Inukshuk, Mt Whistler, British Columbia

This is an inukshuk atop Mount Whistler in Bristish columbia.  Although you might not know what an inukshuk is, you might recognize it as it was part of the logo for the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver British Columbia.

This is what I refer to as a “just missed it” image.  At first glance it is somewhat interesting.  Because the bottom rocks blend into the hills in the background, it is hard to grasp that the stones are the main subject in the image.  You really have to look at the image to recognize that this is a small inukshuk.  In comparison, look how the top two stones stick out from the snow capped mountain in the background.  This would have been a much nicer image if I had gotten lower so that the entire inukshuk was silhouetted by the snow capped mountains and the gray sky.

The lesson here is that you should always pay attention to your background when photographing outdoors.  Nothing ruins an image more than having a car sticking out the side of your subject, or a person wearing a yellow shirt walking in the background.  Both of these are bound to distract the viewers eyes from the true subject of your image.  So before you trip the shutter release, look around your subject for distracting shapes or colors.  If need be, wait a few minutes or change position to get rid of those distracting background elements.