Today we’re going to look at Framing, the fifth chapter in the excellent free tutorial The American School of Paris has created to teach us how to improve our photographic compositions. If you’re just joining us, be sure to take a moment to read our previous blog entries on this series, starting with the introduction here.
When we talk about framing, we’re not talking about those beautiful squares of polished metal or lacquered wood that you pick up at your local frame shop to put your award-winning photographs in before placing them on the wall; though the metaphor does apply. In this context, we’re talking about the framing you do within the photograph itself before you take the picture. By framing your center of interest using objects in the foreground, you can give your picture more depth and increase visual interest.
Unlike some of the other guidelines we’ve learned which are best practices and best applied to every photo you take, framing is an optional photographic technique. Whether you choose to frame, and what you use to frame, will likely vary from picture to picture.
For example, take a look at the picture above. The horses and their riders are the main focus of the scene in the foreground, while the overhanging trees form the frame along with the snow-covered object in the lower left corner, creating a sense of depth in the photo.
When using people for scale and foreground framing, the tutorial also advises to have them look into the picture area; which, you may recall, we also discussed in the rule of thirds.
After you’ve worked your way through the slides for this topic, please take a moment to go back and look at the photographs you selected after reading the introduction blog post. Are there any photographs in either stack that you feel make particularly good use of framing to add a sense of depth? What objects in the foreground did you use to create your framing?
Tomorrow, we’ll be looking at the final compositional element, avoiding mergers. Hope to see you then!
