A Simple Guide to the Different Types of Digital Cameras

Shutterbug Photography, Rookie Photographer 

By Darina Kopcok 

 

Shopping for the best digital camera can be overwhelming for a beginner photographer. Or for a professional looking to change the format. There are so many different types of cameras.

There’s only so much your smartphone can do. At some point, you’ll want to invest in a digital camera for higher image quality.

Here are the various camera types that you should consider.
 

7. Compact Cameras

Also known as a point-and-shoot camera. A compact camera is an inexpensive entry-level camera for the amateur digital photographer.

These cameras are small and lightweight. They usually come with standard, automatic settings. They tend to be smaller as they don’t have an optical viewfinder.

They are the most user friendly of the types of cameras options. You frame your subject and press the button. The camera does all the work. It assesses the scene and determines a correct exposure.

Compact cameras have a built-in flash and a zoom lens. They also come with an LCD screen. You can view your scene before pressing the button to take the picture.

Many of these cameras even have some manual functions. These allow you to have more control over your photography.

But these types of cameras are all about ease of use. They won’t give you control over every camera setting. Some models also offer the ability to change lenses.

The downside of compact cameras is that they have a very small sensor. It doesn’t allow for great picture quality or printing large images.

Compact cameras are great for the hobbyist starting out. But they are not suitable for professional use.

Recommendations:

Nikon Coolpix A300

Canon Powershot Elph 190is

6. Zoom Compact Camera

Compact zoom cameras have a more powerful zoom lens. This means a much greater magnification ability.

They offer automatic exposure settings as well. But most also offer manual options and HD recording.

These types of cameras do not offer interchangeable lenses. This is due to the nature of the enhanced zoom function. The zoom ranges from 28-300mm.

Most models offer at least 12 megapixels. This is excellent for your personal images. As with other compact cameras, these types of cameras are not suitable for professional use.

Recommendations:
Canon Powershot SX540
Panasonic Lumix ZS50
Olympus Stylus 1s

5. Advanced Compact Cameras

These types of cameras are for the more experienced hobbyists. They want more control over their photos than what a regular compact camera provides.

Advanced compact cameras come with manual exposure mode and manual focusing.

These features put these a cut above regular compact cameras. But these cameras are still lightweight and user-friendly.

They will allow you to take higher-resolution pictures than your smartphone can provide. But they’re still small and compact. This makes them an easy walk-around solution for many shooting situations.

Recommendations:

Canon PowerShot G3X
Sony RX100 IV

4. Adventure Cameras

Action cameras have become very popular lately, and more and more models are coming out.

These types of cameras are similar in many respects to compact cameras. But they have the bells and whistles that allow them to withstand extreme conditions.

They are weatherproof and shockproof, with their lens behind very durable glass. Action cameras are very small, yet offer a lot of versatility and high resolution for their size.

As with other compact cameras, they are not suitable for professional use. This is due to its small sensor. They also don’t come with interchangeable lenses. They may also lack an optical viewfinder or even an electronic viewfinder.

Recommendations:

Nikon Coolpix AW130
Olympus TG-870

3. DSLRs – Digital Single Lens Reflex

Digital SLRs are for serious amateurs and professionals alike. These are larger and heavier than compact cameras. Most professional cameras out there are DSLRs, even through bridge cameras and mirrorless are gaining in popularity too.

Their design and function comes from film cameras. The higher-end models have a full-frame sensor. This is also inspired by the traditional 35mm film camera.

Many come with a cropped-sensor. This is cheaper for camera manufacturers to make. And it allows DSLRs to be accessible to a wide variety of consumers.

The lenses are interchangeable on these cameras. How they behave will depend on whether the camera you choose has a cropped sensor or a full-frame sensor.

The lenses for these cameras range in quality. Most manufacturers offer a line for amateur photographers. And then a much more expensive line aimed at professional photographers. An example here is Canon’s L-series.

DSLRs also offer a variety of manual settings and creative controls. You can take images in Automatic mode. But these types of cameras offer Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual mode as well.

