Avoid Visual Clutter in Your Photographs
Phone poles, power lines, and other urban eyesores create visual clutter in an image, spoiling the composition. But you don’t have to surrender to these unseemly saboteurs. Here are five tips to help you avoid, or at least mitigate their (unwanted) presence:
1. Change your vantage point.
Adjust your shooting position and/or angle so that distractions are out of frame. Crouching, standing on higher ground, or taking a few steps in another direction can make a significant difference to the final result.
In the photo below, the lamppost appears to be sprouting from the top of the statue’s head.
The problem is solved by moving to the left, then cropping the image.
2. Use a wide aperture to create a shallow depth of field.
Blurring the background will draw attention to your main subject. Set your camera’s aperture to its lowest number (from 1.5 to 5.6) in…
