What’s wrong with this picture?

This is a panther chameleon photographed during my Frog and Reptile workshop held in Kansas City. To simulate a natural, out of focus foliage background, I use photographic prints of blurred vegetation set up behind the subjects. However, sometimes I use a print and then, when I see the results, realize there isn’t enough color variation and it’s too uniform with respect to tonality. A background forest, even if blurred quite a bit, would have a lot more going on than essentially a solid green color.

The picture on the next page is a lot more realistic and yet the chameleon still stands out nicely. The soft background directs all of our attention where it should without being distracting in any way, and it perfectly complements the reptile.

I have a folder in my photo library of out of focus foliage images for situations just like this one. Many subjects look great with blurred vegetation in the background -- birds, flowers, outdoor portraits, and butterflies are just a few of the subjects I’ve improved by adding a soft foliage background. Not only does it look natural, but so often the original environment behind subjects is less than ideal.

If you find this technique to be of value, you’ll want to photograph many different types of out of focus foliage backgrounds. Experiment with backgrounds slightly soft to completely abstracted. Shoot bushes, forests, canopies, wintry backgrounds with bare trees, snowy backgrounds, and floral backgrounds.

Some of your shots should include a bit of sky -- like mottled blue coming through a tree. I would also include shots in which the sun is part of the composition in varying degrees of blur. You never know when you’ll need a particular environment. §