There are plenty of online tutorials on how to change backgrounds in photos using software to select and then drop in another image as a background. I am not a big fan of this software approach and this technique is completely different and a lot quicker.

When photographing birds at Giants Castle we came across this Cape Robin-Chat perched on a branch. The background was created by the out of focus hills across the valley. The hills have a number of sandstone outcrops and by moving position slightly it was possible to create a smooth green background or a more varied colour by incorporating a rocky outcrop. The difference between these to images is one small step downhill, hence the title about changing a background in one step. Being very aware of backgrounds is crucial to creating good images and with the telephoto lenses used for bird photography it is often only a tiny movement required to achieve a very different background. Usually the aim is to see and eliminate distractions but in this case it resulted in two images, each with a quite different feeling to them, but both usable in different ways.