The benefit is that they have an optical viewfinder. They come in a range of sensor sizes, some being APS-C while others are full-frame. Shutter speeds can reach faster ranges and have a better low-light capability.

Recommendations:

Canon EOS Rebel T6i
Nikon D3400

2. Compact Mirrorless Cameras

They say that mirrorless cameras are the wave of the future. They offer most of the features of a DSLR camera. But they are smaller, lighter, and generally less expensive.

The name “mirrorless” is from the lack of an internal mirror that reflects light onto the sensor.

The light that comes in through the lens goes straight to the sensor. This then transmits the information it captures on to the LCD screen.

The new mirrorless cameras are a powerful alternative to the DSLR. They tend to use an electronic viewfinder rather than an optical viewfinder.

In fact, many professional photographers are switching over to mirrorless cameras. Or they’re using them as an alternative to their usual DSLRs, such as while traveling.

They are versatile, high-performance types of cameras. They will allow you a lot of control over your results.

You can change lenses on these cameras, and they have a ton of features for creative control. Some models offer facial recognition and have focus points in every part of the frame. This is excellent for event or wedding photography.
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Most offer high resolution and video, and also WiFi capability. This latter allows you to remotely control your camera. You can use your smart device from a distance.

The new mirrorless cameras are now capable of capturing incredible, high-resolution images. These types of cameras are comparable to some of the best DSLRs out there at a lower price point.

Recommendations:

Canon EOS M50
Sony a7R  III

1. Medium Format Camera Types

It’s out of the average person’s price range. And it’s unnecessary for most shooting situations. But the medium format camera bears mentioning.

Medium format refers to the 120 size film format used in the Hasselblad V system film cameras. Hasselblad are the leading manufacturer of this type of camera system.

Medium-format is a camera with a larger sensor than a full-frame DSLR. It is common in certain types of advertising work where very high resolutions are the norm.

These types of cameras offer amazing resolution. But they have less sophisticated autofocusing systems and burst modes. Thus, they are not suitable for every genre of photography.

The other downside is that the price tag for this type of cameras is exorbitant. Even most pros rent them rather than buy their own.

For example, the Hasselblad H6D-400c offers 100 megapixels and a 53.4×40.0mm sensor. And it costs almost $50,000 USD for the body alone.

Recommendations:

Hasselblad H6D-100c
Hasselblad H6D-50c

Maybe you’re a beginner, hobbyist, or looking to get into professional-level photography. No matter your level, there are many types of cameras to choose from that will suit your needs. You can even find a variety of cameras for kids.

Take the time to explore the features of several models before narrowing it down to a final choice.

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What is Focal Length? (And Why it Matters in Photography!)

By Josh Dunlop

By Gabor Holtzer

By Jenn Mishra 

If you are new to photography, one of the first terms tossed at you is “focal length.” Are you buying a camera and lens? You have to decide on the focal length you want. If you are looking for a lens that zooms, there are many different focal lengths. How do you decide which focal length is best?

By the end of this article, you will understand what focal length is. We start with the scientific definition. It is for photographers who want to understand the inner workings of their cameras and lenses. But the practical implications of focal length are what matters to most photographers. So we will explore how different focal lengths affect the photos we take.

 

Focal Length Defined and Explained

So what is focal length? Let’s start with an optical definition of focal length. A focal length definition can get very technical. But for this article, let’s keep it as simple as possible.

Focal length is the distance between your camera’s sensor and the lens’s point of sharpest focus when focusing the camera to infinity.

How Focal Length is Measured

Your lens has many different pieces of glass. The elements interact to direct light into your camera. There is a point where light converges, or crosses, on the way to your sensor. That is the point of sharpest focus.

Lens manufacturers have done the testing and the math. They have measured the distance between this point of convergence and the camera’s sensor. That is the focal length of the lens. They label each lens with the focal length in millimeters (mm).

Take a look at this diagram showing the side view of a lens. Light comes into the front of the lens. It passes through many layers of glass with different shapes and curves. And these elements focus light to make a clearer image. In this example, the point of sharpest focus, or point of convergence, happens 28mm from the camera sensor. So this lens has a focal distance of 28mm.

