Looking Beyond the Subject

by Diana de Rosa
Very often when photographing something your eye is set on the subject, but looking beyond the subject should be your ultimate goal. You should ask yourself: When my subject is where I want to take the photograph, what else will be in the final image? If there are other things that I don’t want in the final shot, can I crop them out? Does what I’m ready to shoot look clean or cluttered?

When shooting groups of people sometimes it’s okay if they are close together. However, if your goal is to capture a tight image of someone, then keeping the background as clean as possible is important.

Two people together or with one partially in front of the other ends up looking too cluttered and loses the final feel of the photo. So, if that’s the case then choose the time to shoot your subject when you can get the shot you want. If it’s not happening, move on to another shot because you usually will have another opportunity to try getting that individual at a better time later.
There are also times when you are planning out your shot but not realizing that what you see now isn’t what you will capture when you click the shutter. For instance, look at the shot of the horse jumping over the miniature house in the two different shots.

 

When I positioned myself for that shot, the roaming camera wasn’t there but when I took the photo it was. Since I still liked the dynamics of that shot, I repositioned myself so even though it was still in the picture, there was more room for me to crop the final shot to get the look and feel that I wanted.

Remember to look beyond the subject, and consider if what’s in the background will overpower the main subject you want to showcase.
It’s not always easy to do that, especially when shooting sports because so much is going on. However, if you take that extra time to scope out what the lens of the camera sees “beyond the subject” you’ll be much happier with what you capture as your final image.
For more photography tips, click HERE.
Do you have a story to tell, an image to share, a funny background story? Share with us in the comments section below. You can also email the author, Diana de Rosa, at dderosa1@optonline.net.