Landscape Photography Photo Composition Ideas - Framing

Aug 1
08:14

2012

Dan Eitreim

Dan Eitreim

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Compositional techniques are among the easiest way to improve your photography. Here is a big one as far as photo composition ideas are concerned…

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For today's photo tip,Landscape Photography Photo Composition Ideas - Framing Articles we'll move back into landscape photography composition.  Framing is one of the major photo composition ideas and is a strategy that you should be using.

The last few days we've been getting pretty heavily into scientific and technical issues so today I wanted to step back and talk about one of the "softer" techniques.

While composition strategies don't call for mathematical calculations, they are every bit as important in creating a pleasing, award generating, contest winning photo.In this, the first in our newest series of landscape photography photo composition ideas, let's get into framing.

No, I'm not talking about the frame you buy and put your finished photo into - I'm talking about framing as a compositional technique in a landscape photo (or any other) to help direct the viewer's eye.

The idea is to have some sort of foreground visual frame around the subject you want to draw the viewer's attention toward. (The "star" of your photo.)

For example: One common framing device is to have your main subject positioned somewhat in the center of the photo and in the foreground you will have large tree trunks going up either side of the image and branches going across the top.

This effectively frames the subject and draws the eye to it!

Another popular framing idea is to shoot from inside a building (old beat up barns work well for this) and have your main subject framed in the door or window.

We've previously discussed how the eye is drawn to the lightest part of a portrait… well, the eye is drawn to the lightest part of landscape photography too! The dark interior walls surrounding (framing) the lighter outside main subject can't help but draw the eye.

Another example… Taking the concept of framing literally, I once took a picture of a group of dancers - there were 5 or 6 of them as I recall. The photo was a just for fun portrait - not a formal dance troupe thing. I literally had the young ladies holding onto and looking at the camera through a photo frame! (The kind you buy to put around your finished photos.) All of their heads were in the frame while their bodies were going off in all directions!

We not only had a lot of fun - but the girls (and their parents) loved it and all of them bought a copy.

While you are thinking out of the box - try thinking inside the frame!

Take today's landscape photography photo tip: photo composition ideas - framing and get out there this weekend! Find some ways to frame your subjects. Do some of the cliché frames but additionally try for some unique ones you haven't seen before! It's fun. As photo composition ideas go, framing is one of the big ones!