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Elaine Mueller Tweedy
           (570) 575-1705

I Want To Be Alone

10/5/2018

4 Comments

 
This is going to date me, but when I was a kid, and there were reruns of old movies playing on television, a movie star named Greta Garbo was well known for the phrase "I want to be alone."

Sometimes, we photographers, seek to isolate our subjects as best we can so that the focus is purely on them, and not on their surroundings, especially if the background is busy.    There are numerous ways to do so, which I am sure you will see in today's blog circle, but I will focus on three that I use.

The first you saw some of last week.  While doing some photography work at an event, I sought to isolate some of the subjects from the surroundings.  Here are a few more photos.

In the first I blurred the background. So, you can isolate by blurring everything but the subject.
Picture
In this case the background colors enhanced the colors in the dog's bandana, and the pup's cute and focused profile made for a very still shot.

In the second I cropped most of the background away.  Cropping is a technique I will use to isolate a subject as well.
Picture
I needed this cutie to remain connected to something, so I left the owner's feet in the photo.  There were a ton of tables and people in the background, so cropping enabled the pup to shine through.

The third technique is to simply find a "lone" subject to begin with.  Driving home from this event I happened to find a sheep who was "outstanding" in her field <--(very old joke, and now I have really dated myself!).
Picture
So let's review, because the test is on Monday.  Blurring the background, close cropping the subject and isolating the subject to begin with, are just three techniques I use to focus more on what's on the other side of my camera.

To see additional methods and how other photographers isolate what is in front of their lens, why not take a few and read through the blog circle.  Start with Susannah Maynard of Pet Love Photography, serving Greater Cincinnati, the San Francisco Bay Area, and destinations nationwide. 

Have a great weekend.  Don't isolate yourself.  Winter is coming.  At least for us.  Enjoy!

4 Comments
Danyel Rogers
10/5/2018 01:15:13 pm

I'm digging the sheep image. Not a subject I've photographed before.

Reply
Lynda Mowat
10/6/2018 03:38:32 am

Nice examples of different isolation techniques. Love that bandana.

Reply
Tim Evans link
10/13/2018 04:17:42 pm

Beautiful sheltie! And I forgot all about using cropping as an isolation technique!

Reply
Tracy Allard link
10/19/2018 06:44:09 am

Great quickie tutorial (and I'm digging the sheep too!)

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