The rules of composition for photography mirror the rules of composition for writing. If you think back to writing class, the best stories are ones where the subject is clear. All of the distracting elements of extraneous words, or descriptions that do not directly contribute to the narration. The same is true in photography. In an image, you have a subject, and the surrounding foreground and background. When composing images, simplifying your background will make your subject stand out, and will generally make for a stronger photograph.
When I am working a scene, I am always conscious of the background when placing the subject in the frame. If there is an easy way to position myself so that I can anticipate where the action will pass through an area with a non-distracting background that is where I will position the camera. In the seagull on the pier photos, the distant shoreline is far enough away that it is out of focus. It helps that the bird is tilting his head in a funny way!
To further simplify the image, I moved in closer to the bird, and zoomed in as far as it would go. This removed the dark green line of the shoreline, and makes the background only two colors – the water and the pier planks.
In another scene this dachshund was walking on a sunny driveway. With lots of cars, trash cans, toys, and other distracting things in the area, I waited until she moved to a clear area before making the exposure.
At the recent fashion show, having a nice clean “step and repeat” background covers up the storefronts, and other people in the area. You can help separate the subject by waiting until the model is at the end of the runway which is as far away from the back as possible, and opening the aperture as far as it will go before releasing the shutter. Now, the clothes will easily draw the viewer’s eye due to the brightness and sharpness of the subject.
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