How to isolate the subject from the background

When shooting still life or characters, we often encounter a problem that the clutter of the background will interfere with the expression of the subject. At this time, we may choose to change the composition to find a background that will not interfere, or simply isolate the subject from the background, making the subject more prominent by some means, so that the background will not interfere with the expression of the subject.

In the process of shooting, how can we isolate the subject from the background?

1. Use lighting

When most photographers think about isolating the background, they usually think of light. They use the contrast of light and shade to make the subject have enough light while the background is obviously underexposed, which can easily highlight the role of the subject. This method of using light and shade contrast to highlight the main body is particularly applicable to the portraits in street photography.

When shooting, we should pay attention to the light in the environment. For example, some large areas in the shadow that are not affected by the light are suitable for the background. Later, we can also enhance this effect by lowering the details of the dark part. But we should also pay attention to the exposure of the camera in the early stage of shooting. If the contrast between light and dark is too large, if the dark part is exposed, the details of the dark part may be available, and the details of the bright part may be lost. When taking pictures, we must pay attention to the exposure at any time and be able to quickly adjust our camera settings according to the environment to obtain an appropriate exposure. While highlighting the main body, Keep the dark area in the background.

2. Use depth of field

The depth of field should be the most effective way to separate the subject from the background. By controlling the focus and opening the aperture, we can make the background completely out of focus and blurry. Many portrait photographers like to use the large aperture of the medium and long focus lens to achieve this effect.

As long as the distance is properly controlled, most of the lenses in the upper focus section of the standard lens can achieve the effect of background virtualization. However, it should be noted that the limited shallow depth of field is not good. If the aperture is opened to the maximum, regardless of the picture quality, part of the subject may lose focus due to the extremely shallow depth of field. When the aperture is opened, the light spot in the background will also become larger, sometimes causing the effect of interfering with the background. Therefore, before pressing the shutter, you must try first, and then select the aperture value most suitable for the current scene.

3. Use composition

In fact, this is a supplement to the previous points. Sometimes it is still impossible to isolate the background interference through light and shade contrast or through shallow depth of field. At this time, we need to move the camera, carefully observe what happens in the background, and then select the appropriate background in this process. There are not too many elements to disperse the subject. Or change the viewing angle. For example, when we use the eye level perspective, some background elements may appear in the picture due to the perspective from top to bottom. At this time, we use the low angle perspective from bottom to top. The upper environment must look much more tidy than the lower one, so there will not be so much interference and seriousness to interfere with the expression of the picture arrangement.