Poring Over the Picture
To emphasize my subject, Lance, I moved in close and used a limited depth of field to blur the foreground and background. By focusing on his eyes, I was able to ensure critical sharpness there, in addition to making them the anchor of the image.
The background is often as important to a photograph as the subject. A poor background, as well as bad lighting, can ruin an image. In this image, I used the frame within a frame created by the paint on the wall to “contain” my subject. The contrast between the color of his suit and the light blue background helps to draw the viewer’s eye to my subject and his expression.