Messy Backgrounds
Noisy Miner - but where is the background? (no manipulation of the background has taken place in post processing here)
Happy New Year!
When shooting wildlife, the background is (almost) as important as the subject to create a pleasing composition and make the subject stand out. A messy background can distract from the subject and is often a good reason to discard an image. There are many techniques for how to optimise this separation of subject and the background. I won’t go into that here as there are several good references on the internet on this subject – if you want a good place to start try Steve Perry’s excellent video on the matter: 5 Pro Secrets for Great Backgrounds.
However, what to do when a clean background is unavoidable. Wildlife has a tendency not to cooperate on this matter and the moment to get a shot of a subject can be fleeting. Often, animals reside in messy and complex surrounds – deep in thickets, up against the sky in a mix of greens and sharp light, or in a plethora of branches. The subject is interesting, the timing is right, but the situation doesn’t allow for a traditional clean smooth creamy background. For example, the shooting position is restricted, there are no good options by moving about and this is the only visit to this area. It becomes a matter of trying to take the shot or abandon the attempt. Often, I abandon it - particularly if the subject is well known to me and I know I have better images already or that future opportunities will come to have another shot. But, sometimes it is maybe my only opportunity to get an image of a certain subject and I am loath to miss out.
A Sulphur-crested Cockatoo against smooth and creamy out-of-focus areas - the kind of separation of subject and background we strive for
There is also the argument that those creamy out-of-focus backgrounds are a bit boring … it all becomes a little too ‘samey’. A more complex background can make the image more interesting – it can provide a better view of the animal’s natural habitat. It requires the viewer of the image to work out the scene rather than being readily presented with it: For example, a bird-on-a-stick against a smooth green background.
On my recent trip to Australia I ended up with a few shots of new and interesting wildlife but without that clear smooth background – unlike the image of the Cockatoo above. Rather than abandon these ‘messy background’ images I used a few techniques to try to ‘save’ them.
A few examples are provided below. Click on the image and it will launch into a lightbox – use arrow keys to compare the before and after versions to see how I manipulated these images to optimise the subject and its relationship with the background. Judge if you think I succeeded.
Firstly – if you have no other option, embrace the messy background. Try to find ways to leverage it to frame the subject. Cropping can help here. The Ornate Sunbird above shot in Singapore on the short stop-over to Australia, is a case in point. This bird was darting around in the thick reeds and framing it with a smooth background was not possible. Here I’ve tried to use the structure of the plants to create a frame for the bird. The female Superb Fairywren, below, is another example. Here the background has not been manipulated more than adjusting highlights and shadows a bit. Whilst it is rather busy, it is also creating a bit of interest and captures the messy undergrowth where this bird operates.
Ditto, the above image of these two squabbling Flying Foxes. The background is detailed and close, not at all creamy or smooth. But the contrast between the green and the megabats helps here. To create a further sense of separation I darkened the background and added a subtle blurring.
Blurring in post needs to be handled carefully. Too much, or if the selection is too crude, then the image quickly becomes un-natural. The right balance is trickier to achieve for a subject in among bushes and branches or the like, and easier to achieve for flying subjects, such as the Flying Fox in the image above.
Another example where the background has been softened is the image of this New Holland Honeyeater, above. It was darting around this bush, but my ability to move was highly restricted (I wish I could have moved somewhat to the left!). I do like the colours in this photo and although it is quite ‘messy’ I didn’t want to discard it as the moment is a good one with the bird feeding off the flower. By softening the background somewhat and removing a branch close to its head, the image works for me – not a price winner by a long stretch – but a pleasing image that takes a bit more than a quick glance to figure out.
Another technique is to tone up or tone down the background relative to the subject. The Black Swans photographed in American River, Kangaroo Island, are a case in point. I liked the composition of the swans, but my viewing position was severely restricted, and the water made the image a bit dull. By making the background hi-key, the swans stand out more and the image is much more pleasing.
A similar approach was used for the image of a Rainbow Lorikeet photographed in Adelaide above. The background was lightened, and also – in this case – desaturated a bit to draw focus to the colourful bird.
The image of the Green Oriole above also benefited from desaturating the background combined with brightening up the subject. It allows for the context of the bird’s activity to be retained whilst making the eyes focus on the subject itself.
With the image of the Crimson Rosella, below, I took this to the extreme, creating a near-monochrome background. This, combined with darkening the background, works well as there were relatively few colours (leaves) and mostly the branches were black.
Decluttering is another approach that can work. Again, it needs to be done carefully, but can be highly effective in ‘cleaning-up’ an image to provide a more pleasing representation of the subject. The two images of Eastern Spinebills above and below are examples of this. I do like the one below, with minimal use of ‘decluttering’ by removing an out-of-focus branch. It has a less-than-smooth background, however the texture and the uniform direction of the out-of-focus branches and the soft colours and directional light combine to create a bit of interest beyond the subject itself. It also provides a bit of context of its bush-based habitat.
Choosing to use the panning technique can also assist in situations where the background is a bit too close or too ‘messy’. Indeed, panning against a creamy smooth background is only worth it to create wing motion blur. With a more complex background panning can work well to retain habitat context and at the same time making the background less intruding whilst reflecting the bird’s movement. An example is the image of the female Bowerbird below.
Female Bowerbird - panning at relatively slow shutter speed emphasis motion blur in the background
Not all attempts at improving subject and background separation are as successful in post processing. The trickiest situations are often when a bird is high up against a bright sky but surrounded by foliage. The strong contrast between dark leaves and bright sky makes the background too distracting. This is tricky to deal with in post processing as the contrast is just so big. The images below are examples of this problem. The options here are to either significantly darken or lighten the background to even out the contrast and defuse the overall background to make it less distracting. Whilst the post-processing allows the birds to stand out more, it can make the overall image seem ‘fake’. In these examples I prefer the darker background for the Galah, but the lighter background for the Cockatoo image. In any case, for me these images only work as ‘reference images’ to record birds I have not been able to shoot in better circumstances. Another reason I want to go back to Australia ;-)
