I have been studying the effect of background in a photograph or painting. Found some interesting stuff as I studied. I found  background can have at least two meanings:

A.  The space around an object is its background.

B.    How you were brought up –  your growing up environment is your background.

In the A. meaning, I played around with the background of a Sea Gull I photographed.  I think the quality of a photo is in the eyes of the artist ((photographer) so there is no right way to do it – only a different way to do it:

As my camera saw it.

Let’s darken the background.

Let’s brighten the background.

Let’s us confuse the background.

Oh my – enough of that.

What about the B. meaning? Just for fun –  here are some words I found in a new Pew Research Center survey:

“The lives of children from rich and poor American families look more different than they have in decades. 

Well-off families are ruled by calendars, with children enrolled in ballet, soccer and after-school programs. 

In poor families, children tend to spend their time at home or with extended family. Their parents worry about them getting shot, beaten up, or in trouble with the law.

Higher-income parents see their children as projects in need of careful cultivation.

Working-class parents,  believe their children will naturally thrive, and give them far greater independence and time for free play. 

Working-class children are taught to be compliant to adults.  While well-off families teach their children to challenge the norm and seek to improve it.

There are benefits to both approaches. Working-class children are happier, more independent, whine less and are closer with family members.  Higher-income children are more likely to declare boredom and expect their parents to solve their problems” . …….. and on and on the research goes.  If you are interested in the subject, look it up on the internet.

Here are 2 backgrounds I photographed this morning:

A. In the space around the road and trees is their background..

B. Finally, here we see two fowl with entirely different backgrounds – For all I know one may be a Republican and one a Democrat? They have elected to enjoy the sun on my dock – together. Maybe we humans can learn from this image!

Oh my – Let’s all swing together in the sun shine today!