Framing your subject in the photo
A popular and effective technique is to frame your subject in the photo inside something else. This helps to bound the subject in the photo and draw the viewers eyes to the subject of the photo. The frame can be something manmade or something natural. For example here is a lovely gal that is sitting inside an alcove in a park. Right away you know that the gal is the subject of the photo. Your eyes are drawn to her.
The framing can also do other things in the photo. They will affect how you feel about the subject of the photo. Interestingly how you feel about the photo might be different than the impression someone else feels. When I look at this photo I get a feeling that she is protected and secure. I think also that it makes her look a little more delicate to be inside such a firm and strong structure.
The framing can also do other things in the photo. They will affect how you feel about the subject of the photo. Interestingly how you feel about the photo might be different than the impression someone else feels. When I look at this photo I get a feeling that she is protected and secure. I think also that it makes her look a little more delicate to be inside such a firm and strong structure.
Here is an example of using natural materials for the frame. In this case my daughter and I stumbled across someone's little fortress that they made in the woods of a local nature center. I suppose one of these days we will need to find a good frontier outfit for her to wear and see if we can find the place again. Maybe an "American Girl" 1800's style dress so she can look like a frontier gal playing in the woods. This time it happened to be a simple walkabout where we got a photo.
I like this photo, and it will be a great one to have to show her kids when she grows up. But it would go from good to great with a little imagination and attention to detail. I would also take out some of the distracting branches in front of her too. Sounds like it is time for a shopping trip!
I like this photo, and it will be a great one to have to show her kids when she grows up. But it would go from good to great with a little imagination and attention to detail. I would also take out some of the distracting branches in front of her too. Sounds like it is time for a shopping trip!
This photo is actually the second time I have done this shot with one of my kids. I first did it a few years ago with one of my sons. It was a great shot. He is a bit bigger now and cannot fit inside the rings. So Shoshi climbed up inside for the shot. I love this framing because it is so playful. This time I also had a speedlight and light stand with me. So I was able to light her face gently with some additional light from camera left. Without the extra light her face would have been way to much in shadow. The repeating pattern of the frame just grabs the eyes and focuses them right on her face. It is almost like that set in the old Time Tunnel TV show (wow I just dated myself there).
Another way you can have framing is by adding vignetting to a photo. A vignette is the shadows around the edges or corners of a photo. Often vignette is a sign of a poor design in a lens of a camera. The lens does not extend the image to cover the entire bit of film or image sensor of the camera. So you get something that fades off to black. But you can also add vignette to a photo like I did here. I did it to help drown out distractions in the background of the photo. I had a fairly short depth of field, but not as out of focus as I would have liked. I also could not control the background so had a fair amount of distractions in the photo. But by adding the vignette I was able to really soften the distractions in the background and focus the attention on the dancer in the photo. I also felt it helped to draw out the brighter details in the clothing and accessories he was wearing.
So now you know some about framing start to look at things around you that might make a good frame for your subject. It could be a doorway. You might find a couple trees that are arching over a path. Heck, you could even find an empty frame from a photo or painting and have the person hold it and look through it. Getting literal with the idea of a frame can get interesting and if you get creative with it you might just come up with something quite awesome.
