This week, Ritva shares her expertise with a discussion on backgrounds and challenges us to share our own images with an eye toward what is behind the subject. She writes, “This week is a lesson in paying attention to the background BEHIND your subject, does this not sound like a challenge, but it is, if you really start to focus on it. So, think about different techniques you use to elevate your photos and share them with us.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

As Ritva noted in her post, “Utilize depth of field to blur your background, keeping focus on your subject.” That background blur and the rule of thirds helped me create a title slide for a PowerPoint slideshow on desert plants. By shooting close to the main subject, the background flowers blurred, and by allowing the broad background, I had plenty of room to place text to create a title slide. Here’s the image just before adding the title information.

Sometimes, the background can be the subject. At the Oklahoma City Memorial, two gates at either end of a reflecting pond mark the entrance to the memorial. One gate is labeled 9:01, the other 9:03. The reflecting pond marks the single minute between life before and after the 9:02 AM detonation of the bomb that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah building on April 19, 1995.

On a cruise excursion in 2013, I captured the image of a clown during a fleeting moment when he jumped on the horse-drawn carriage we were riding in. I had no time to even consider the background for the shot, and as it turned out, the background worked out OK. There were some trees, and the bokeh blurred them nicely, but there were also lots of power lines. With improved AI software, programs like Luminar Neo can remove power lines or an image’s background. As an experiment, I removed the background and replaced it with a pattern of lights.

Telephoto lenses help bring the action closer. This shot was captured from my seat in the stands behind first base with a 200 mm f/5.6 setting on the zoom lens. One of the advantages of those expensive f/1.8 lenses is their ability to have a very shallow depth of field. Those lenses are out of my budget. The lens I owned at the time put the crowd in the plane of focus, causing the subjects to blend into the background and make the photo seem cluttered.

Post-processing tools rescued this photo with the application of a blur tool. By judicious application of a Gaussian blur to the background, I could simulate the effect of a much more expensive lens. Compare the two images, and it’s easy to see how that blur makes the subject stand out.

Sometimes, the background can help tell the story in the image. Near Arlington, South Dakota, at the end of a highway, the road turns to gravel as it enters a cemetery. The entrance to the cemetery is beyond the sign, which takes an ironic turn.

Another example of the background helping define the story features this shot of two people concentrating on a clipboard in front of a laundry basket. That alone is enough to imply they are part of the housekeeping staff. The worker in the background and the presses define the area clearly as the laundry.

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to purchase a used Nikon 200-500 mm zoom lens. I took my D500 camera and lens to the zoo to test how well they worked together. The lens works nicely, but my limited choice of background for the shot above tells the viewer I went to the zoo. The chain link fence surrounding the lion’s compound presented no problem for the lens in front of the lion. Focusing on the lion while being so close to the safety fence made the chain link pattern in front of her disappear. However, the links in the background are plainly visible against the out-of-focus sky and trees. This portrait could look more natural with an appropriate post-processing background change.

Another compound in the big cat area provided me a more natural background for this animal portrait. Again, shooting through the chain links directly in front of the lens left no telltale signs of its presence, and the rocks in the background blocked the view of the fence at the back of the compound.

I enjoyed Ritva’s review of the potential of backgrounds to improve an image or enhance the story for this week’s challenge. Her post reminded me of some techniques I could use but have not considered.

Last week, Donna’s challenge reminded us of the value of our connections, both personal and universal. Look for next week’s challenge at noon Saturday EST, hosted by Egidio at Through Brazilian Eyes here. We welcome you to join us with your interpretations. Check here to get started.

John Steiner