If there is one area in photography that photographers can fully control, it is their backgrounds. Any studio photographer will tell you that it’s important to have a collection of backgrounds. You may not be a studio photographer, but that doesn’t mean you can’t maintain the same level of control in your outdoor pictures. One large piece of black fabric suspended behind your subject and, presto—a clean background! But don’t limit yourself to black backgrounds; at any fabric store you can find a wide assortment of large and colorful patterns. Once you put them to work, your fellow photographer friends will be quick to say, “Wow!” upon seeing them in action.

I found myself in Kuwait at a small factory that was remarkably monochromatic in its offerings. Normally I have no trouble finding a wall or area around a factory that offers some degree of color, but that was not the case here. Thank goodness I had one of my colorful and large pieces of fabric with me. As my assistant held the fabric about 20 feet behind one of the workers, I fired off a few frames. The background here may be a bit too bright and cheerful, perhaps, but it’s a far cry better than the choppy tones of light and dark that I was seeing behind the subject.

Both images: Nikon D300S with 70–300mm lens, f/8 for 1/160 sec., ISO 200