The background element in CSS offers a wide range of possibilities including embedded background images, content over backgrounds, and backgrounds as art. As you play with your CSS experiments with backgrounds and background images, it’s important to understand how they work, where they work, and how to control their appearance. Let’s start with a few CSS experiments in placement.
For more information on how these were done and how to use these CSS design elements and style experiments, see CSS Experiments – How They Were Done and More and CSS Experiments Putting It All Together.
To see how these CSS experimental boxes and styles work, view the source code of the page. In your web browser menu, click VIEW > SOURCE or VIEW > PAGE SOURCE to view the source code. For the most part, the styles are included inline with each design.
- CSS Unleashed – Experiments with CSS Designs
- CSS Book Recommendations
- CSS Experiments Playing With CSS Blocks
- CSS Experiments with CSS Logo Designs
- CSS Experiments with Background Images and Backgrounds
- CSS Experiments with Lists, Menus, Tables of Content, and More
- CSS Experiments – Web Fonts and Embedded Fonts
- CSS Unleashed – Experiments with Quotations, Pull-quotes and Blockquotes
- CSS Unleashed – Experiments Showcasing Your Photography
- CSS Experiments – Variations on a Theme
- CSS Experiments – How They Were Done and More
- CSS Experiments Putting It All Together
We’ve looked at how our CSS experiments have dealt with the positioning of background images. Now, let’s look at the effects of a repeating graphic and some interesting CSS experiments that can be done.
In the first example CSS experiment with repeating backgrounds, we have a two tone graphic 
with a green and red block. We’ve set the graphic to repeat in all directions through our CSS styles. Because the graphic is repeated evenly across and down, the effect becomes stripes.
When working with repeating graphics within their own division, using the non-repeating space (spacebar or , the container for the background image takes on the characteristics of what the space would normally look like in a sentence, reflecting the font-size, leading and kerning. Instead of using
<div style="background:url(something.gif) repeat"> </div>
you would use comments in place of the “space” such as
<div style="background: url(something.gif) repeat"> <!--comment --></div>
This eliminates the leading and kerning restrictions and the container would then reflect only the sizes set by the height and width such as
<div style="height:50px; width:10px; background: url(something.gif) repeat"><!--comment --></div>.
Let’s see what we can do with these CSS experiments in repeating backgrounds.
In this example, I’ve taken the two tone color background graphic and set it to repeat, which it does, going down in rows.
In the next example using the same two tone graphic, I constrain the repeat to just the top of the container, creating a row of small boxes visually.
The example above had the background image on the left side and repeating along the Y axis, which took it down the side of the container looking like a border. 
In the next set of examples, I used two sets of two tone graphics, one red/green and one blue/yellow using the same technique, with each graphic set in their own DIV and set with repeating options.
Since we are experimenting with our CSS experiments, let’s set two division containers inside of this one, with one featuring the green-red graphic and the other the blue-yellow graphic repeating vertically. Let’s set the float to left on both of the two repeating background image graphics. Because these graphics aren’t on the screen or even “in” the container, they have no size specifications. We’d added a width of 40px and a height of 10px so the two graphics have some shape.
We’ve now given a height of 100px and width of 40px to the two different graphics. Now, each of these background images are sitting in the background of the graphic in their own containers.
By adding a margin between the two repeating backgrounds, we’ve created space and two columns. What if we give each “column” its own height?
We’ve now given the red-green graphic a height of 50% and the blue-yellow graphic a height of 80% of the container.
Let’s go back to them both being the same height, but now let’s move the CSS background images to float to the left and right of the text and add some width to the container to see how this looks. The text wraps through the middle of the background images and then stretches out below.
Suddenly we have some new effects going on as these three repeating CSS background images and their containers set to float left, creating a stair step pattern with the text content flowing down the increments.
We set the float to the right and the look changes as the text flows under each floated division containing a CSS background image. Remember, the height of the overall container must be set in order for the container with the background image to take shape within your CSS experiment container.
Ah, we’ve opened up the imagination with our CSS experiments. Now we can do a variety of things using the CSS background images as lines and bars of infinite width and height. This can lead to interesting graphic designs and even the formidable bar charts for measuring the many numbers found in research and business. You can find more information on layout out pure CSS charts at Web Page Design for Designers: Drawing with CSS (towards bottom of the page).
Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?
George Eliot
Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel’s immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad new sights, smells and sounds, but with the experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we have believed to be the right and only way.
Ralph Crawshaw
Creating bar charts is fairly easy following the examples we’ve set up, but there are a few little bugs that can break these designs. If the background image is set to go across and the width of the page is too narrow, the background image container will wrap down a line. In order for the float:left to work on the text in this example, we can’t use the white-space property to force the content onto one line. Hmmm, a challenge to work on later.
In this example, similar to above, we’ve placed the repeat to begin at the top with the repeat filling the container. We also added a border with light and dark edges to create an inset look.
Source: Travel Industry Association
4.1 Million
4.1 Million
4.0 Million
2.0 Million
1.4 Million
901,000
Placing the “bar graph” on its bottom was harder than thought. The trick is to set the top margin to be the height of the chart minus the height of the bar. If the chart is 100px high and the bar is 80 px high, then set the top margin to 10px in order for the chart to be pushed down with an even bottom margin. Each bar needs its own top margin. For matching content below, its a game of right margins to match the width of each bar column’s graphic with the text width.
Source: Travel Industry Association
4.1 Million
4.1 Million
4.0 Million
2.0 Million
1.4 Million
901,000
Using the above CSS experiment techniques, we can create other interesting effects with CSS background images. Ever wanted a background that had a fading effect? A large background image, even one with a gradient fade, can have a large file size. Optimizing and streamling your web page design code and design size is critical to a fast loading web page. Instead of using a large background image, you can use a small image and set it to repeat.
In the next two CSS experiments examples, we’ve used two narrow graphics exactly the same. One is horizontal and the other is veritcal. They have a measurement of 4px by 200px and each have a file size of about 1300 bytes, tiny images which allow you a wide range of fun background designs you can play with. These are just a couple examples of the possibilities with background images.
Peter Stevens, Patterns in Nature
Ovid
Well, I hope it does.
There are a lot of things you can do with links, including creating link menus with different types of “hovers” or rollover effects. We take you step-by-step through a variety of link techniques and CSS experiments to expand the possibilities by changing background and hover styles. Then we explore even more advanced techniques of using images and photographs in the background and changing their hover style as well by having it switch images on mouse rollovers.
The technique uses the photograph seen to the right of this text and these four “buttons” graphically created from the original photograph.
In our article series on 
Photographing this spider against the glowing back light of the rising sun, Brent was working in a vacant lot in the Fremont District of downtown Seattle. The city was everywhere around him and he needed to block it out, and do it quickly before the sun rose, heating up the land just enough to dry the condensation on the web and start the wind blowing. He choose his 
The spider cooperated by stayng still, but Brent still fought with the odd angle of the web and the fact that the spider was hanging upside down. The angle meant the depth of field was too narrow to keep the entire web in focus. He got in position wedged between the bushes, careful not to brush against or move the bush the spider had anchored against, and bracketed his aperture to increase his chances of getting the right result in the end. The depth of field is the sharp area in the front and center of the web, including the spider, but the far edge blurs into the background. With the final slide, we just flipped it over and the spider appears in a more comfortable position for us to look at. As the background is nondescript, the web “feels” like it continues with no definable edge, enhancing the drama of the photograph.
When photographing flowers or small subjects, it is best to isolate the subject using its environment to frame it. Understanding how your equipment works and knowing 
In the photograph of the daisy against a wall of fir tree branches, the neutral green background emphasises the bright white of the flower. In the photograph of the baby blue eyes to the left, the wash of light blue color from surounding flowers is very soft and out-of-focus with the shallow depth of field and doesn’t provide much of a contrast, but the softness of the blend of blue tones adds a romantic gentleness to the image rather than making a bold statement.
When working with strong geometric shapes and patterns, as with this fiddlehead fern, let the background recede and disappear so the design takes center stage. The delicate spiral was the main subject, and the soft green background 
is just light enough in tone from the green fern to highlight it within the photograph. We concentrate on the pattern and ignore everything else because the background attracts no attention.
