Two-Jack Lake, Banff and framing.

There are a number of useful composition techniques that I regularly use in my landscape photographs.  One of my favourites is framing.  Framing involves using peripheral objects to guide your eye into the image.  I find that natural items like trees, branches, rocks and the like placed around the outside of a subject improve a photograph.  Here are some suggestions to help you when framing.

• Be sure to have a strong subject in the central area of the photo.  In the case above there are two copses of trees from the peninsula and the mountain in the background.
• The subject should be interesting and large enough to keep your attention; framing doesn't work if there is nothing to look at.
• Frame lightly or crop heavily if the frame is too thick when working in post.  A heavy frame actually detracts from an image more than it helps.  Light, wispy bits of vegetation are often enough to draw your eye into the image.
• You don't need to frame every bit of the edge in a shot.  The open sky helps to convey an openness of the scene, prevents elements from being crowded together, and prevents the frame from being too cluttered.
• I often use elements of the framing material to point toward the photograph's subject.  This is another way to draw your eye into the photo.  In this case, the two small trees bottom center direct your gaze towards the peninsula and mountain.  The trees on the peninsula themselves point towards the mountain.
• You will have to play with the combination of zoom length (mm value of the lens) and position in 3-dimensional space to obtain the best results.  I find that wider angle lenses produce heavier framing and smaller subjects.  Longer focal lengths enlarge the center of the image and usually lightens the frame.  You will have to back up or move forward to achieve the right balance.  Remember the other two dimensions; left and right and then up and down.

If you want to prove that framing works, do yourself a favour.  Take two photos of each scene you come across that you want to capture.  The first has no framing and the second has.  You may have to back up a bit to facilitate the process.  

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com