Framing the main subject in your photo is a powerful technique. Not only does framing draw the attention of the viewer to the main subject in your photo, but it may also add context and depth to it.
Moreover, by using the framing technique, you can also spark feelings like curiosity, add a welcoming touch but also convey fear and uncertainty .
In this post, I'll show demonstrate some framing techniques I've used for my travel photography. Of course, all these photos were shot on iPhone.
Though we often think of a frame as a rectangular shape, a frame in photography neither has to be square nor does it need to be in the center of the frame.
There's also no rule about how much of the image a frame can or should cover. It really depends on what you want kind of massage or feeling you want to convey.
In the photo below, the wall with the small door acts as a frame for the doors and rooms behind the wall. With this photo, I wanted to convey how big this abandoned manor near Tallinn is.
Framing technique used to convey size and distance
So, the a framing technique is to use doors and windows as frames.
Another example where the frame is off center is a snapshot I took at the old Wardour Castle in England, where some of the scenes for the movie Robin Hood were shot.
Can you spot the frame in this photo?
Off center frame
It's composed by the tree and the edges of the photo itself. Also a very legitimate technique.
Adding context to a photo through framing
I got this snapshot at a hotel in Vienna, Austria. For this photo, I wanted to add a bit of context about the place from which I shot this photo - a hotel room.
Framing technique used to add context to this photo
I took it at the SO/ Vienna Hotel that's conveniently located right near the city center. They also have a wonderful rooftop bar with a great view. Check the ratings and price of the SO/ Vienna Hotel at Booking.com
Framing using doors and windows
If you shoot through a door or a window, you can transport quite a number of different emotions. The kind of feeling that your photo conveys heavily depends on if you photograph an outside scene from inside the building, if you photograph "into" a building from the outside or, like in the sample photo above, photograph from one room into another.
The emotion of your photo will also depend on if the door or window is open, how much it's open and even if the door or window opens towards the viewer or into the scene.
Open window used as a frame
In the photo above, the window opens in to the scene which draws the eyes of the viewer into it.
In this photo, that I took during the hard hat tour at Ellis Island, the door also opens into the scene. As the door is only half open this kind of framing sparks curiosity like where are those stairs leading?
Framing technique used to spark curiosity
A photo, that took from the inside of a room at the Bellagio in Las Vegas leaves room for interpretation.
Dark foreground used as a frame
Everything in front of the frame is dark on purpose. So you may wonder what the lady watching the fountain show is thinking. So, placing silhouettes of a person or a thing in front of the frame can add to the entire image.
Framing using natural objects
If you're out in nature, you'll find lots of different opportunities to use frames; be it trees, rocks, rocks with trees, trees with rocks any anything else you'll find there.
Such natural frames are a great way to add a nice touch to an otherwise boring image.
Cityscapes
Two framing techniques I like to use when photographing in a city is to combine either nature with concrete or to use other surrounding structures, like other buildings, as frames.
This is a photo I took in Tirana, Albania.
Nature used as a frame for a construction site to hide machinery
This type of framing has something revealing like "Oh, look what I saw". It's also a good example that a frame does not always have to be a "full frame". The trees work quite well and covey the height of the building and to cover the crane and machinery in the lower right corner of the photo.
For this photo of the Empire State Building in New York I used the buildings to the left and right as a frame to convey distance and height of the building.
Framing technique used to convey size and distance
Conclusion
Framing is a powerful technique for composing a photo. By using frames, you'll draw the eye of the viewer towards the main subject. You can add context and depth this way but also spark certain feelings.
Check out the blog post abut how to use leading lines for your travel photography.
from iPhone Photography Blog https://ift.tt/33YVTdr