Posting Eighteen

“Watch Your Backgrounds”
 Part Three

Thanks to Hockomock Digital Photographer, Rick Alvarnaz, for his permission to share this with you.

Did anyone out there surf the photo vendors to check the prices on those “monster lenses?” And, where did you apply for the bank loan?

From lenses we shift our focus to filters, which are another tool used to alter one’s backgrounds. A diffusion filter on your lens will soften the background to varying degrees. How much? Well, that depends on the filter you chose, as some will soften the entire image while others allow the subject to remain sharp but not the edges. Vignetting filters actually obscure or cover the areas around the center of interest in different window shapes and colors. The aforementioned filters are more popular in portrait photography but have been successfully used in other areas.

In the digital darkroom era much of this filtering is done via the computer. One of the more successful techniques involves the use of the blur tool – especially, the Gaussian Blur. Also, selecting your subject and using the unsharp mask can make the background appear “soft.” Unwanted objects in the back of the photo can be removed using several of the various clone tools. In CS5 a content awareness feature has been added which gives a whole new meaning to removal of objects - seamlessly!

As you can see, there are many ways to control the background of our images. So there is really no excuse for not creating the photos we want and with all the impact we wish to convey to our viewers.

A last word on this, going the extra step of dealing with unwanted or distracting backgrounds will keep the viewers (and those judges) more focused on where YOU want their eyes to be!