Focus on the emotion in photos.
Photography for Begin Anew’s new Website
One way to put the focus on emotion in photos is to eliminate the background clutter. Sometimes a background or environment can help tell a story. Think of showing a carpenter with his tools in his workshop. Other times, it’s better to focus solely on the subject. Think of a sleek Apple product floating in a clean black background. Photographers can do this in many ways. We might use selective lighting to darken the background or move our subject further away from it. We might use shallow depth of field to blur the background and minimize distractions, or we might choose to eliminate the background all together and shoot on a seamless backdrop to create a studio look.
The goal is to direct emphasis to the subject’s eyes and show their facial expressions and body movements. For Begin Anew, we did all of these things, but the main images on each page were so impactful when the background was minimized. We created supporting lifestyle images as well but the layout that was the clear winner was the one with the simple backgrounds in the header images. It had such a clean look with no distractions. This allowed the headlines to read more easily and work well in a responsive mobile context. It also gave us the opportunity to use an extended color palette by changing the background colors in post. We chose colors that worked well with the violet and gold of their brand and also complemented skin tones and clothes like dark graduation robes or bright sweaters. Most importantly, it put the focus on the subjects faces and their emotions. We wanted the people to tell the story. You can feel the excitement of achievement and the enthusiasm for an opportunity to change a life. It is truly inspiring to interact with these students and volunteers and really makes me appreciate my own opportunities for education and growth in my life. While we were shooting, one of the students was actually getting his HiSet test results from the Program Manager. An emotional moment, to say the least.
Next time you have a project where you need to really focus on emotions, think about ways to minimize the background.
Although photography has been the majority of my work since starting DoubleBee Photo, I also do art direction and design work as Zanimal Creative. I was fortunate to be able to redesign Begin Anew's Website in early 2023. To learn more about the Website design process see the Zanimal Creative blog post.
