By Gary Fong
Photographer: Mandy Chanioti, http://mandych-photography.tumblr.com
Unless camouflage is the subject, the main element of a composition should be evident to the viewer, not lost in the background.
Mandy Chanioti, a delightfully inquisitive photographer in Greece, exploring her visual senses, is immersing her dreams in a world of light and magic. She’s already decided that photography could be a big part of who she may aspire to be, among other more practical pursuits of livelihood.
Now for the Nit Picking
Puppies are fuzzy and warm and will lick one’s face off, if given a chance to be that close. Sometimes, the fuzziness of light dogs against light walls, (likewise for dark dogs against dark walls), have a tendency to blend into background, where the distinction of where dog ends and wall begins becomes a bit fuzzy.
The simple solution is to watch the background when shooting. Look at the subject through the viewfinder…then, ask yourself “before” making the exposure, if there’s enough background distinction to offset the primary subject. If photographers ask that simple question before shooting, one could save a lot of pixels (or film for old guys like me).
A more complicated solution is to introduce a stronger directional light source or position the subject for side lighting. With Mandy’s puppy, a strong side light with the idea of producing a rim light around it’s fuzzy head would provide background separation. One could use an off camera strobe or a strong ambient light source from the appropriate angle.
Ah yes…be aware of some non-lighting jokester expert recommending using a “black” light on white dogs to enhance the subject/background distinction…NOT!!!
