Photography Tips and Tricks-Framing

From Oh Crap! to Oh Snap! -Finding the Natural Frame

Dozens of books into reading about digital photography I find it is easy to feel overwhelmed. So many things to remember with just the camera and the settings before you even begin to set up the shot. When keeping an eye out for great shots it is easy to look for the obvious backgrounds. Places indoors or out that have something interesting in the background. While this is a good start and can sometimes lead to a good photograph often you need to take it a touch farther. On thing that can make some of our photos go from Oh Crap! to Oh Snap! is to look for natural frames. Ways to frame the person/people/ or object of your photograph with something that is already there and you can incorporate into your picture. If you can keep the thought of "finding a natural frame" in the background of your mind as you are taking pictures you may end up with some great shots.

Here are examples of natural framing with a bride in Wedding Photography. But the concept of natural frames will work in any setting. If you will take some time to either look online or look at some of your favorite photos you may find that you may have on accident or on purpose framed your subject and that is why it has made its way into your favorites.

Perfectly Arched

• Taken at an outdoor Garden this shot is a perfect example of  using a natural frame in a shot. The arch that goes all the way around the bride leaves her perfectly framed on both sides and on top. Your eye travels around the frame and continues to land on her.

Frame from Behind

•  Similar to the portrait above. This is on the same bridge. She is framed again by the arch on the other side. By moving her a bit to the right the frame would have had a bit more of an impact but for an example this shot works well.

Framed By Nature

• This is one of my favorite examples of using a natural frame. The natural frame was made from getting behind tall grass growing on the side of the stream. By finding the right position through the grass and with the bride I was able to create a frame where one did not exist. Take the time to look around your location as you are shooting and find elements like this that may work as a frame. It doesn't have be a man made frame that you use to achieve the effect.

Create A Frame 

• A natural frame was created here using the tree as one side of the frame and the bridge and grass as the other. The low hanging branches from the tree complete the frame on the top of the photo. Take a step back and often these frames will pop out at you once you start to look for them.

 Half A Frame

• You do not need the frame to encircle your whole subject. The violet flowers in this portrait create a colorful frame that lets your eye focus on the bride. When looking at an album of these photographs this one stands out because of the framing along the bottom and sides.

Look UP!

•   It may surprise you where you are able to find natural frames. The top of this decorative garden piece created a perfect frame for the bride, her hair, and veil. It draws the eye because of the angle and the circular frame.

Shapes

• Frames don't always have to be square. The wood arch behind the bride provides a frame around her that works just as well as a traditional square.

 Keep an eye out for natural frames. Now that you are thinking about them you'll tend to see them stick out to you a bit more!