Composition tip: Think about your background
Tuesday 7 January 2025, 20:20 by Elja Trum | 2,194 views | 2 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
What can be seen behind your subject is an important element in your photo. Usually, you don't want your background to attract too much attention. It mustn't distract from your subject.
A neutral background is often a logical choice: not too busy. But you can also use your background to draw attention to your subject.
For example, through the way lines in the background lead towards your subject. Or by using light and dark. Place a light area in your background directly behind your subject. The viewer's attention will naturally be drawn to the light.
You often can't move the subject of your photo, but you still have control over what can be seen in the background by moving yourself.
About the author
Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.
You might also like
-
10 Tips for Beginner Photographersby Elja Trum
-
5 Beginner Tips for Better Photosby Nando Harmsen
-
Ten tips for better black-and-white photographyby Nando Harmsen
-
10 tips for photographing a waterfallby Nando Harmsen
-
Are you ready to photograph the 2022 Perseid meteor shower?by Nando Harmsen
-
10 tips for photographing mushroomsby Nando Harmsen
2 comments
-
jahiba wrote on Tuesday 14 January 2025 at 17:12
| reply
Nice fresh photo but still I would let the white circle fall more behind the hair. Now my attention is drawn to this white circle(spot)
Translated from Dutch. -
Have your say
Please note: Articles older than a week can only be commented on by signed-in visitors.Would you still like to comment? sign in or create a free account.
Become a better photographer every week
A practical photography tip in your inbox every week.
39,179 photography enthusiasts already receive the tips! More about the weekly mail. Or keep up to date via 
Facebook.
Elja Trum
Photofacts; everything to do with photography!
Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
