Smart_Photography_-_December_2015_

7. Background Makes

the Picture

Do you really care for the background in

your photographs?

If you said yes, you might want to check

your gallery again. Because you might

not have really checked it thoroughly.

Why does that happen? You might have

photographed a gorgeous bird. But you

see that the photograph is not appealing.

Something is not right. The most likely

reason is the distracting background.

Remember that the background is as

important as the subject.

But, generally, you are so bogged down

with your subject that you won’t see

anything else. That’s natural!

The problem is that it doesn’t work.

Only when the background is clean

and/or complementary, the bird has a

chance to grab the viewer’s attention.

The bird has to be complemented by its

surroundings; the surroundings should

not be distracting.

Below are few simple tips to get a

clean background:

• Wait for the bird to assume a good
  position.


• Change your position to get an
  interesting background.


• Aim for shallow depth-of-field to
  throw the background out of focus.

Basically you have to avoid distracting

backgrounds. If possible, also avoid

plain and boring backgrounds like white

sky. It makes for a boring photograph.

The next time you make a bird

photograph, don’t forget to check

the background. This is the best bird

photography tip you can follow.

Bonus Tip: Practice with Common

Birds

It’s not about rare species, it’s about rare

photographs!

Most often, bird photographers run

behind rare species. They travel many

miles to photograph a rare species.

Why? Are you documenting the birds?

Are you creating a portfolio of different

bird species?

It’s not necessary. Think about it. Do

you like a rare photo of a common bird?

Or a common photo of a rare bird?

Practice with the common birds. Apply

all the above techniques. Improve

your photography first. Get to know

their behavior. Understand how light

impacts the mood of a photograph. Try

new compositions.

Make Something Unique. |SP

Fully charged now?

Want to go out and

practice? That’s

great. That’s exactly

what you should do.

Practice, practice...and

practice!

Focus your time and energy on learning all the core principles

outlined above. Prove it to yourself that you have great passion

to go out and photograph the birds every day or as often as you

can.

Remember: Proper techniques will always outsmart the

equipment.

Make every attempt to make amazing photographs of the

common birds. Enjoy photographing birds. That is the secret

to success.

Is there a park nearby? Is there a water body? A forest

preserve, perhaps?

Whatever it is, just go there. Photograph birds. Take action.

Unless you photograph you won’t improve.

CONCLUSION

112 http://www.smartphotography.in

Smart Photography December 2015

LEARNING^