Use your foot zoom or zoom in with your camera. Foot zoom will get you a better quality photo, especially if you are using a point n shoot or your phone. Fill the frame with as much as you can with that cherub little face. This essentially cuts out the background and will eliminate clutter in pictures, and lets the viewer know exactly what you want them to look at. Purposely eliminating the clutter is easy to do with a plain wall, like this blue wall from my bedroom. The kids took turns sitting on my bed (which is never made) and getting close to them and use the whole frame at the same time using the negative space to make it impossible to not know what is important.

2. Framing in the foreground.

This is one of my favorite techniques to eliminate clutter in pictures! I love to peek into rooms and push the door frame into the shot, creating a good amount of negative space in the frame, making your subject the most interesting thing in the picture. It’s not limited to door frames. Use the couch, banisters, backs of chairs, or anything that can be put between you and your subject that can be pushed into the side of the frames. Warning! This will not work if you have a flash on. It’s a good idea to leave that off for the most part.  Check out more on framing your subject here!

It’s a common adult perspective on a child. You can focus on the hands and the activity they are engaging in. This is great for snack time, arts and crafts, imaginary play. This has been the best perspective on how to capture that and allow you to eliminate clutter in pictures. I usually end up standing on a chair (or sometimes, gasp, the table) to get this shot. You can also combine this technique with tip #1 for a beautiful close up of their face! Hook, line, and sinker every time.

4. Blur or darken your background.

This one takes a bit more photographic knowledge to eliminate clutter in your pictures than the previous ones. Aperture, or how dilated you make the camera opening, is what makes that beautiful soft blurry backgrounds also known a bokeh. If you don’t shoot in manual mode yet, no worries (if you’re on the fence though–  here are 6 reasons you should!). Try shooting in the semi-automatic A or Av mode on your fancy camera and use the lowest number setting your lens will let you use. It’s counterintuitive but the lower the number, the wider your aperture, the more light you will get, and the blurrier your background will be. Your other choice is to darken your background by making sure your subject is in more light than the space behind him. This is done by using side light like from a window or open door, then turn off all the lights or pull the curtains in the space behind him or her. This works best in large rooms and for me that’s at my kitchen table. I use the light from the window and let the living room behind us go dark.

Sometimes there is no way around it. It is just part of this thing called motherhood. It’s messy on all levels. You know that meme about “Cleaning with a toddler in the house is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.” Yep. That pretty much sums it up.  Sometimes, you just can’t eliminate clutter in pictures.

Leyna butcher is a portrait photographer in California.  You can find more of her work here, and also on facebook and instagram.

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