”Therefore, depending on the sensations you try to transmit, you must choose one or another alternative: fill the frame with your subject or main object, or open the plane (use shorter focal lengths) and get all the juice background to enhance your photographs.
10. PLAN
While it is not always possible to plan a series of photographs but rather that they are presented to you and then, when you put them together, you have a job to show, it is always better to plan than not to do so. On many occasions you can plan without even moving from your comfortable chair. How is this? Think, imagine and work your next compositions directly in your head so that, when it is time to make them happen, you have a finished idea of ??what you want to achieve. Will you work in open spaces or in a studio? Will you use the background as an element or will you fill the frame? Will I take my shots with natural light or artificial light? These questions and many others are what you should ask yourself before going out to hunt photographs or before producing them. The fewer factors you leave at random, the more likely you will be that, when a unique situation arises, be ready to portray it.11. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OPEN SPACES
Whenever you work in open spaces, the possibilities when working with your funds will multiply. The wide variety of funds that you can include in your shots will allow you greater freedom when using certain apertures and focal lengths so that you can either blur the entire background, or take it out clearly to dress a photograph. Go out and take advantage of all the benefits of nature to get the most out of your funds: the blue sky, the gray clouds, the reflections of a lake or puddle on the ground, a lush forest or river can give your photos a background worthy of a Great artist like you.