Competing interest
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Competing interest is when there are two or more elements in an image which demand similar levels of attention as a result of the way the image is composed. Generally speaking, competing interest is a flaw. Where two elements are equally prominent, one or other can be held back by:
- Putting it out of focus, either in-camera by using differential focus, or in postprocessing
- Darkening it (or lightening the primary interest)
- Removing lines or virtual lines that form an apex where the element is
- Reframing the image so that the competing interest is not on one of the natural rest points
- Cropping it from the image altogether
- Cloning or otherwise editing it out of the image in postprocessing
Where two elements of competing interest are similar in some way, there is a good opportunity to hold one back and make it secondary interest. Where there is no commonality between the two elements, it is generally better to omit it entirely, or to reframe so that it has no attention drawn to itself.
