There is some truth to this, but I'm not sure it applies any more. Many years ago, I saw a small documentary featuring Walter Iooss, award winning sports photographer, who said something to the effect, "The background is what can make a good photo into a great photo." That single quote has also improvend my photography a lot. But I think in today's social media world, I see a lot of beginner's (rather than call them amateurs) being told that they need f/2.8 zooms, or whenever a portrait lenses is recommended, it must be 1.4 or so. I think they get the impression that photography is all about bokeh. While subject separation and nice bokeh are certainly important at times, what you end up with is lots of lousy shots where the depth of field is far too narrow and important parts of the photo are out of focus. Just my impression, anyway.Okay I know I’ve said way too much on this subject but I want to add one more thought on the subject of distracting backgrounds.
There is an old saying among photographers that I just made up: “Amateurs look at the subject. Pros look at the background.”
Learning to look at the background has done more to improve my photography than almost anything else.
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