In the image to the right we found a caterpillar in the “wilds” outside of a subdivision near our campground in Ft. Meyers, Florida. It was climbing the dried grass stalk about a meter off the ground and Brent knew he had a great photo opportunity. The problem was overcoming the busy subdivision in the background and the litter in the grasses.
A blend of colors, definable color blobs if you will, to create a dramatic canvas behind a simple subject is a common trait in Brent’s 
If you have a graphically busy or complex subject, the simpler the background the more impact the subject has. Subjects like daisies or dandelions which are seen commonly in groups or fields, tell a different story when they are isolated and separated with contrasting backgrounds as a solo act.
Light matters in all photography, but harsh light and shadows can ruin your background. The busy and high contrast of the lights and darks defeat your subject’s chances of even being seen.It’s like trying to read the chicken soup letters when all the letters are at the bottom of the soup. In the photograph to the right are some small delicate shooting stars, alpine wildflowers. With the clutter of the shadows and light, you can hardly see them. It’s a tangled mess. The eye doesn’t know where to rest.
There are several ways to counteract the shadows and change your background so the subject can stand out and accept its due acclaim. One method is to shade the subject and the background. This is practical for small, cooperative subjects, but more difficult when working with an elk or elephant. The shade tends towards blue, though, so add a warming filter to raise the color temperature to a more “natural” tone. Using a jacket, we shaded the shooting stars to block out all the highlights and shadows, and the blue tone of the shade accentuated their blue-purple color.
A diffusion cloth acts like a cloud in front of the sun, diffusing and softening the light. Unlike shade which casts a blue color, a diffusion cloth allows white light to pass through. The diffusion cloth really brought out the color in the shooting stars, softening the background and giving the flowers a chance to stand out and take a bow.
Light matters when it comes to understanding the impact of the color of light on your background to accentuate your subject. Sometimes it can be too intense but other times, it can be the punch you need to kick start your photograph. In the photograph to the left, snow geese are sleeping on the lake early in the morning at 
Working with patterns and textures, we like to have the backgrounds echo the patterns, either filling the frame or as soft, partially in-focus or out-of-focus echoes in the background. Fields of flowers are great opportunities to put this technique to work. The photograph to the right features a variety of wildflowers, some in focus and some out of focus. The lack of similarity in this echoing background isn’t meant to give you the sense of order. It is meant to represent the colorful clutter of wild flowers.
In the example photograph of tulips to the left, the repeating pattern of the flowers appearing smaller and smaller as they move off towards the distance gives the feeling of movement, of vast distance, of a field of flowers all repeating themselves endlessly. In reality, this is a small section of tulips in a sample display garden in Mt. Vernon, Washington, where there are millions of tulips usually flowing out over the fields in the Annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, one of the most popular tulip festivals in the world. Unfortunately, that particular year had been a season of bad timing and bad weather and few tulips made their regularly scheduled appearance in the fields. By 
Finding similar or objects to echo around or behind your main subject adds interest. We’re not looking at a single flower but a concert of flowers. The in-focus daffodils to the left are echoed all around with out-of-focus daffodils, crowding together to frame the one in focus. There is a blend and harmony found in the group of flowers.
Using highly graphic subjects, we can often look for echoing opportunities in other, less obvious ways. In the photograph to the right of rocks in the foreground of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, and the mountains and the glaciers in the background, can you notice the similarities? This was a carefully composed photograph, taking advantage of the echoing background and foreground technique. Using a wide angle lens, we moved in low to the rocks in the foreground, looking for echoes. Can you see them? Yes, the mountains and glaciers echo the rocks in the foreground. The triangles upon triangles is clearly evident if you pay attention. The reflection of the valley in the water creates another echo of the background. Echoes upon echoes make this an interesting photograph to look at over time, finding the patterns within patterns. The echoing effect between all the parts lead your eye into the photograph with time to wander and explore and continue deeper into the scene.
Rivers and roads are typical leading lines that invite a viewer to explore. But let’s look at the impact backgrounds have on the sense of scale and depth to a scenic image. The first image to the right features a gently flowing stream meandering through the grasses. The background is shortened to only include the grasses. Without the sky or another object to compare with, we have no sense of scale, no sense of sweeping drama. It’s a peaceful photograph.
