| We've all heard about foreground and background. | | | | Capa once said "If your pictures aren'tgood |
| Generally the foreground iswhere you find the | | | | enough, you're not close enough." Move in closer |
| main subject. The background is, well . . . in the | | | | to your subject. You can eitherdo this physically, |
| back. It'sjust back behind everything else, right? | | | | or with a zoom lens fill the frame even tighter. A |
| Wrong! The background is just as importantand in | | | | good rule of thumbis: Whatever doesn't add to |
| some cases even more important than the | | | | the shot distracts. Eliminate ALL distractions. |
| subject itself. How is that evenpossible you ask? | | | | The second creative option is use a very narrow |
| Take for example a picture of a car. If it was | | | | depth of field. What this means is thatyou set |
| shot in a studio, the background couldbe entirely | | | | your camera so it only has a limited amount of |
| blank. That would make the car very important in | | | | every shot in focus, usually fromsay 6 to 12 |
| the shot. If you shotthat same car in the middle | | | | inches. Some people have the mistaken idea that |
| of a parking lot while it was full of other cars, | | | | this is limiting what type ofshots you can take. Oh |
| your carbecomes almost insignificant. (Unless | | | | contra ire, my friend. Now when you take a |
| there was something unique about it, like itwas | | | | picture of the baby,the baby is all you notice, |
| red and all the other cars were blue.) Now take it | | | | because everything else has gone to a blurry soft |
| one step further, imagine yourcar on the | | | | focus. Evenif baby is really cute right beside the |
| racetrack with two or three other cars, but it | | | | garbage can he or she just knocked over, you |
| was clearly in the lead. Thecar is again important, | | | | canstill get a really nice shot. |
| but not all by it's self. Now it becomes a key | | | | The third option that is simpler than staging every |
| element in amuch bigger shot . . . the race. | | | | single shot is to change your perspective. |
| I define dominant space as the environment that | | | | By your perspective, I mean you the |
| most compliments your subject. | | | | photographer, not the subject. In most cases you |
| Taking a picture of a young lady in a string bikini | | | | haveat least 360 degrees to choose from. While |
| sitting on your couch just doesn'thave the same | | | | baby might look cute right beside the garbage |
| impact as her coming out of the crashing waves | | | | can,that's only if you shoot him from the right. |
| with the sun reflectingoff her golden hair and | | | | What happens when you take one step to the |
| water glistening off her big beautiful . . . well, you | | | | left? |
| get the idea. | | | | Now maybe you only see cabinets behind the |
| Dominant space means that there is no such thing | | | | young tike. Hey it may not be as cool as |
| as "just a background". While theimage you take | | | | brightgrassy field, but it still looks a LOT nicer than |
| may or may not fill the entire viewfinder, | | | | a pile of garbage in the background. |
| whatever is not the subjectmust support the | | | | Being aware of the dominant space means that |
| subject. | | | | when you look into that viewfinder; you lookat |
| Too often people will snap a shot of a cute baby, | | | | every detail from edge to edge. Never take a |
| or cute puppy, or a cute anythingand totally | | | | picture of just a car or just a baby, take thetime |
| ignore what is around the subject. Yes, baby may | | | | to put it all together. Watch out for the things |
| be cute, but do you reallywant that dirty diaper | | | | that distract sure (obviously you don't wanta |
| sitting in the corner to be noticeable. Now | | | | telephone line coming out someone's ear); but |
| obviously, you are notgoing to set up every single | | | | more importantly look for the things |
| shot you ever take, however there are three | | | | actuallysupport the shot. By looking at the whole |
| simple thingsyou can do that will greatly enhance | | | | picture, visualizing the entire canvas you go |
| your every day shots. | | | | fromsnapshots to photographs to works of art. |
| The first thing is actually the easiest. As Robert | | | | The choice is yours. |