{"id":28754,"date":"2015-09-29T05:38:36","date_gmt":"2015-09-29T11:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=28754"},"modified":"2025-08-05T12:25:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T17:25:11","slug":"what-is-in-the-background-of-an-image-can-enhance-or-distract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/29\/what-is-in-the-background-of-an-image-can-enhance-or-distract\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is In The Background Of An Image Can Enhance Or Distract"},"content":{"rendered":"

In bird photography what is in the background can enhance or distract the eye from the main subject.<\/p>\n

\"Ring-billedRing-billed Gull and friends – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 240mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

In these two images the subject is the same, they are both Ring-billed Gulls, both have other out of focus birds or reflections in the background and both are in flight but one to my eye is appealing and the other… not so much.<\/p>\n

In the image above the Ring-billed Gull flying over the Gulf of Mexico has other out of focus gulls in the background. To my eye they don’t distract from the main subject because they are so out of focus that they nearly blend into the sky but you can still tell they are birds, they add depth and they also break up what otherwise is a plain sky.<\/p>\n

\"Ring-billedRing-billed Gull landing at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/2000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

This Ring-billed Gull image was taken last month at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge as the gull came in for a landing shows the gull in a nice pose with great eye contact and lovely details.<\/p>\n

But the out of focus reflection of an American White Pelican’s bill at the upper right hand corner distracts my eye from the main subject because I spend time trying to figure out what is showing on the water over the the gulls left wing.<\/p>\n

I was disappointed even when I took this image because I knew the reflection was going to ruin it.<\/p>\n

In my opinion the out of focus birds in the background of the top image enhance it while the out of focus pelican bill reflection in the bottom image is distracting.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Ring-billed Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In bird photography what is in the background can enhance or distract the eye from the main subject. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,25,704,2000,410,26],"tags":[859,4052,4122,4077,3539,521,4123,4264,4468],"class_list":["post-28754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-ring-billed-gulls","category-utah","tag-backgrounds","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-landing","tag-larus-delawarensis","tag-ring-billed-gull"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-3945.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-7tM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15752,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/02\/ring-billed-gull-in-flight-over-the-gulf\/","url_meta":{"origin":28754,"position":0},"title":"Ring-billed Gull in flight over the Gulf","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Ring-billed Gulls are fairly common but as with any common bird I believe that they can be uncommonly beautiful.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull in flight over the calm Gulf, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ring-billed-gull-gulf-mexico-mia-mcpherson-1442.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ring-billed-gull-gulf-mexico-mia-mcpherson-1442.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ring-billed-gull-gulf-mexico-mia-mcpherson-1442.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ring-billed-gull-gulf-mexico-mia-mcpherson-1442.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34695,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/03\/ring-billed-gull-in-flight-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":28754,"position":1},"title":"Ring-billed Gull in Flight at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Ring-billed Gull in flight at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on New Year's Day on the west side of the auto tour loop.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flying Ring-billed Gull and snow covered mountains in the background. 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In A Dive","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a simple image today that I have always liked because of the action even though I don't have great eye contact with my subject, a Ring-billed Gull.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull in a dive, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-in-dive-3847.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-in-dive-3847.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-in-dive-3847.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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Next","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"On New Year's Day this year I had a Ring-billed Gull in flight in my viewfinder as it flew quickly over my local pond, I knew that from one frame to another the background would change and that the exposure might too","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull in flight in bright afternoon light, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-new-years-2018-mia-mcpherson-4803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-new-years-2018-mia-mcpherson-4803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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