Black and white backdrops

With less detail, you can close your aperture down

Whilst it is an advantage that a great many photographers perhaps overlook, there is a great amount of merit to be found in trying to frame your subject against all white or all black backdrops. This could be a snow-covered field, a milky white overcast sky or distant shadowed forests or cliffs. This is because, in the absence of any distracting detail to be brought into focus you will be free to shoot freely with your aperture closed down, and with a much greater depth of field.

In order to create a jet-black backdrop, careful positioning is required. Your subject will need to be in direct sunlight and ideally against a backdrop which is in shadow. By exposing for the sunlit parts of the animal or bird this will cause the backdrop, which would require a much longer exposure, to fall into dramatic underexposure, often becoming rendered as a rich, deep black.