By including the sky and letting the stream of water lead us into the photograph, heading towards the background of distant mountains, we now have a different story in this photograph. We have a sense of scale – we know mountains are BIG. The S-curve leads our eye in dramatically, eager to follow its twists and turns towards the mountains. Ah, we have a goal! We want to go there. We feel distance, scale, and a sense of excitement and adventure. This is a wild place that invites daring adventurers.
Leading lines of S-curves aren’t limited to roads and waterways, they can be found in the patterns of many things. In this field of wildflowers in the Texas Hill Country, the colors shift against each other creating the illusion of a slowly curving S-shape pulling your eye into the photograph, following the lines of colors into the distance. There is a sense of endless colorful flowers flowing across the plains.
The sky itself offers no real sense of scale. It is just a glimpse of blue in the background, but we are so used to seeing the sky as a great dome over our heads, vast distance is implied in our imagination. When shooting up into the trees with the sky overhead, the use of a wide angle lens stretches the photograph, intensifying the distance and drama. The background sky with its thin clouds seems far away. Without the clouds, we should have a picture of trees growing up. With the clouds against the blue sky, the viewer feels the energy of moving upwards, reaching up, brushing the sky – there is now action through imagination in the photograph.
People want a sense of where and when a subject is photographed and a background can provide that. With golden leaves in the background trees, we know an image was taken in fall. If there is snow on the ground, it must be winter. Wildflowers are associated with spring. The viewer gets a sense of where a photograph is taken by the presence of desert terrain or high snow-capped mountains hovering in the background. The habitat of the subject tells part of the story of the subject and care should be taken to include it when appropriate.
In the photograph to the left, we photographed this wolf at Northwest Trek, a wildlife rehabilitation facility in Washington State. Northwest Trek takes great care to keep their Pacific Northwestern native wildlife in enclosures and areas that match the animal’s natural surroundings, as much as possible. Taking advantage of that, we were able to photograph this wild and rarely seen creature fairly closeup. Unfortunately, we’ve had problems selling the photograph. In the foreground you can see a cut log. Since cut logs represent “the hand of man”, buyers think that this isn’t a “wild” photograph. It isn’t, but they don’t want a photograph with a cut log in the picture. With today’s digital “fixing”, we can change the log to look more natural, but our argument to buyers was that wolves are severely encroached upon by humans, so it is highly possible, and a dramatic part of the story, to have a cut log in the foreground representing the logging and intrusion of humans into a once wild world. We’re still working on that selling point, but either way, it is critical to learn about the natural habitat of the subject you are photographing and make sure that no elements which may tell a different story are included.
In contrast to the techniques of photographing most nature subjects, overcast days are not always best for photographing birds if you want an appropriate background. Psychologically, people think birds should be “in the sky” therefore there is a general acceptance of blue sky backgrounds. Blue sky backgrounds work best when the angle of light is low enough to highlight the front or side of the bird, and if the bird is in flight, to illuminate the underside of the wings. If there is a cloudy sky, and there is definition in the clouds, the clouds don’t have to be in focus in the background as long as they look to clearly be clouds.
Blue skies offer a non-distracting and simplified background in which to frame the bird. White skies are death to a photograph in general, but definitely torturous to bird photography. Birds tend to be small in the photograph and a bright white sky overwhelms them. When a bird is photographed against a cloudy sky, the underside and plumage details are dark and difficult to see and photograph. When clouds pass to reveal some blue sky, there is usually enough reflected light to highlight the plumage characteristics and the dark silhouette of the bird can burst into color.
The best season for photographing birds in flight is winter, when the snow on the ground and light clolored dead grasses on the ground bounces light up under the wings acting like a natural reflector, creating a soft light even in the middle of the day. Unfortunately, snowy days often feature white cloud-filled skies so consider using the trees and/or grasses as a background if the bird flies low enough.
When you can mix an interesting sky and a dramatic landscape, as shown behind these snow geese at 
We love working with patterns and one of the most dramatic patterns is found in the animals and plants which use camouflage techniques to blend in with their surroundings. Since the story of the camouflaging subject is its ability to blend in with its background, you have to include the background as part of the story. The challenge comes in defining the subject against its background when its job is to blend in.
