When people look at my work, one of the questions I get asked more often than any other is how I get such nice backgrounds. The answer is that I work very hard to control the backgrounds in my images.
I like to use nice, monochromatic, out-of-focus backgrounds because they make my subject stand out.
Monochromatic Backgrounds
These monochromatic backgrounds are also free of distractions that would pull the viewer’s eye away from the subject of my photograph.
The way I achieve these backgrounds is by ensuring there is separation between my subject and the background.
This renders my subject sharp and makes the background a nice out-of-focus blur. This separates my subject from the background, which gives the image a sense of depth.
For the image of the Cedar Waxwing accompanying this post, the background is a line of trees 50 yards behind the bird.
I shot this at f8, which is enough depth of field to cover the bird and its beautiful perch. But at f8, the trees are rendered as a completely out-of-focus blur of color.
Good Luck & Good Light!
Steve & Nicole