Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

I would make a whole day of it and have all the places lined up to shoot at the right times. A sun coming up to a sun going down and everything in between.:)
Erv

Bret Loc: Dayton Ohio

Maybe a Botanical garden...the Zoo if you have one near.

insman1132 Loc: Southwest Florida

How about a "Summer of the Engagement" series, not just limiting your picture taking to April?

Pamfun

Really beautiful, I love leafless trees.

Pamfun

This is a great picture! Says so much without the frills or formality.

upgrammy Loc: UP Michigan

Getting married the 6th of June, and that's the only time they will be home. He is in the Navy. Just worried being from the U.P. that our snow won't be melted or it will be in between and the muddy stage. But I will have to use my imagination. Will keep down by the water. We do have a couple of bridges around too, some old buildings would be good. I will have to start looking now.

upgrammy Loc: UP Michigan

Thanks!

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

suggest you loose the copyright, logo.advert thingy. Family photos rarely get copied and sold off.

upgrammy Loc: UP Michigan

I had that photo on my facebook site for my photography. I wouldn't keep that on there for them, of course.

DrPhrogg Loc: NJ

If you still want green, look for vines, like ivy, that doesn't drop leaves. The foot bridge is good. If you don't want the branches, try for an interesting fork in the trunk of a tree. If you are near a college, there are usually great places there.

amehta Loc: Boston

Since this topic is about the background, would you be open to a suggestion in the context of this pic you posted?

upgrammy Loc: UP Michigan

Sure!

amehta Loc: Boston

My opinion, about the posted picture and the original question:

It's great when the background contributes to the image. But it's more important that the background does not detract from it, mainly by being distracting.

One way this happens is with bright things which get our attention. In the picture of your nephew and his fiance, the bright object on the right is tonally consistent with the couple, so it draws the eye (ok, maybe just my eye) away from the couple. If the object represents something about their relationship, this is a good thing, and we would want to be able to tell what it is. But if it does not have any connection, it shouldn't pull me away from them.

Another way something can be distracting is when objects in the background seem to "interact" with the subject when they shouldn't. A typical situation is having a pole sticking out of someone's head, like a telephone pole or fence post. The two things near your nephew's head do that slightly. Back to your original question, if you are taking pictures in front of trees with no leaves, you would want to be very careful about this. If there were leaves, a slightly blurred background would be much less distracting.

A third way would be if the background is too "busy". If there's a lot going on, we start to wonder about it, even if we aren't "supposed" to. That isn't really an issue here, but again to your original question, it could be if you take a picture in front of a forest with no leaves.

I think the picture you posted is very compelling, and the background issues only knocks it down a little, like from a "9" to an "8". I'm not the "fix it in post" person, but because the subject is so well depicted, this might be a case where I suggest that: darken the object on the right a little, and blend the two poles near your nephew's head a little, and the picture may become even stronger.

Of course, since this is just an opinion, I won't argue if someone else's is different. :-)