Summary of "My photos sucked until I learned this trick. Yours may too."
The video focuses on improving Photography by emphasizing the importance of backgrounds, rather than just settings or subjects, to create more compelling and storytelling images.
Key Artistic Techniques, Concepts, and Creative Processes:
- Importance of Backgrounds:
- A good background enhances the story, context, and sense of place in a photo.
- A bad background (clutter, distracting elements like poles, fire hydrants, or branches) detracts from the subject and overall image quality.
- Backgrounds should complement, not compete with, the subject.
- Getting Better Backgrounds:
- Change your angle and perspective to avoid bad backgrounds.
- Move yourself or your subject to find or create a better background.
- Look for backgrounds that add storytelling elements (e.g., location markers, relevant objects, or people).
- Align your subject with background elements to add context and balance (e.g., musicians with the band or anniversary signs).
- Storytelling Through Backgrounds:
- Backgrounds can convey location, time, and scenario, making the photo about something, not just of something.
- Photojournalists excel at this by minimizing editing and focusing on context.
- Playing with Focus and Depth of Field:
- Use Aperture settings (e.g., f/2.8 for strong background blur or f/5.6 for more background detail) to control how much of the background is in focus.
- Experiment with foreground and background focus to create different visual effects.
- Distance between subject and background affects background size and blur.
- Timing and Patience:
- Wait for the right moment to capture the best alignment or interaction between subject and background.
- Timing can make a significant difference in storytelling and composition.
- Post-Processing Advice:
- If background separation cannot be achieved in-Camera, adjust brightness, contrast, or color in post-processing to differentiate subject from background.
- General Advice:
- Avoid taking snapshots; instead, move around and compose your shot carefully.
- Focus on making photos that stand out by thoughtful composition and background use.
Summary of Steps to Improve Photos via Backgrounds:
- Identify and avoid distracting or cluttered backgrounds.
- Move yourself or your subject to find better angles.
- Look for backgrounds that add storytelling or a sense of place.
- Align subjects with background elements for context and balance.
- Experiment with Aperture and focus to control background blur.
- Consider the distance between subject and background.
- Be patient and wait for the right moment.
- Use post-processing to enhance separation if needed.
Materials or Tools Mentioned:
- Camera with adjustable Aperture.
- Lightroom (for post-processing wildlife photos).
- Squarespace (sponsor) for creating Photography websites.
Creator:
- Simon Dontram, professional nature and wildlife photographer from Eastern Canada.
Sponsor:
- Squarespace (website and domain platform).
Category
Art and Creativity
