Composition is, of course, so important when creating a photograph. Being intentional about what to include (and exclude) from the frame can totally change the story and feeling of the photo. The key is taking a few extra seconds to either change your angle or push some distracting elements aside before snapping the photo. Clearing the clutter is a great way to draw your viewer into the story. However, sometimes the clutter is the story and that's ok too.
Landon loves cooking {always has} and on this day Aunt Katy came to visit and he immediately asked to make muffins with her. She obliged and they got down to work - and I documented the entire process. For most of the photos I didn't worry about clearing the clutter because cooking is messy and part of the story. However, for this photo, of Landon eating his creation, I wanted all the attention to be on him, the muffin and his milk. So I cropped in close and cleared items from the table and the sideboard in the background.
A note about my settings and setup (shot in manual mode).
I choose my 35mm lens since I was shooting in a tight space - around our dining room table in the kitchen.
I set the aperture at 3.5 so that the focus would be sharp but the background would be blurred out.
Because they were moving a bit I kept the shutter speed a bit faster. Though I probably could have slowed it down a bit so that I could have lowered the ISO.
The ISO was at 1600 since I was shooting indoors and it was a cloudy day. Notice that the windows are open to let in as much natural light as possible.
Looking at this photos now, I should have moved the plate out of the frame because this would have brought even more attention to Landon eating by creating more negative space with the white tablecloth.
If you would like to join me this year and complete your own Project 52, download my prompt guide and follow along.
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