Background Matters
1 Corinthians 14:40
“Everything should be done decently and in order.”
Order matters in photography too! A clean, organized background helps the viewer know exactly where to look. When there is too much happening in the background, it can take attention away from your subject.
Have you ever taken a GREAT picture, but then noticed something weird in the background? Maybe there was a trash can, a messy backpack, a random person, or something that looked like it was growing out of someone’s head!
This week, we are learning that the background matters just as much as the subject.
What Is the Background?
The subject is the main person or thing you are photographing.
The background is everything you can see behind and around your subject.
A good photographer does not only look at the subject. Before taking the picture, look at the whole screen.
Ask yourself:
- Is anything distracting behind my subject?
- Is the background too messy?
- Is something sticking out from behind my subject’s head?
- Would moving a few steps make the picture better?
- Could I move my subject to a better location?
Sometimes you do not need to change your subject at all. You just need to change where you are standing!
Game: “Fix the Background” Challenge
Get ready to become a Background Detective!
Your tutor will give you a subject to photograph. Your first job is to purposely take a photo with a bad or distracting background.
Then, fix it!
You may move yourself, change your camera angle, move your subject, get closer, or find a cleaner background.
Take the photo again and compare your two pictures.
The goal: Make the second photo noticeably better without changing the main subject.
Before You Click!
Remember this quick check:
SUBJECT → BACKGROUND → EDGES → CLICK!
Look at your subject.
Check the background.
Check the edges of your screen for distractions.
Then take your picture!
How to Get a Sharp Photo
Take two photos of the same subject.
Photo 1: BEFORE
Take the picture without paying much attention to the background.
Photo 2: AFTER
Improve the background by changing your position, angle, distance, or the location of your subject.
Submit both photos so we can see how much of a difference the background made.
Challenge: Try to make your AFTER photo look so much better that we immediately know which one was taken by a photographer who was paying attention! 📷