Don’t you hate it when you think you’ve taken the best shot ever only to find that there’s a random person in the background or that there’s a plant growing out of someone’s head? It happens, but there are some simple things you can do to get the “stuff” out of your photos.
The first is to be aware of the background while taking the photo. Can you wait a couple of seconds for the tourist in the background to move? Sometimes this is easier said than done, granted, but often a little patience goes a long way.
Other times, the background simply isn’t going to clear out on its own. This is when you have to be a little creative. Can you move to hide the distraction? Sometimes a few steps or another angle can “hide” the person or distraction in your photo AND provide you with unique shots you might even love more than the original angle.
Can you change the focus depth of the photo to get rid of distractions? Focus more tightly on the subject and blur the background as much as possible—especially if its not significant to the photo. Sometimes this approach works, but other times it’s not as effective if you want a “bigger picture” kind of photo. But it’s worth a try, right?
If you’re taking a photo of a person, try to capture just a facial expression instead of the whole body. Or, if the photo is of an object, pick your favorite detail or feature, and try capturing it. I was once trying to take photos at Trafalgar Square in London, and was finding it difficult to capture the fountain because there were so many people around. I finally decided to photograph a single water-spewing dolphin, and with this narrower subject, was able to get individual water droplets and the texture of the dolphin to jump out in the photo. It is one of my favorite photos, and when I remember Trafalgar Square, I don’t remember the whole fountain, I remember how the beauty of this one small piece contributed to the whole.
Finally, when you can’t get all the distractions out of the photo, there’s always Photoshop. The newest version of Photoshop Elements has a neat new feature that allows you to merge areas of similar photos to get rid of the person in the background. And it’s so sophisticated, that even new users can effectively use the tool.