When I was a new photographer, taking photos outdoors in the bright Arizona sun was difficult.
We would spend hours traveling to a great location, then I’d take a photo and the background would be all blown out and unrecognizable.
It undercut the whole point of traveling to a great location in the first place since.
And when I would look at the best photos from the best photographers in the world I saw something they all had in common…
They all had a wonderful way of balancing the background and the subject.
I needed a solution.
I discovered studio lighting and it set me off on a journey that transformed my photography and my life.
Photography is about storytelling.
But the story doesn’t start and end with the person in the photo.
Every single thing in the frame is a part of the story.
And backgrounds are a character.
And for a long time I ignored backgrounds.
Or treated them as an afterthought.
When I finally learned how to showcase a background in my images
I unearthed a whole new depth and richness to the stories I was telling.
In frame: Nicklarovere.com
Lighting assistant: ljgarciastudios.com
