RESEARCH
I started my research by looking into what makes a good background. According to Canva, a background should be "clean enough that it isn’t distracting, and also clutter-free so that viewers focus intently on your subject". The article also mentions making use of lines and patterns. I knew that when taking background photos, I should be looking for interesting patterns or shapes that aren't too loud or chaotic, but instead simple and subtle.
PROCESS
I wanted a lot of variety in my backgrounds, so rather than spending one day taking photographs, I decided instead to constantly look for potential good backgrounds wherever I went. I took lots of photos in many locations from the lake district, to a fishing dock, to my bedroom.
I took the photographs on a Nikon D5300 with an 18-200mm lens, as well as on a Oneplus 9 Pro smartphone with an ultra-wide and telephoto lens.
EDITING
I edited the photographs using Adobe Lightroom. I didn't change the images too much, as I wanted to keep them more subtle so they could have more opportunities of being used as a background. If I had edited the images too much, the chances of the background being unsuitable would be more likely. For the most part, I just cropped the images to conform to the rule of thirds and to straighten elements of the images such as lines. I also adjusted the vibrance of some colours.
OUTCOME
