Isolate Your Background

Isolate Your Background

In photography there are many ways in which you can capture your images and none is better than the other, each just highlights an effect and also gives a certain mood to the picture. In landscapes we tend to want the beginning, the middle and the end in focus, although there are exceptions to this. I’m speaking in general terms.With the entire landscape in focus we can be drawn into the picture.

Another way to capture images is to isolate the subject from the background. There are several ways in which you can do this. One is to make sure you have a clean background and if you do that, take your picture with a narrow depth of field. Sometimes you can include both in the same shot. This can be seen in the shot of the Orxy below. Here we have a clean background. There is nothing behind it, just a nice clean background.I’ve taken the shot at F2.8 and this is a very narrow depth field.This is a stunning animal in Africa and the markings on it .Once again you are drawn to the image.

The African Horn bill perched on the small log with the awesome light on it, stands out with the background being isolated.This was taken on F5.6.The soft golden light adds to the picture as well.

The zebra foal’s background is not totally clean but through choosing a narrow  depth of field by choosing the right aperture we can still create a sense of isolation from the background so we can be drawn to it.

Making sure I focused on the eyes of the monkey and shooting at f5.6 I can still create that isolating from the background.

The Pied Kingfisher is one of my favorite birds in Africa. I love their speed, their color and when perched, I think they make prefect subjects to photograph as they provide so many wonderful moments. When perched they really stand out when you are able to have that isolation in your picture. I never get tired of seeing this wonderful bird. This was taken on f5.6 on Canon’s 100-400f5.6 mark 2 lens.

Vicki’s robin is a another great example where she has a nice clean background isolating the Red Robin and in this case, the aperture is not as crucial as she has nothing behind that could be distracting.

We hope through the  examples of the pictures shown that you will get a good understanding of how effective it can be when you isolate the background. The subject just pops a little more and your attention is drawn to it.The next time you are out and about with the camera, see if you can capture subject where you have been able to isolate the subject from the background. 🙂