Pouring Over the Image - Portrait Composition

It rankles me, just gets my ire up when I see a photo taken of a person against the wall and the wall is the focal point of the picture, instead of the person. This is a composition issue. The photographer should place some space between the person and the wall so it doesn't look like the subject is blending in with the wall. Also, the photographer should take the picture from a different angle.

Case 

This blogger/web designer, Kristine Neil, has great content on her website. So, I went to her about page and saw a lovely picture of a wall with a woman made to look very small in it. I was immediately annoyed. She should not be made to look diminutive given the commanding content on her site. 

So, I did a quick and dirty adjustment in Photoshop to demonstrate what I mean. Before we pour over the image, please note:  I do not own the copyright to this photo, and this is for demonstration purposes only. Secondly, this edit was done in a few minutes; I didn't spend extensive time cleaning up the selection and mask.

Pouring Over the Image

Before - Kristine Neil
After - Kristine Neil

Notice in the Before image how your eye is focused on the wall and then on Kristine. She looks so small in this image, like she is engulfed by the scene. In the After image, the background is the same size, but Kristine takes up the entire space. She dominates the shot. Perhaps I could've left a little more head room, but make no mistake when you look at the After image you are looking at Kristine and perhaps the background. She is commanding in this image. 

How Did I Fix It?

I created two layers with the same image.
  • I selected Kristine, quickly cleaned up the mask, and then applied the mask.
  • In the second layer I drew a rectangle around Kristine and Content Aware Filled
  • Then I enlarged Kristine placing her in the foreground.
If I shot this picture myself, I would've placed some distance between Kristine and the wall to add depth. I would've used a reflector to gently reflect a golden or silver light on Kristen to give her skin a nice soft glow. And I would've taken the shot from a different angle. I would've squatted down some and shot up at her to make her look as commanding as she is. And I would've experimented with some distance, whether I used zoom or physically walked closer or further away to see which perspective gave her the best shot.

Composition is everything.

Though my specialty is nature and landscape, I started out filming for television, so I know a thing or two about setting up a shot so your human subject looks her best. 

Hopefully, you got something from this to improve on your photography, even it is simply putting your phone on a self timer and taking a shot of yourself against or rather near a wall.

Let me know what you think in the comments below or tweet me 

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