Light plays a key role here. Soft even light eliminates the shadows which makes seeing the subject even harder. Working with small subjects like frogs and toads, you can often find a cooperative one that will allow you to use a 
subject as well as the background to either lighten or darken the background or even it out accordingly with the amount of light on your subject.
The cathedral in Toledo is a work of art inside and out. But from the outside, it is a burden to photograph. Crammed inside an architectually crowded old city, the streets approaching the cathedral do so at angles, twists and turns, rarely a clear view down a long street towards an interesting facade of the building. While the higher levels of the building receive plenty of light during the day, the lower levels are often cast in shadows. Though there are the occasional moments in the day when the reflected light is just enough to bounce off a neighboring building to fill in the shadows near the church, it only happens in sections and not within an interesting scenic area. So what do we do?
Brent and I decided to tackle the church in pieces and parts. Breaking it up into sections since we couldn’t get a decent overall perspective in the short time we had. The weather was perfect for photographing wildlife, but not much help for architecture. The early morning fog blended gray with the approaching rain clouds, giving the sky a blinding gray-white glow. We did have fairly even light, avoiding the harsh shadows from the bright sun, but the low-light level made shutter speeds very slow.
We stood across the small square early in the morning before the city and the cathedral awoke, taking advantage of the lack of passersby to capture a wide perspective of the entry. We also battled construction and other clutter, but managed to get a decent overall perspective. The detail of the scultures and door are lost, however, so we slowly moved in closer.
Since capturing the overall artistry of the door was impossible with the weather conditions we faced, what did that leave us? The specific details. When you can’t tell a story with the grand landscape, find the most important details that, as a whole, capture the essence of the whole. When Brent was done with the wide angle shots of the cathedral front, we both moved in and focused on the details.
use by the masses, possible reconstruction which closed this door off, or a closed and rarely used building. A door that is new and polished can show money and wealth in a congregation, or imply that they honestly care about their house of worship. Doors reveal the life behind it and within the walls it contains. What was it about this door that held our attention?
We worked on different angles to capture the power and yet simplicity of the door and finally got the image that showcased it with the door handle in the upper corner and the edges of the light-colored columns framing the dark metal door.
glass, and early the next morning, we found our opportunity to get an overall scenic of the cathedral. We drove up into the hills outside of the city to an overlook looking northeast across and down on the city. There, capping the city, rose the cathedral, no longer overshadowed by the crowd of buildings around it. In the lovely rose and pink of the sunrise, we got our cathedral. Life is good. You just have to work a little harder and try a variety of things before you can get what you want.
The Rule of Thirds is a modern simplification of the artistic rule developed by the ancient Greeks called the Golden Mean. The Greeks discovered that the most pleasing placement of a point of interest is about 38 percent of the way in from the edge – noticeably off-center. We approximate this by dividing our pictures into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, like a tic-tac-toe pattern. Then, by placing our subject at one of these power points, we increase the tension, and therefore the interest, in our pictures. The eye moves around the picture, resting upon the main subject, and then continues on, returning back to rest. It is usually the first concept taught in basic photographic composition and art school. For photographers in general, it is also a good place to start.
and I look at the same scene and say, “There, that area right there. That is the picture.” While he prays for a 14mm wide angle lens, we pull out our 300mm to capture the most important element we’ve found, eliminating all the other distracting elements. Certainly there are excellent wide angle scenic perspectives worth photographing, but study them carefully. You will find that the best wide-angle scenics include only a few subjects of interest within them.
Carefully study what is within the boundaries of your viewfinder. Consider it a box in which you have many toys, but where you can only play with one or two and not all of them at the same time. Count all the things that hold your attention. Does that number exceed 3? Can you recompose so the number comes closer to 3? What about bright lights in a dark background? Are those distracting? Blur the image by manually unfocusing the lens and watch for dark or light highlights to become distractions. Can any of those be eliminated? What about the litter in the foreground? How about the garbage can or the edge of the parking lot in your nature scenic? Can that be eliminated by repositioning yourself? Check the foreground and background. What holds your attention? Is it what you want people to look at?