Side view of a lens with a focal length of 28mm.

How Focal Length is Standardized

The point of convergence changes as you focus closer or further away. But to standardize the measurement, the lens is tested by focusing it at infinity. When you focus on a point far in the distance, the light rays hit the lens almost parallel, as shown in the diagram. When focusing on a closer subject, light enters the lens at an angle. Your lens deals with this, but it affects how much of your scene is in focus. For more on this, see our article on depth of field in photography.

Close focus changes how light enters the camera and how much is in focus (75mm lens).

Focal Length in Practice

Now you know the official definition of focal length and how manufacturers measure it. But how do different focal lengths affect the way your photos look? Let’s see how focal lengths affect your photography in practice.

Angle of View

Focal length affects your angle of view. And your angle of view is how much of the world your camera lens can see. A lens with a shorter focal length, like 24mm, can see more of the scene than a lens with a long focal length, like 300mm. Lenses with smaller focal length numbers capture a more expansive view.

Focal length examples and how much your camera can capture.

If you look straight in front of you, the area you can see is about 55°. That is your angle of view. You have a greater field of view with your peripheral vision. But off-center areas are not in focus. To see more of the world, you must turn your head.

A lens with a 43mm focal length captures a similar amount of the scene, about 53°. 50mm lenses are popular because they capture the world very close to how we see it. Photographers sometimes call a 50mm lens a “nifty-fifty.”

This table shows the angle of view for lenses with popular focal lengths.

Focal Length	Angle of View
12mm	122°
16mm	107°
24mm	84°
35mm	63°
50mm	47°
70mm	34°
90mm	27°
100mm	24°
200mm	12°
400mm	6°

Showing 1 to 10 of 10 entries

Magnification

Focal length also affects how close objects seem to be. A lens with a long focal length magnifies objects making the subject appear closer. If you photograph far-away subjects, use a lens with a long focal length like 400mm or 800mm. Your angle of view is smaller, but magnification increases. The focal length of the lens determines how zoomed-in your photos look. The higher the number, the more zoomed your lens will be. Different focal lengths change how visually close the subject is.

Focal length comparison of shots taken from the same position.

Perspective Compression

Focal length also affects how objects look in relation to each other. Lenses with longer focal lengths compress the scene and make elements of the scene look closer together.

Compare these four photos of the same subject at different focal lengths. The three soup cans remained in the same position. They were spaced 10 inches (about 25cm) apart. The camera was moved back to keep the cans framed in the same way.

The cans seem to be spaced further apart at 24mm than 135mm. At 300mm, the cans seem to be almost next to each other. Also, notice the relative size of the cans. At 24mm, the front can is much more prominent than the others. At 300mm, the can in the back looks just as large, if not larger, than the cans in front. Remember, the cans were not moved.

This visual illusion is called “perspective compression.” Lenses with a longer focal length appear to compress objects. Lenses with shorter focal lengths add visual space between objects. You can choose which one is right for your scene.

Perspective and focal length comparison

Focal Length vs. Lens Length

Focal length has to do with the inner workings of a lens. It is not the physical length of a lens from the glass on the front element to the lens mount that attaches to your camera. Lenses can have the same focal length and be very different in physical size.

These two lenses cover the same focal lengths (16-35mm). But they have different internal constructions. For more information about how lenses are constructed, see beginners guide to camera lenses.”

How the Camera’s Sensor Affects Focal Length

The camera does not directly affect focal length. But the size of your camera’s sensor can impact how zoomed-in your photos appear. The scene of a lens attached to an APS-C (crop) sensor camera will look more zoomed-in than a lens with the same focal length attached to a full-frame camera. That is when a camera’s crop factor comes into play.

When determining their focal length, lenses are tested on cameras with a full-frame sensor. Full-frame cameras are equivalent to the once-popular 35mm film cameras and have become the standard for measuring focal length.

