I try to pay a lot of attention to the background when I am composing a photo. If it is too cluttered, the background can draw attention from the primary subject, but if it is too plain, it can remove all sense of the environment in which the shot was taken. Ideally, the background adds visual interest to an image without being distracting.
For most of my wildlife shots, I have only a very limited control over my physical environment. Birds and insects will choose their perches or their flight paths and I am the one who has to adapt. It is amazing, though, how a slight change in the angle of view can improve an image. Sometimes I am able to improve my shot by moving a little to one side or the other or by shooting a little higher or a little lower.
Camera settings can help a bit too—by making the depth of field more shallow, for example, I can blur out the background. I have to be careful, however, in using this technique, because important parts of my subject to be blurred as well if I do not pay attention to my relationship to my subject. There are a lot of creative choices to make in choosing camera settings. I remember feeling overwhelmed by the number of choices when I first started becoming more intentional in my photography—it is now second nature and I make my choices instinctively, knowing pretty well what the effect will be of changing a setting.
In the first photo, I tried to be sure that the plane of my camera sensor was parallel to the body of the male Slaty Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula incesta), which meant that most of the dragonfly was in focus, while the background was blurry. You can certainly tell that there were branches all around, but the blurry branches, I think, make this image a whole lot more interesting than the traditional “dragonfly on a stick” shot.
The second image shows a Big Bluet damselfly (Enallagma durum) perched on some vegetation. I really like this shot because of the way that the background gradually fades away, unlike in the first image in which there was a sharp distinction between the foreground and the background. I also like the linear nature of the stalks of vegetation and their varying angles.
I took both of these shots using my Tamron 18-400mm lens during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge last week. As I mentioned in some other recent posts, I am experimenting with this lens to see if it can serve as an all-in-one lens for those times when I want to travel light, while retaining the capability to photograph a variety of subjects. These two shots proved to me that with this lens I can capture images of some small creatures with a good amount of detail. So far I am quite happy with its performance and I will continue playing around with it to learn about its capabilities and limitations.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Thank you for explaining about how you use backgrounds in your photos. I also thought it very interesting how the colors in these backgrounds contributed to the photos. Almost lent a personality to the dragonflies. The first one is more muted and shares colors with the background while the second one is a sharp contrast as well as the dragonfly being almost self illuminated and saying “look at how beautiful I am!”. All so beautiful!
Thanks, Ann. I completely agree with you on the effect that the background has on our perceptions. I love the way that you described that effect as it related to the two photos.
Very nice Mike! Congratulations on your new lens! Seems like it is a good all-round alternative when you want to travel light! Can you also add a teleconverter to this lens to get even more reach?
The Tamron teleconverter does not work with this lens. Although I might be able to make it work with a third-party one, I am not sure that it would work well–at the 400mm end, the max open aperture is f/6.3, I believe, so even a 1.4 TC would make it an f/8.
Great photos Mike. Thank you for the wonderful lesson on backgrounds. A lot hinges on about perspective doesn’t it? For how one sees things make all the difference.
Thanks, Suzette. I was mostly trying to explain some of what goes on in my head when I am taking photos. You are absolutely right about the importance of “seeing” the picture in your mind and then knowing enough about your camera and the environment to create the photo as you imagined it. 🙂
Thank you Mike, for sharing your skill and talent to translate to “see” 📸
Really like bottom photo!
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I like both images and think you do excellent work in your nature photography! A few years ago I switched from a Canon 75-300 lens to a Tamron 150-600 lens mainly to reach those far away birds, my main focus then. I love it and can still use it for my other favorite subject, butterflies, by staying far enough away to not spoof them. Then I take the easy route of using my cellphone for landscapes and larger close-ups! 🙂
One difference in my 600 and your 300, besides you having a lighter load, is that in your first shot the 600 would probably have completely blurred the background, depending on how close those branches were.
I enjoy your photography Mike.
Thanks, Charlie. I use my Tamron 150-600mm a lot, but struggle a little using it when the subjects are small and often resort to manual focusing. The degree of blurring depends too on whether you are using a crop sensor body or a full frame one. I was using my 18-400mm Tamron lens on a 7D crop sensor body, so it theory it had the equivalent field of view of 640mm on a full frame sensor. The weight of the 18-400mm is less than half that of the 150-600mm, so shooting it handheld is easier–I often rely on a monopod when using the 150-600mm.
Wonderfull
Nice to read about your experiences with the 18-400mm, Mike. These two are certainly good results!
Many people might find the lens to be heavy, but for me, as I think is the case for Ted too, it is almost perfect in size for walking-around lens.