want a better photograph? filter out the noise

Have you ever eagerly sat down with a batch of your photos, looked through them expectantly and then, with a sigh, wondered what happened to all those fantastic images you thought you took? The odds are good that one of your challenges was taking photos in which no single, clear subject was apparent.

When composing a photograph, be careful to include a clearly defined (read: obvious) subject and not much else. Easy to say, not as easy to do without thinking about your photo in advance.

As we look at a scene with the naked eye, we see what we want to see. Our brains automatically, unconsciously filter out everything else. The camera does no such filtering unless you instruct it to do so, either during or after the photo is taken. The trick, therefore, is to know how to use both your camera's settings and your photo editing software.

Focus on What's Important

One way to filter out the unimportant, distracting bits and emphasize your subject is to adjust the depth of field. This involves putting into focus only the objects in the scene which are all at the same distance from the camera. Everything else is blurred, filling the background with muted colors and vague shapes but nothing else that could detract attention from your subject. This will not work with most point-and-shoot cameras, since they typically don't come with the ability to adjust focal length. Using a camera with exchangeable lenses is your best bet for this method.

Dominate the Frame

Another way of filtering out everything that might take away from your subject is to get in very close. See what happens when the subject's size, shape and color completely dominate the image. Any objects scattered around the edges of the photo will hardly be noticed. Not a technique for the faint of heart, but certainly useful.

Fiddling with Color

Using photo editing software, you can modify the image in "post production" by manually reducing the color intensity and brightness of the background and/or increasing the color intensity and brightness of your subject. Imagine a complex city scene rendered entirely in black and white, with a woman walking down the sidewalk wearing a bright red hat. There will be no question as to the photo's subject.

These three techniques should get you well on your way to solving the "what happened to my photos?" dilemma. With today's inexpensive digital cameras (no more film to buy or process!), you can experiment to your heart's content with these ideas and come up with some truly stunning images.

Do your part to reduce noise pollution. Filter it out!