Photography Lesson: Foreground and Background

When I take photographs I am always paying attention to the relationship of the foreground to the background. I photograph a lot of events such as weddings, fund raisers, business grand openings, art show openings and more. Photos of those event usually involve people. Whom ever is the main subject in a given situation is usually in the foreground. I focus on that subject and as I begin to take snaps I keep an eye on the folks in the background. I try to capture a moment when the body language of the subject and that of the background people comes together in an interesting fashion. Wide angle lenses are best for this. They provide more depth of field and a more readable background when the depth of field is shallow.

The singer in the foreground is the main subject. I kept an eye on the background people so as to capture a moment in which the body language of each individual added something to the overall interest and composition of the photo.  photo by Gary Walts

I probably snapped a dozen or so photos of the trio in the above photo. I was keeping a close eye on the relationship of each person to the other and settled on this photo as the best. When I photograph events I am always working to capture moments. Photos such as these are not accidents. They are the result of a deliberate attempt to capture such moments by watching what is going on around me. These principals apply to family photos and events also.