Crazy for Photography: Compose with a Clean Background

I’m thrilled to share the first of many photography tips and tutorials on the blog today. Let’s start with the basics: a lesson in composing a shot and the importance of setting a clutter-free scene.

If you follow me on Instagram or are regular a visitor of the blog, you may have noticed the clean simplicity of the images I share. The background is every bit as important as the subject of a photo and I carefully consider every detail of the scene placed in front of the lens.

This past weekend, I shot photos to review my most recent arrival from Stitch Fix. I always begin by photographing the collection of garments present in my fix. I value consistency (it’s good branding after all), and having the same setting and backdrop for my monthly Stitch Fix review is important to me.

Unfortunately, wedding planning has taken over my bedroom at the moment. Typically, I would store all of these items at Rob’s house, but we are trying to keep his place neat and clean for prospective buyers. As a result, all of my wedding supplies have come to land beside my bed and directly in view of my standard Stitch Fix photo.

Full disclosure: it pains me to see so many boxes of stuff permanently residing in my bedroom. It hurts even more to show the chaos to all of you. But, this is my life at my moment. It’s also another very compelling reason why I desperately need a home office after Rob and I move in together.

Fortunately, the magic of the camera is that viewers are only shown what the photographer wants them to see. I didn’t want a single box, bag or scrap of my wedding supplies to be present in my photo, so I temporarily shifted every single item to a different corner of the room.

This left plenty of space for me to compose a clean shot of my clothing without any visual distractions in the background.

The background of the resulting photo was crisp and clean, just as I was hoping for. Unfortunately, it was a little too clean. The background actually looked a little stark and I realized that the shot was missing the the lamp from my nightstand that was relocated once the wedding supplies started rolling in.

I replaced the lamp and was satisfied to see it subtly in the background of the photo. A title glimpse of my bedroom setting with out being a distraction. #nailedit

The next time you take out your camera to capture a photo that’s important to you, take a moment to observe the background. You may not need to move every single item out of the scene, but taking a moment to tidy up and remove any items that don’t belong in the frame is a very good idea and one of the easiest ways to improve the quality of your photos.

Learn More About Our Photos

Rob and I love sharing tips and tricks we’ve learned along the way in our Crazy for Photography series on the blog. Click any of the images below to discover more about our photos.