Find a tip:
Composition: How to Frame a Photo
Greetings fellow photographers! In this installment we are
going to examine photo composition and provide a few tips and tricks for
framing your summer vacation photos. Summer may be winding down, but many
people use the late summer season as a chance to leave their daily lives
behind and explore some of the many wonders our world has to offer. Whether
it’s a family road trip or a solo backpacking adventure, the summer vacation
has become a longstanding American tradition. There is no better way to
document your trip than by taking pictures. Here are a few
ideas to keep in mind when shooting your vacation masterpieces:
Let your camera focus, then adjust your framing. Many people are
not aware that they can lock in their auto focus before they actually take the
photograph. Most cameras will automatically focus on the center spot in a photo,
but the center may not necessarily be the most interesting area. Next time you
shoot a photo, center in on your subject, push the button only halfway down, and
hold it there. This will lock in the focus. Then, recompose your photo; move the
subject left, right, up, or down, and take the shot. For scenic photos, lock in
your focus with the horizon line centered, then shift it down to show more sky,
or up to show more foreground. The same concept applies when photographing people;
an off-center person or group is more interesting than a completely centered
subject. As we all know, a centered human being is not all it’s cracked up to be!
Give your subject some space! We’ve all heard horror stories of
people accidentally losing their digital photos. Imagine this: you book
the family on a whale watching excursion, and after several cloudy hours,
the sun breaks through and creates a perfect rainbow. You place your family
in the foreground, and at that moment, a humpback whale surfaces in the
background. You snap the photo, no one blinks, and you have a perfect shot
of your family on the ocean with a humpback whale and a rainbow in the
background. A few days later, you pull out your camera to show Uncle Joe
the incredible shot you took, and you accidentally press Erase All, deleting
your perfect whale shot, along with all the other photos from the trip. Now,
you may be thinking, “That won’t happen to me.” Famous last words! Why take
the risk?
Use natural framing to your advantage. Take a moment to
examine any elements you can use to create a natural frame. For example, a
low-hanging branch can help frame a scenic shot, a weathered door can add
spice to a portrait, and a patch of grass surrounded by a field of wildflowers
can help isolate your subject. Natural frames are everywhere – see what you
can find!
Draw attention to your subject using linear objects.
Our eyes naturally follow lines in a photo. For instance, a child
leaning up against a fence post can make for a beautifully subtle
photograph. By including some of the fence line in the foreground,
you set up a natural arrow straight toward the child. A long stretch
of railroad tracks can be the perfect pointer to a majestic mountain
range. Examine your surroundings and see if you can use any linear
objects in this way.
Look at the big picture. Before you shoot a photo,
take a look at the entire area through the viewfinder. Sometimes in
the excitement of capturing a fantastic photo, we forget to look at
everything happening in the background. A bright red stop sign can
ruin a beautiful portrait of Grandma by taking the attention away
from her. You may see something that was not obvious before, and
you’ll want to make adjustments. Take a knee, move around, or change
angles. Did you mean to include all that dead space above your subject?
If not, zoom in tighter and reshoot the photo. Or, perhaps you were
already zoomed in too tight; zoom out and reshoot to include the vast
surroundings and make a statement about how small we really are in
nature’s grand scheme.
The basic lesson here is to be aware of your surroundings when framing
your photos. Summer vacation shots often find their way to your desk at
work or hung in the family room at home. Impress people with your
composition skills. Play around with these ideas a bit and see what
works for you. After a little bit of practice you’ll find it will
start to come naturally. Remember that a great photograph captures not
only the subject, but the way the subject interacts with the setting.
Well, that does it for now. Next time we’ll wrap up our Summer Series
by talking about back to school photos that even the kids will enjoy!
See you then!