But some cameras have smaller sensors. For instance, many cameras have an APS-C sensor. It is about 1.5x smaller than a full-frame sensor. That is the crop factor of the camera. A lens with a focal length of 28mm looks the same as a 42mm lens when mounted on a camera with a smaller sensor. The perceived focal length is sometimes called the “equivalent’ or “effective” focal length.

All lenses are labeled with a focal length as though they were mounted on a full-frame camera. Even if the lens was designed for a crop sensor camera, that’s the case. It is not a problem if you have a crop sensor. You get used to how the lens looks on your camera. But if someone suggests that you use or buy a 50mm lens, know that it will be cropped on your camera. It will look like a 75mm lens.

If you want to know more about crop sensors, see our article on camera sensor size. This table shows the equivalent focal length and angle of view for lenses with popular focal lengths.

Focal Length	Equivalent Focal Length 1.5x crop factor	Angle of View
12mm	18mm	122°
16mm	24mm	107°
24mm	36mm	84°
35mm	53mm	63°
50mm	75mm	47°
70mm	105mm	34°
90mm	135mm	27°
100mm	150mm	24°
200mm	300mm	12°
400mm	600mm	6°

Showing 1 to 10 of 10 entries

Zoom vs. Prime Lenses

Lenses are divided into two categories based on if they can change focal length. If a lens has one fixed focal length, it is a prime lens. If a lens can change focal lengths, it is a zoom lens. In general, prime lenses are sharper and often have a wider aperture.

Zoom lenses let you change the angle of view and magnification within a range of focal lengths. For instance, a 16-35mm zoom covers all focal lengths between 16mm and 35mm. You can choose 20mm, 24mm, or 30mm by twisting the lens barrel. That gives you a lot of versatility. Most variable focal length lenses get longer physically as you zoom. And lens manufacturers label zoom lenses by listing the shortest and longest focal lengths.

Taken with a 35mm prime lens.

Grouping Focal Lengths

In photography, we group lenses by their focal length. For instance, lenses are wide-angle if they cover focal lengths of less than 35mm  A telephoto lens is over 70mm.

Wide Angle Lenses (Less Than 35mm)

Lenses are wide-angle if they have a focal length of 35mm or less  Wide-angle lenses capture a broad view of the world. The view is more comprehensive than you can see in one glance. Street photographers and photojournalists use lenses with shorter focal lengths. They can get close to their subjects, work indoors, and put themselves in tight spaces. These lenses capture the subject and the context.

Landscape photographers also love short focal lengths. They can capture large natural scenes like mountains and tall waterfalls. Landscape photographers take advantage of a wide-angle perspective. You can make a flower in the foreground look more prominent than the mountain in the background.

The widest lenses commonly used in movie production also fall into this range of focal lengths. Their field of view is ideal for showing plenty of the environment. And thanks to the wide aspect ratio, subjects can be far enough away not to appear distorted. But photographers rarely use lenses with short focal lengths for portraits. They enhance the perspective so much that facial features can look unnatural.

Take with a 20mm wide-angle lens.

Ultra-Wide-Angle and Fisheye (Less than 16mm)

Lenses less than 16mm are sometimes referred to as “ultra-wide-angle.” A fisheye lens is an example of an ultra-wide-angle lens. These are often considered specialty lenses. They create such a wide angle of view that they feel unnatural and seem to distort reality.

Ultra-wide lenses are often used in event and architectural photography. They get a lot into a photo when shooting in a confined space. When used for journalistic scenes, ultra-wide-angle lenses can provide a dramatic, exciting angle—especially if you are close to the subject. A 16-35mm or 14-24mm zoom, for example, is a crucial tool in the bag of a press photographer.

A fisheye is an ultra-wide-angle lens that emphasizes wide-angle distortions. Fisheye lenses are usually between 4mm and 16mm and capture up to a 180° field of view.

Taken with a 15mm fisheye lens. DepositPhotos.

Standard Lenses (35-70mm)

A standard lens has a focal length between 35mm and 70mm. These are the most common lenses, both in prime and zoom format. The focal lengths of the first lens that you got with your camera probably cover some, if not all, of this range.

