As a refresher, the first part of this three part series dealt with sunlight and using time-of-day to best advantage; the second installment focused on the subject-matter-to-image area ratio. Today, we’re finishing with another simple guideline that is often overlooked: When shooting objects (like hand-held products, for instance) be conscious of the background–and decide whether or not to include it. Photographers will frequently use what they call a “seamless” background, often made from paper (A roll of butcher paper works well for this). The general idea is to cover your table surface with the paper and then with a gentle curve, bring the material up behind the object: The larger the curve, the less noticeable the background will be in the final photo. This is a simple and cheap way to isolate objects being photographed.
