Here’s One Of The Easiest Ways To Totally RUIN A Good Photograph!

Is this a description of you? You save up every cent to buy the latest photo gadgets and gear, you read all the how-to books, subscribe to the best photo magazines and haunt the camera shop. Finally, you find a suitable subject, insert a clean memory stick into your camera, (or some film) and start firing away.

Afterwards, we spend a couple hours trying to remember how to download the photos to our computer – why does everything have to be so technical(?) – or we take our exposed film to the local processing lab. Finally our pictures are ready.

Our gorgeous model has a tree growing out of her head – on every shot in the ENTIRE session! Or, we never noticed that garbage can off to the side. You know, the one ruining the best shots. Did you notice the cars driving by in the background? How about the bunch of kids walking by?

Every photographer has done it, dozens of times. Pro and amateur alike. We get so focused on our model, poses, smile, eyes and so on, that we totally forget the rest of the scene in the photograph. It’s easy – you’ll do it too!

We have to think about shutter speed, film speed, f-stop and so on – photography is very technical for an ART! Then we have to be concerned about our models’ pose, eyes, smile and so on…now we’re expected to pay attention to the cars, trees, kids, and trash in the background?

Yup. Add one more challenge to the list. It’s not too hard to get in the habit of checking all the way around the edges of the frame – if you make it a habit!

Slow down. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and shoot too fast. Force yourself to scan the viewfinders’ edges. What about that trash can off in the distance? Will it be blurred out? Or will it show in focus in the final print. Can you or your model move so you are shooting at an angle to eliminate it?

Is there a street in the backdrop? Take a second to check and see if there is any traffic coming – either auto or pedestrian traffic. If so, can you change the scene to eliminate the problem? Or will you have to wait for a break in the traffic?

I know, it seems obvious, but I wouldn’t have written this article if it weren’t an everyday problem. Take just a few seconds to consider the background and then scan your eye around the frame before snapping the shutter. You will save a lot of money on prints that would have been thrown out.