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Image by Solley Photography

When you’re setting up to start shooting, one of the very first questions you should ask yourself is: what mood am I trying to set with this shot? Two of the main tools at your disposal are lighting and background. In this article we’ll focus on the background.

Your background choices have a huge impact on the overall mood and feel of the image you’re producing. Make the wrong choice and it can lend to a bit of “disconnect” in the final image. Do it right, and you’ll have a photo that will be cherished for a lifetime.

The Upbeat Portrait

This upcoming Friday my boy will turn one, and what an amazing year it’s been. With the first birthday party looming this weekend, my wife and I decided to try to capture one great image that we could display in a frame at the party.

Image by Solley Photography

For this portrait of my son, we wanted something very upbeat. A first birthday is a very happy time (I won’t tell you how mom feels…her baby is growing up!). There’s the party, the fact that the baby is starting to take on a personality of his own, and the parents are really hitting their stride with that first difficult year behind them.

For this shot, the choice was simple; I would make a high key image using a white seamless paper background (read more on paper backgrounds). High key images are usually very upbeat by their nature. When we see bright things, we feel more upbeat. Humans are just wired that way. I’ll cover the lighting of high key images in Portrait Lighting For Beginners.

Image by Jeff
Holmes Photography

In my opinion, the image really works for what we wanted. With the colorful “First Birthday” hat and my boy’s smiling face, the image just screams, “Bring on the cake!” Here’s another high key image from Jeff Holmes Photography. I really like high key shots for maternity shoots.

The Dramatic Portrait

Image by Metropolocity

On the opposite end of the spectrum we have the dramatic, “moody” portraits. These can be loaded with intensity and emotion, or even take on a sinister feel. This image from Metropolocity hits it dead on. Do you think this image would have the same feel had it been made with a white background?

Here’s another low key image from Tabularasae. One of the wonderful benefits of using dark backgrounds is that when used with the right accent lighting, the subject can really pop.

Image by Tabularasae

This is a terrific example of that. The silky, smooth, shimmering skin of the subject just jumps off the photograph. This wouldn’t be the case if it had been shot on a light background.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with everything in between. For kids, those super fluorescent backgrounds can be ideal for conveying the carefree life of a child.

So the next time you’re setting up to take a shot, take a second to consider the background and surroundings. These same ideas apply if you’re shooting in the studio or outside. That white wall in some alley is going to have a very different impact compared to the dark brick wall across the street.

All the images in this article were pulled from the Sublime Light reader photo pool on Flickr. We are getting a fantastic group together and are seeing some amazing photographs added to the pool. If you haven’t joined the group yet, why not?