Portrait photographers often use standard lenses  50mm, and 70mm are very popular. Lenses in this range best reproduce what our eyes see. They have minimal distortion. So they are suitable for documentary and street photography.

You can use lenses with standard focal lengths for virtually anything, from nature to action. If you want a good walking-around lens, buy one covering focal lengths between 35mm to 70mm. A popular standard zoom lens is 24-70mm.

Taken with a standard 50mm lens.

Telephoto (70mm+) and Super-telephoto (200mm+)

Lenses are described as telephoto if they have a focal length of more than 70mm. Lenses longer than 200mm are sometimes referred to as “super-telephoto.” The lens is sometimes called a short telephoto if the focal length is between 70mm and 135mm. Currently, the longest telephoto lens in production is 800mm.

Photographers use telephoto lenses any time they are photographing something from a distance. Wildlife and sports photographers often use telephotos to bring their subjects closer. Landscape photographers use long focal length lenses to capture intimate landscapes. Remember, telephoto lenses compress the scene and make objects look closer together. That is not always what landscape photographers want.

Portrait photographers may also use telephoto lenses, like 85mms, if they take close-up shots. The lens compresses the subject, and they look leaner. It is often a flattering look. Many popular macro lenses also fall into the telephoto category. Photographers use macro lenses to photograph detail in extreme close-ups. A telephoto macro also gives you a little working space.

Taken with a 105mm macro lens.

Best Focal Length for Your Photography

The best focal length for your photography depends on what type of photography you like to shoot. Let’s find the best focal lengths for each genre of photography.

Portrait Photography

The best focal lengths are between 50mm and 135mm if you like to photograph people. You can get standard prime lenses like 50mm with less distortion. Or you can buy a zoom lens covering the lower end of the range, like a 24-70mm or a 24-105mm. A short telephoto would also be a good buy for you. Many portrait photographers use a 70-200mm lens.

Street, Documentary, and Travel Photography

If you like to travel and take photos on the street, a standard lens is your friend. A 24-70mm lens is the go-to lens for many travel and street photographers. But many street and travel photographers like to use wide-angle prime or zoom lenses in the 16-35mm range. That lets them get in close and show a lot of the scene. If you are going into the unknown, you may want to look at a lens that covers a variety of situations, like a 24-105mm lens.

Architecture Photography

Architectural photographers often go with wide-angle focal lengths. They may shoot tall buildings on narrow streets. Or they may be inside an establishment trying to capture a tight corner or the majesty of a cathedral. A wide-angle lens works for it all. Architectural photographers may even pull out an ultra-wide-angle (12-24mm) lens or a fisheye when spaces get tight.

Sports and Wildlife Photography

Sports photographers and wildlife photographers share some common challenges. You may not be able to get close to your subjects, so a telephoto is a must. You need a 70-200mm or a 100-400mm lens. You may even need a super-telephoto lens if you are trying to photograph birds or players on a large field. And 800mm prime lenses are made for these situations.

Landscape Photography

Landscape photographers vary in their preferred lenses. You may like a wide-angle 16-35mm lens for grand landscapes. Or you may pick a telephoto lens like 100-400mm to capture details in the scene. If you like to photograph landscapes, you may need to try out a few different lenses to see what fits with your favorite landscape scenes.

Taken with a 600mm super-telephoto lens.

 

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8 Ways to Produce a Soft Background in Your Photos

Shutterbug Photography, Rookie Photographer

By Josh Dunlop 

If you’ve read my tutorial on bokeh, you’ll understand that it plays a huge role in producing a soft and interesting background, as it relates to the aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas.
Your background takes up as much of each pixel as your foreground does, so you should make it as interesting as you can by employing some of these techniques. 

Wide Aperture for a Soft Background

If you’ve played around with aperture much, you’ll know by now that, the wider the aperture, the shallower the depth of field. This, in turn, determines how blurred the photo is, after all, that’s all a soft background is – an attractive blur.
So, the wider you set your aperture, the softer your background will be but you need to be sure that the whole of your subject’s face is in focus, or at the very least their eyes, otherwise the entire photo will appear soft instead of just the background.