Sometimes finding what is really the element that called out to you is part of the photographic challenge. This is why we recommend starting with the simple task of just finding something interesting to put into the rule of thirds point. Then eliminate the distracting elements 
in your composition. This gives you time to settle into the place and to absorb it before hurrying on to the next subject. As you settle in, contemplate the reasons behind your motivation and photograph each candidate as you consider it.
his subject was, but he felt like a kid in a candy factory. He first started, as usual, with an overall area shot, putting something interesting into a rule of thirds position and considering his subject matter. The frost-covered tangle of branches in a tree seemed to call to him. He put on a longer lens, unwilling yet to enter the ice-coated field, filling the viewfinder with the tree. Moving to an even longer zoom lens, he filled the frame with the textured patterns of lines between the busy branches, the dark 
shadowed trunk, and the curving lines of the laden grasses. Then he realized that the tree wasn’t as fascinating as he originally thought. Slowly he moved into the field, looking around at all the subject matter he was just beginning to notice. The curves in the grasses attracted his eye downward, so he photographed them. He noticed all the interesting leaves coated with long fingers of frost on the ground. As he changed lenses, 
he kneeled down on the ground, and looked up through the tall curved grasses to find patterns in the lines against the sky. After working both of those subjects, he then realized that what had drawn him in the first place was not just 
the patterns and textures of the frost but the frost itself, so he added more closeup equipment and photographed the frost which had built up into what is known as “hoar frost”, an unusual frost effect that occurs when an area is in the shade all day. Instead of melting and then reforming during the cold night, the frost continues to “grow” atop itself, branching out in lace-like lines from its captive subject.
Plan your trips to spend the most time in the area you want to photograph. Many of us plan our travels to see as much as possible. Instead, learn to plan to be in a place as much as possible to absorb the nuances. If you find a place that gets your creative juices flowing, go back over and over again. Visit during different seasons, in various weather, and at various times of the day to see it in all its incarnations. We’ve spent months in one particular area, photographing all the different birds passing through as well as working on just one particular group. We’ve spent years photographing the 
Olympic marmots, following the family tree as it branched and spread out over the hillsides. We’ve returned to favorite places like Jasper, Alberta, over and over again, each time coming home with different images based on the different weather conditions and seasons we found, giving us new perspectives on a favorite location. This familiarity doesn’t breed contempt, it breeds variety and diversity in your images. It cultivates your understanding of an area and its inhabitants, and that gives you a higher return on your creative endeavors.
that what goes up must come down. Diagonal lines are dramatic since they are already falling and give a sense of motion. Look for other patterns in shapes and outlines of subjects. And look for textures, subjects that add depth and dimension to your images.
Every subject has some special quality to it. Maybe that’s what motivated you to stop, but it could also be whatever is unique and distinct to that subject. A ponderosa pine is an interesting tree, but what is really distinctive about it is its deeply-textured bark. Lichen-covered rock is fascinating, but is it the rock or the lichen that is really attracting your attention? Photographing the Painted Hills in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon, most people are enchanted by the unusual colorations in the hillsides. We found ourselves interested in the lines and textures of the hillsides and not just the colorations, looking deeper at what makes the place special. Discovering an engaging spring wildflower bloom along the crevices of the unique hills enhanced the patterns. Again, the more time you spend in a place, the more special qualities you uncover. Photograph them all.
We’re in Parque Nacional del Picos de Europa, Europe’s largest national park in central northern Spain. The mountain scenery is spectacular, and we’re following the gorges along VERY winding and narrow roads. Very slow going, but worth it. Have to occasionally slow down for passing trucks, pulling in mirrors and all that. We were delayed today for 5 minutes while the goatherders tried to get about 15 of the animals off the road.
Dahni has discovered the wind. He stands on the armrest and reaches out the gap in the window. At 70 km and up, he tries to grab the wind. Fails. Uses his other paw, and repeats. Tries both hands. Can’t see there’s nothing there. Feels like something. This goes on for 5 or 10 minutes until he loses interest or loses his balance and crashes to the floor. Lorelle usually catches him first. He tries to sneak onto my shoulders from behind. I’ve gotten really good at putting the elbow in strategic places to keep him back.