To make this tutorial work, make sure you have the body parts tutorial well implanted in your brain! If you aren't sure that you can now keep all of the body parts in the frame, practice, then come back for this one.
So now that we don't mutilate the subject, we need to place it in a nice clean background. Ideally what we want is a background that does not distract the eye from the subject. Nothing cluttered, no sticks disecting body parts (especially the head), no bright spots. Basically the smoother the better.
Be sure to look at the background and you may find that by moving left or right by even a step can give you much better results. Also, don't forget that moving up or down may help as well. I usually keep a small step stool in the car. No ladder? You could use a log, or curb or your photo buddy...
Environmental shots (my euphemism for messy background) can be desirable. They are much more difficult to get correct and we will talk about that on another day.
For now your mission is to look through the viewfinder, get all of the critter. Then look at the background to make sure it does not hurt the shot. Got it? Click it!