Get Close

Here’s an extract from my tutorial on depth of field which sums up exactly what effects can be created by bringing your lens closer to the subject:

The best way to demonstrate this is not with a diagram but with your own hand.
Take your arm and stretch it out in front of your face with your hand as far as you can reach.
Looking at your hand, you’ll notice that you can still work out a lot of the detail behind it, without moving your eyes away. Now, gradually move your hand closer to your face, focusing on it throughout. You’ll notice your peripheral vision becoming more and more out of focus.
The same effect occurs with a camera lens.

Distant Background

The further away your background is, the less in focus it will appear which, as we know, creates a soft background.
You need to consider just how soft you want the background to be; if it’s too far away, it can start to blur into insignificance.
Combining a distant background with a few other techniques on this list will be a lot more effective and aesthetically pleasing – you should be able to make out what’s going on in the background without providing enough information to distract from the subject.

Zoom In

If you remember back to my tutorial on focal length, you’ll know that portrait lenses are usually in the mid-telephoto range of 70-105mm. This is because of the way they compress the perspective of a scene, making the background appear closer.
The beauty of this is that you can have your background relatively far away, shoot nice and close to the subject (on a long focal length with a wide aperture) and you’ll still get a soft background without it appearing too distant.

Soft Lighting

Whether you’re in a studio or outside in the garden, if you want a soft background, you need soft lighting.
As a general rule, this means no direct light from the sun or from the flash on your camera.
My favourite time to shoot is during the evening as the camera’s sensor isn’t trying to compete with itself to correctly expose a certain part of the photo over another.
This produces a much greater dynamic range with more detail in the background colours. Soft lighting will also flatter your subject’s features and skin tone, resulting in a more even exposure.

Sharp Contrast

If you really want to emphasise how soft the background is, contrast it with an exceptionally sharp foreground.
Applying this technique makes the background a lot more obvious by comparison as the subject in the foreground seems to sit on top of the background (provided there’s enough distance between the two of them).
The photo below was shot at f/1.4 which provides an incredibly shallow depth of field but, because the contrast between sharp and blurred is so apparent, the entire subject appears to be in much deeper focus.

Bokeh Background

Soft backgrounds are all well and good but, if it’s a blur of concrete, there’s not exactly much to look at.
To make sure your background is equally important in terms of aesthetics, choose a background area in which you’ll have the opportunity to play around with the different colours and lights.
My favourite technique to use involves allowing small pockets of light to pass through the background so that they create a circular bokeh shape when captured by the camera.
This is incredibly easy to do and is a really subtle way of taking something that would usually have been boring and making it much more interesting – check out the photo below.

Shoot Into The Sun

There are many advantages of shooting into the sun. In fact, I’ve written a whole tutorial on it but, in terms of softening your background, shooting into the sun produces lens flare that can cast a soft light over the whole of your photograph.
Clearly, this doesn’t just soften the background; it softens the foreground too. This can, however, be very effective, especially seeing as these shots are usually taken in the evening when the sun is about head height. 

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9 Ways to Create an Interesting Background in Your Photos

Shutterbug Photography,  Rookie Photographer

By Josh Dunlop 

 

Why Is It Important to Have an Interesting Background?

You may have noticed by now that there are no photos of models on a white background on this site.
There’s a good reason for this. I find these photos boring and unimaginative. The shooting environment isn’t conducive to interesting photography.
The way I see it, every single pixel in a photo bares equal importance with the next. It’s your job as the photographer to ensure that every part of the photo looks good.
When you start to make your backgrounds more interesting, you’ll find that people spend more time looking at them. More often than not, they do this without even realising.
There are plenty of ways to do this. We’re going to have a little look at a few methods now.

Bokeh

This is a term used quite frequently on this website. I’ve spoken in detail about in this post. Essentially, it’s the aesthetic quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photograph. If you have a close subject, a distant background and a wide aperture, you magnify the bokeh effect.
Check out the photo below.
The soft circular blur in the background is an example of good bokeh. In this photo, the background has as much appeal to the viewer as the subject – the BBQ. I really like using a strong bokeh as the softness is very appealing and easy to look at.

