What is the role of background in composition?

Lead: In photos, we all seem to pay more attention to how the subject should behave, but because of this, we often ignore the background and weaken the momentum of the subject. Although the background is not in the main position in the picture, if it is not handled well, it will also affect the performance of the subject and interfere with the audience's identification of points of interest. So while taking the subject seriously, we should also pay attention to the background. Let's teach you how to solve background problems!

Integrity of background and theme

The background in a photo refers to the environment far away from the subject in the picture. Some themes, such as deserts and crowded scenes, have their own depth; Or the subject itself has a strong perspective change effect, so it is difficult to clearly point out which parts are the background when shooting such an object. However, photos showing a single person or thing, or a group of objects or people must have a clear background. This background has a great influence on the expressive force of photos, so we should pay attention to it when shooting. If there is a background around the subject, we should realize that it is a whole with the subject; The background should be beneficial to the subject, clear and prominent, but not harmful to the subject of the picture.

Aperture: F8 Exposure time: 1/800s ISO: 400 Focus: 24mm. When representing a landscape picture, the landscape itself has a certain depth, and it is difficult to point out where the background is.

Aperture: F 1.4 Exposure time: 1/4000s ISO: 200 Focus: 50mm. The environment and characters in the background illustrate the corresponding relationship with the main ornaments, which enriches the picture information.

Environmental description needs to be related to the background or the surrounding environment, which requires that the environment should be recognizable when composing a composition, so as to achieve the integration of people and scenery, so as to ensure that the picture information is complete enough.

The main function of background

Background has two main functions in composition.

1. Highlight the main body to make the outline and shape clear.

The background should form a certain contrast with the main body in tone or tone, so as not to engulf the main body. In addition, the background should be as simple and unified as possible to avoid complexity, so as to ensure the prominence of the theme. When shooting, you should not only see the subject, but also see the background. We should pay attention to whether the background is conducive to highlighting the subject, carefully select and properly handle it, so that the background can better contrast the subject.

Aperture: F5.6 Exposure time: 1/2000s ISO: 200 Focus: 135mm. In the backlight scene, the subject is prone to stand out, so the exposure value can be appropriately increased to avoid the subject falling into complete darkness.

Photography course

Aperture: F4.5 Exposure time: 1/2000s ISO: 800 Focus: 200mm. The background is a regular tile, which contrasts with pets and clearly highlights the theme of pets.

2. Show the size of the space environment where the subject is located.

The farther the subject is from the background, the greater the spatial environment in the picture; On the contrary, the closer the subject is to the background, the smaller the spatial environment displayed in the picture. The spatial distance between the object and the background in the picture is related to the focal length of the lens used in shooting. On the premise of shooting a subject of the same size, if you shoot with a wide-angle lens with a short focal length, the background imaging will be smaller and the spatial distance will appear farther. On the other hand, if you shoot with a telephoto lens, the background imaging will be larger and the spatial distance will be closer.

Aperture: F 1 1 exposure time: 1/2000s ISO: 200 Focus: 35mm. The distance between the subject and the background wall is very close, which leads to the small space environment in which the subject is located.

Aperture: F8 Exposure time: 1/200s ISO: 400 Focus: 16mm. There is an obvious spatial distance between the chair and the forest as the background, showing a far-reaching scene.

Aperture: F8 Exposure time: 1/400s ISO: 200 Focus: 20mm. The picture taken with wide-angle lens, through the contrast between people and distant trees, and the inclusion of a large area of sky, makes the spatial distance seem very wide.