In my most recent senior session*, I got to practice paying attention to my backgrounds. When I first got a camera, I paid NO attention whatsoever to what was behind my subject. Looking back now, I sometimes regret that, but no one had ever told me and it never crossed my mind. Even as I started learning, one thing that was pointed out to me was that I needed to pay more attention to what was in the background. When someone critiques my photography, I take it seriously. I want to grow and improve and a huge part of that is correcting things that others point out. There are still times when I'll be so focused on getting people in focus or all smiling that I don't pay attention and when I get home, I usually wish I had checked and moved around to crop something out. In the photo below, I didn't even notice the pop machine behind them. Had I moved a bit, I could have hidden it behind some of the boys. Live and learn. I say all that to say, I do try to look, in the viewfinder and on the back of my camera, at what is beyond my subject. For Joe's senior session, this meant making some changes when there was a fence running through his head, or a zipline. (It wasn't literally going through his head).
There are a few ways to fix this. One is to change your angle. Lowering or raising your camera a bit can sometimes be all that's needed to move the object into a more desirable position. Don't go too extreme, because you don't want your subject to look unusually large or small. Another option is to move yourself and/or your subject. I had Joe move forward, putting the fence farther away, and also I shifted myself around him a bit. My moving actually removed the fence from the background completely! For the zipline, he was kneeling and I was down to be level with him. Rather than move him (we had things nicely set up around him), I raised my angle just a bit and shifted. I'll be honest and say that I didn't see these things through my viewfinder. I only saw them on the back of my camera. It's super important to check your work as you go. I would have been so frustrated had I gotten home to find that all my photos in certain poses had something running through my subject's head! Been there, done that, and I don't like it. Take the time to check your backgrounds. You'll be very glad you did. *(https://sarahjanephotographyexperience.weebly.com/blog/senior-session-joe-2018)
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Hi! I'm Sarah!
I am a natural light portrait photographer. I've been taking photos since 2014 and would eat a smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Cafe for lunch everyday if I could. Thank you so much for stopping by. I blog about sessions, things I'm learning, stuff in my life, and information for YOU, my client. If you like what you see around the site, I'd love to work with you! I'd also love to connect with you on Instagram. I'm @sarah_jayne_photo :) Archives
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