Lights

When light shines directly into the camera’s lens and the aperture isn’t too wide, you can end up with some really cool ‘star’ effects on the light source.
As well as lighting up the background and providing interesting detail, the subject is also lit up in a way that don’t typically see.
Use the lighting to illuminate your background and provide a point of interest. Arrange your lights so that they provide details to the most important parts of your background.

High ISO

If you’re shooting at night, in order to reveal any detail in your background, you’ll need to raise your ISO.
Even in the photo above, I used an ISO of 1200 as it allows us to make out the finer details, attracting the viewer to the photo.
The photo below was shot with an on-camera, external flash unit at ISO 1600 and an aperture of f/2.8. As you can see, this has produced a very shallow DoF but, by providing more detail, has turned a simple photo of a man on a street into much more than that.

Rule of Thirds

As you can probably see from the photos I’ve use so far, I like to adhere (roughly) to the rule of thirds when trying to include an interesting background.
The rule basically dictates that photos should be split into 9 equal parts divided up by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines. The important features within the frame should intersect with these lines at some point.
This allows me to include a background that people can actually see.

Background Subjects

There’s no reason why your background shouldn’t be another subject, like my example below.
This, believe it or not, was a candid photo. The foreground subject was looking in the same direction as the background subject. The moment he looked towards my camera that I took the photo.
This contrast in subjects’ interest makes you wonder where to look – no longer is it a simple photo of a person.
Contrast in background and foreground is key here.

Lines

I’ve written in depth about horizontal, vertical, diagonal and converging lines in photography and the power that they convey, directing the viewer’s eyes in a certain direction. I recommend that you read about that in further detail.
The great thing about using lines in your background is that they’re remarkably subtle – you may like the background in my photo but, without mentioning lines, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that interests you.
Once again, there’s contrast present in the photography and, this time, it’s also present in the background – the lines are sharp and soft.

Paths

The great thing about paths in photography is that, if you include a subject as well, together, they can provide dynamic tension.
By this I mean that your eyes don’t know whether to go up and down the subject or along the path, which causes a tension in your eyes. This is a superb trick to convince your viewer to look at the photo for longer without them even realizing why. The added sense of wonder keeps the viewer entertained.

Background Focus

Sometimes, I like to use a frame within a frame to focus the attention towards the background.
In the photo below, I’ve used two parts of a banister to act as a sort of tunnel, directing the attention towards the subject.
Frames do an excellent job of providing context to a photo while adding a soft border by providing an out-of-focus blur around the edge of the primary subject.

Color

This is at the end of the list because it’s probably one the easiest techniques to implement, especially if the colours you’re using in the background contrast with those in the foreground, as mine do below.
Contrast is the most important point to make here; if your background and foreground are too similar, they merge into one, ceasing to be two effective and different points of interest. I love using color in my photography when possible as it really helps to make the photos stand out from the rest of an album.
 

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Readers 

Thank you for over 1,090,000 blog visits this month.  As you know, for the past 2 months we've been giving away $100 to one randomly chosen, lucky blog follower in the hope of increasing the number of visitors who regularly follow our posts.  We know that our posts are being read and the blog is being viewed, and we thank you for visiting us.  However, we are discontinuing the monthly one hundred dollar give away March 31, 2022 due to the small increase in the number of "Followers" we've received.  This Thursday, 3-31-2022 will be the last day we give a lucky blog follower $100.  We are still posting free articles and giving away free photography ebooks.  We will probably resume the $100 give away later in the year (October).  We are giving away $100 two days from now, but that will be the end of this campaign until autumn of this year.  Thanks again for visiting us and please enjoy the free ebooks and articles.  If you want to know how this last $100 give away works please visit here:

https://mrdarrylt.blogspot.com/2021/12/free-100-id-like-to-give-you-one-of.html

                                                                 Update 

Rhonda Jones is our lucky blog follower for the month of March.  Enjoy spending that "Benjamin" Rhonda!

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