Photographic Wrongs and Rights

My biggest photographic pet peeve is when someone places  their subject right on top of their background.Here’s what I mean……….Hi Bobby, let’s go ahead and take your picture, just stand right here in front of this beautiful brick wall.

You don’t have 6 inches of seperation between your background and your subject.  This is a sure fire recipe for photo DISASTER!It never works, just trust me on this one.

I always try to make things as easy and simple as I possibly can to create a great shot.Because of this, there are certain photographic situation that I wll never get myself stuck with.  This is definitely one of them.

I will almost always work to get as much space as I can get away with between my subject and my background.This causes the background to go soft and virtually not compete at all with the subject for viewer’s attention.

Play around with this and you’ll see the dramatic difference it makes in your images.Take your daughter and set her down on the floor in the middle of your kitchen or family room and get in close to her and shoot away at f 2. Notice how soft the background becomes and how dominant she is as the subject. 

When you’re done doing this, take her and place directly in front of that same background you were shooting towards and see how differently these images feel from the first set.  This is an absolute “no brainer.”

Does this seem like it’s a little too easy?  Sorry, but it is that easy to take better pictures.The better you understand the principles of photography and lighting, the easier it will become for you to make great pictures.

You want to learn and master as many different photo and lighting techniques as you can so that you have the most options available to you as possible.These options allow you to free up your creativity no matter kind of photographic circumstance you are dealing with.

The more arrows you have in your quiver, the better chance you have of getting a great shot.  This photographic technique is just one of many different arrows available to you as a photographer.