About Foreground and Background
When you’re out photographing with your camera, you need to give some thoughts on how you would select the right foreground and background that would cooperate with your subject. A properly placed foreground and background can really bring life to what would otherwise be a dull and boring image.
In one of my rare outings during the COVID-19 lockdown, I noticed some wildflowers outside of the cottage that I was staying in. It was a drizzly and overcast afternoon, however, it created some nice water droplets on the flowers. I knew it right away that the droplets could be gone within minutes, for instance, if a gust of wind blew across them. With limited time to act, I went on my knees, isolated one flower that really stood up, and started taking pictures of it.
The picture above is one of my many attempts of photographing the flower. The background is the black wall of the cottage that I was staying in. For me, the image looks very flat and uninteresting, and if it weren’t for this blog, I wouldn’t end up sharing this image at all.
And this is the same flower, taken around the same time in the day, within a few minutes apart. It looks much more soothing to the eye, doesn’t it? Now, why is that? Of course, the answer goes back to the proper selection of foreground and background. The leaves in the front and back of the image, which are blurred out by the shallow DOF of my super telephoto lens (I photographed this image at 400mm f5.6), creates a gentle dreamy effect. Furthermore, the magenta flower really pops up within all these green foliage. In addition, those water droplets gave this flower an exquisite look.
As easy as it may sound to describe the image, the execution of it wasn’t nearly straightforward. I wanted to make sure that I was doing this right, and I was doing much more than just pressing the shutter button. First, as I mentioned above, I was operating under an unknown deadline, as I wasn’t sure how long those water droplets would stay there. Second, isolating one beautiful flower in a group of very closely located flowers were not easy. Third, I didn’t want any branch or leaf coming in the picture through the edges of the frame, as it would create an unwanted distraction by taking the viewer’s attention away from the subject. Fourth, focusing the flower was incredibly difficult, because it was a windy day and the flower was moving unpredictably from time to time. And lastly, of course, I had to select the right foreground and background that would be pleasing to the viewer.
Let me know your thoughts on these images!