Importance of Background in Photographic Composition

Importance of Background in Photographic Composition is that, the background can effectively make the photograph beautiful or can divert the attention to ruin. Composition in Photography is one of the most important point. We obviously must pay main attention to age old rules, such as the rule of thirds. But, still, proper attention must be given to the background to construct the image, to notice whether it is drawing too much attention than the main subject – we can deliberately ‘delete’ the background – it happens when we use a light box. Such method can be used in studio portrait too. After placing all this attention to the main subject of the picture a good way to ruin the shot and forget to check the background – this is the importance of background in photographic composition and almost a tale tell sign of a snap shot.

Importance of Background in Photographic Composition

Reading numerous books and blogs written by professional and advanced hobbyist photographers, often encounter the claim that a great subject requires a great background. As human beings, we have an innate ability to focus solely on the elements we are most interested in what our eyes are seeing. So, when we photograph, if you do not make an explicit effort to consider all the other elements that make up the scene, we risk include something that will ruin the final result. We do not feel the importance of background in Photographic Composition.

The elements in the background can ruin a photo in many ways. To give some examples : in portrait, the branches of a tree in the background may tick from the head of the person photographed, appearing as unsightly horns! When photographing a beautiful flower in our garden, we might not see the rusty tools and muddy piled nearby; in any outdoor photos we might include an excessive portion of a dull gray sky that would ruin the tone of the composition, jumble of objects, colors, shapes in the background could steal the viewer’s attention as the main subject of our photos.

Importance of Background in Photographic Composition : Avoiding a Busy Background

To avoid problems of this type is important, before each shot; along with the eye the entire scene must be judged to make sure that nothing in the background can have a negative impact on the photo. It is important to have in mind what you want to communicate with the photos, what items you want to highlight, what tone should be and how the background affects these aspects. If we notice that the background is not functional for the photos you need to intervene in some way, because removing or repair a bad background in post-processing is really difficult.

Use a wide opening, to decrease the depth of field and then to increase the background blur. Try to use a lens of longer focal length, to reduce the visual field and then include a portion of the lower background. Change the point of view – try tilting the lens up or down, either by turning around the subject or some other way.

The moral of this article is that, as it is always important, before you take a photo, make sure the whole scene being settled for taking photographs with only the main subject. It requires a critical contribution, exercise and experience on the part of the photographer. It is not astonishing that you have never thought about the importance of background in Photographic Composition before reading this article.