Mergers Mergers consist of intersecting lines, overlapping tones, or other contact points where composi- tional elements meet. A scene can contain many such intersec- tions, so keen awareness of them helps you alleviate their negative effects. Identifying the "good" mergers, "neutral" mergers, and "bad" mergers is an impor- tant step in choosing the right viewpoint and perspective. Good mergers advance the theme of a photograph and keep the viewer's eye moving in the right direction. They exert positive influences on the arrangement skip over them easily and without notice. In the grand scheme of the overall composition, minor mergers are of little consequence. Bad mergers, on the other hand, are an affront to the energy and motion in a photograph. They cre- ate jarring collisions between two or more compositional elements, interrupting the desired eye move- ment or adversely changing the motion. Bad mergers snag the eye and trip up the viewer along the route to the main subject, and they may even redirect the view- er's eye onto an unintended path that destroys continuity within an image. They should be accounted areas that are a safe distance away from the main subject. Often, tweaking adjustments to your camera position or per- spective can alleviate mergers. One of the worst-case examples of a bad merger occurs when photographing people. Allow- ing a tree trunk, power pole, jet contrail, or other background object to appear to protrude from a person's head is a cardinal sin. And they normally can be easily eliminated with a shift in camera position or repositioning of your subject. Another merger of sorts, known as a "near merger," occurs