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FRAMING

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Framing—what is included in a final image…also what is cropped out to convey meaning and intent (what is NOT included)—this brings everything all together into a work of art.

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In photography, every image we capture is a frame. When we frame a scene, we need to make a decision of what to include and what not to include We are selective in terms of what gets include and what doesn’t get included

 

Frame your subject in ways to make your frame be like a crosshair — pointing straight to your subject. You can use it like a frame within the frame

 

Frame your subject is ways to make your subject over-emphasized as the most noticeable thing in the image: most in-focus, most colorful, brightest, largest

 

Frame your subject simply using other objects in your photograph to frame the main subject. This is probably one of the easier composition techniques in photography. Framing brings more depth to the picture and a better focus on what the main subject is Not telling the full story invites the viewer to make up their own little story of their own.

 

You can also change your frame considerably by flipping the camera orientation from landscape to portrait…(just turn your camera “tall-ways” for portrait, keep it regular “long-ways” for landscape)

 

There's an old adage in photography that says if you want to improve your photographs 100 percent, move closer. It's true. The one sure way to keep from including too much extraneous information in a photograph is to fill the frame with your subject and nothing but your subject. Filling the frame from edge to edge leaves little doubt about what your intended target was. There are two ways to get closer: Use a telephoto lens or put some more wear on your walking shoes.

 

The simple act of making your subject bigger in the frame involves the viewer at a much more intense level. A chin-to-forehead portrait of an interesting face, for example, immediately puts the viewer eye-to-eye with your subject. A very tight shot of a bear—even if you made it with a long lens at the zoo—creates breathless drama.

Framing…so remember back in the balance section…Simplification is the technique of reducing a composition to only the most essential elements that support the visual statement. This technique is particularly difficult for photographers. Studio settings are controlled, but in the case of street photography, improvisation and off-the-cuff shooting situations, its often impossible to control things “in the frame” that don’t support the composition. Landscape, architectural, and interiors present challenges of unnecessary elements. 

 

Simplification presents a challenge to lessen the impact of extraneous subjects. This can involve reframing, changing the view point, getting in closer or moving back (to diminish proportion), focus and other techniques to bring out the necessary elements to the picture. A sense of balance is now there that wasn’t as prominent in the original picture.

 

It should be noted that simplification implies minimalism, but it’s not limited to that visual style only. It just means your pairing down to only essential elements, limiting some of the distractions in your image

 

For example, lets say you’re shooting a skyline at night and there is a lamp post in the frame. This will probably detract from your visual picture so you’ll want to find a way to either make it part of the composition (probably unlikely) or get it out. This could require changing the view, moving to a new location or any number of solutions.

 

Remember, that post processing—editing with image software like Google Nik,  Adobe Lightroom CC and Adobe Photoshop CC, is a big part of the framing process:

  • you can crop out parts of the frame you do not want include..be cautious, the more you crop down an image the less resolution the image will have because you are decreasing your viewable /printable area of the image

  • You can edit out things you do not want in your image with tools like the clones stamp and spot healing brush

 

Try to get the frame as exact “in camera” as to how you want it to look…try to use cropping and the clone stamp and spot healing brush to remove distractive things as last resorts when you edit

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