This month, let’s talk about background and contrast

I have some photo examples for this one, so feel free to play along… Let’s take a look a this scene. There’s a lot going on. We have a potential main subject, some moody sky, trees, and water.

If you were photographing this scene, using the statue as your subject, how would you go about it?

There are no right or wrong answers here, but some compositions will definitely work better than others.

For me, in terms of this first image, the statue is too similar in tone to the trees and the mountains in the background, and this makes the image quite messy. So me? I would look for contrast…

Using the cooler tones of the mountain behind the subject makes it stand out much more. It’s such a simple concept, but you’d be surprised at how many times I see a subject blend in to the background, and I’ve definitely been guilty of it myself!
I don’t think this is quite perfect though. I don’t like how the antlers poke out above the mountain. Another option, then. I think we could use the sky in the same way…

That’s better! For my taste anyway. We get a clear look at the subject, as well as see a glimpse of the landscape around it, and there’s clear separation between the subject and the mountains. I also like the way the mountains and tree lines guide your eye back to the centre. And while we’re really getting into the weeds of things, I love the angle looking up at the subject, showing its scale and importance in the scene.

What do you think? Contrast plays such an important role in photography, and it can be super helpful to keep it in mind as we compose our images. Sometimes the smallest changes, like this example, can have the biggest impact on the overall image.