So I have gotten a number of questions about specifics of photography, and equipment and such (which makes me very happy) and so I would like to discuss a few of them with this tutorial on selecting a background. Backgrounds and settings are a personal taste thing, above all else. Every one’s concept of what makes something beautiful is as unique as artwork. In many ways, this is very good, as it makes every body’s photos different. It does make writing an overly specific tutorial a bit tricky, however.

In picking a setting, the first question you will have to ask is the infamous “indoor vs. outdoor” question. Inside you can control the weather, control the light, to be honest you can control nearly everything. This makes it ideal if you have the equipment to properly set up an indoor studio. Most people do not, because this equipment isn’t cheap, and flat-out isn’t available for point-and-shoot cameras.

Choosing to shoot indoors, then, can prove to be a trick. While your built-in flash may produce light, it also produces unsightly shadows and will commonly overexpose your image. What this means is that you lose detail in areas because they are pure-white. It is best to use multiple sources of light, with various intensities to produce a more natural feel. All of this makes the process very complicated, and rather tedious.

My suggestion for the standard camera user is to try to shoot outside. It allows you an endless series of locations, limitless variation in lighting and props, and is much cheaper as a result. Once you have decided to shoot outside, you’re left with the very difficult question of “where”. My answer to this is “everywhere”.

I will try to remember areas that I find interesting as I walk or bike around the city I live in. What makes an area interesting will change from person to person, and even the time of day or season will dramatically impact your choice as well. For instance, an alleyway at night might have a spotlight in it, making it very dramatic and rather cool looking. That same alleyway during the day, however, might not get much light at all, and be somewhat boring.

Choosing an area that works well with your subject is key: heavy wool sweaters on sunny warm beaches is weird. Try to think to yourself “would I be uncomfortable wearing this here?”

Weather matters: wind makes images more blurry, makes models sneeze, and puts dust in the air. All of these things can lead to rather unusual photos, and for the most part not what you’re looking for. Clouds take away your sunlight. They produce a softer shadow, so you will have fewer things left black and fewer things all the way white, which can be nice. A soft layer of high clouds does a very good job at diffusing your light, and often makes for a good, soft photograph where detail is visible. Too many clouds, though, and your photo won’t turn out well.

The available light is key: Keep in mind that an overly dark background will make your camera think its dark outside. Similarly, an overly bright background will make your image lose all of its detail in shadow and under exposure. To avoid issues of contrasting backdrops, try to shoot your subject close to the backdrop. If the same amount of sun is hitting the subject and the background, your image will produce better shadows and highlights, without losing the detail that is present.

Colors are also important: If you are taking a photo of something red, keep away from red backgrounds. You want your subject to really stand out, not to be lost in the scene. Natural tones like woods work well to bring out colors.

This might mean that you must travel around a bit to properly photograph a whole series. It doesn’t hurt (because digital film is freeeeee) to take photos of a number of colors in the same setting. When they show up on your computer screen, you will easily be able to see which ones work, and which ones don’t. Over time, you will learn that one particular area works really well with reds, and terribly with yellows, because another area is amazing for blues and purples, but really terrible for oranges.

Like with all things photography, the process of background choice is largely trial and error, especially at the beginning. After a while, you will learn that some types of wood work well for some colors, and some styles of brick work well for others. One particular alley has incredible light from about 10:15am to 11:00am, but then the garbage man comes. The more you do it, the more simple it becomes.

If you pay attention to areas that work well for specific colors, you can start to extrapolate why they might be so successful, and it will help you choose future locations more easily. Large public areas such as parks can often work wonders. They give you a whole host of options for backgrounds, and the lighting/shade produced by trees gives you a near-infinite series of choices. Just remember: the best way to learn is to try. You will know quickly enough if it worked, and if you pay close attention to why it worked, it will be easier to replicate in the future.