(B) is for black and white – sometimes the success of a shot is in its simplicity and removing the colour can aid this and change the focus. Plus, mixed with the right lighting (covered under ‘L’) it can bring a great ‘mood’ quality to the image, shown below in a small selection of very different examples.

(B) is also for… background – not so obvious, to the point it’s easy to forget them altogether – especially when you are concentrating on your foreground image! Then you end up with objects suddenly appearing in your finished composition that you hadn’t seen at the time of capture! A telegraph pole sticking out the top of someone’s head is never a good look!

So look out for them! A shifting of the camera or your position (often quite small) can save the whole composition of your image. The photo below of the young lady sitting on the beach is a simple example, positioning her in between two upright posts in the background that have strong shadows. If you have a tricky background, observe if it’s possible to use it to your advantage, i.e. frame your image with the background… or move altogether and get another angle.

There are other factors to consider with backgrounds covered further on in the series, so watch out for those 🙂

I’ll try and remember to refer back to comments mentioned under previous letters that may be relevant to another tip 🙂