Capturing or creating strong images relies primarily on the photographer’s ability to study the subject carefully, enthusiastically, imaginatively, and sympathetically. The equipment can only help to craft the photographer’s personal vision. Most people are too preoccupied to look at a subject for any great amount of time. Skilled observation by the photographer can release the extraordinary from the ordinary.

Framing techniques

The following techniques should be considered when the photographer wants to control the communication, impact, and design of any image:

1. Communication

Photographs provide us with factual information. With this information, we can make objective statements concerning the image. Objective statements are indisputable facts. Photographic images are an edited version of reality. With limited or conflicting information within the frame, we are often unsure of what the photograph is really about. In these cases, we may make subjective decisions about what the photograph is communicating to us personally. Subjective statements are what we think or feel about the image. Subjective opinion varies between individuals and may be greatly influenced by the caption that accompanies the image and/or our cultural or experiential background.

2. Content

An essential skill of framing is to view the subject in relation to its background. This relationship between subject and background is often referred to as ‘figure and ground’. Many photographers stand too far away from the subject. In a desire to include all the subjects their photographs become busy, unstructured, and cluttered with unwanted background detail. This extra detail can distract from the primary subject matter. If a photographer moves closer or chooses an alternative vantage point from which to take the image, the distracting background can be reduced or eliminated. With fewer visual elements to be arranged the photographer has more control over composition. If background detail does not relate to the subject the photographer should consider removing it from the frame. Unless the photograph is to act as a factual record the need to include everything is unnecessary.

3. Balance

In addition to content, a variety of visual elements such as line, color, and tone often influence a photographer’s framing of an image. The eye naturally or intuitively seeks to create asymmetry or a harmonious relationship between these elements within the frame. When this is achieved the image is said to have a sense of balance. The most dominant element of balance is visual weight created by the distribution of light and dark tones within the frame. To frame a large dark tone on one side of the image and not seek to place tones of equal visual weight on the other side will create an imbalance in the image.

An image that is not balanced may appear heavy on one side. Visual tension is created within an image that is not balanced. Balance, although calming to the eye, is not always necessary to create an effective image. Communication of harmony or tension is the deciding factor of whether the balance is desirable in the image.

4. The rule of thirds: Subject placement

Balance may be easily achieved by placing the subject in the middle of the frame. The resulting image does not encourage the viewer’s eye to move around the image. This leads to a static composition, making little demand on the viewer. The photographer should think carefully about where the main subject is placed within the image, only choosing the central location after much consideration. When the subject is framed the photographer should examine the image as if it was a flat surface. This action will help the photographer become aware of unnecessary distractions to the basic design. A common mistake made by photographers is to become preoccupied with the subject, forgetting to notice background detail. This can lead to the problem of previously unnoticed trees or lampposts apparently growing out of the top of people’s heads in the final image.

Rules of composition can help photographers create harmonious images. The most common of these rules are the ‘golden section’ and the ‘rule of thirds. The golden section is the name given to a traditional system of dividing the frame into unequal parts which date back to the time of Ancient Greece. The rule of thirds is the simplified modern equivalent. Visualize the viewfinder as having a grid that divides the frame into three equal segments, both vertically and horizontally. Photographers often use these lines and their intersection points as key positions to place significant elements within the picture. Placing elements closer to the edges of the frame can often be effective in creating dynamic tension where a more formal design is not needed.

5. The decisive moment

The famous photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson in 1954 described the visual climax to a scene that the photographer captures as being the ‘decisive moment’. The moment when the photographer chooses to release the shutter may be influenced by the visual climax to the action and the moment when the moving forms create the most pleasing design. In
the flux of movement a photographer can sometimes intuitively feel when the changing forms and patterns achieve balance, clarity, and order, and when the image becomes for an instant a picture.

To capture decisive moments the photographer needs to be focused on, or receptive to, what is happening rather than the camera equipment they are holding. Just like driving a car, it is possible to operate a camera without looking at the controls. The photographer must spend time with any piece of equipment so that they are able to operate it intuitively. When watching an event unfold the photographer can increase their chances of capturing the decisive moment by presetting the focus and exposure.

6. Vantage point

A carefully chosen viewpoint or ‘vantage point’ can often reveal the subject as familiar and yet strange. In designing an effective photograph that will encourage the viewer to look more closely, and for longer, it is important to study your subject matter from all angles. The ‘usual’ or ordinary is often disregarded as having been ‘seen before’ so it is sometimes important to look for a fresh angle on a subject that will tell the viewer something new.

7. Line

The use of lines is a major design tool that the photographer can use to structure the image. The line becomes apparent when the contrast between light and dark, color, texture or shape serves to define an edge. The eye will instinctively follow a line. Line in a photograph can be described by its length and angle in relation to the frame (itself constructed from lines).

• Horizontal and vertical lines: Horizontal lines are easily read as we scan images from left to right comfortably. The horizon line is often the most dominant line within the photographic image. Horizontal lines within the image give the viewer a feeling of calm, stability, and weight. The photographer must usually be careful to align a strong horizontal line with the edge of the frame. A sloping horizon line is usually immediately detectable by the viewer and the feeling of stability is lost. Vertical lines can express strength and power. This attribute is again dependent on careful alignment with the edge of the frame. This strength is lost when the camera is tilted to accommodate information above or below eye level. The action of perspective causes parallel
  vertical lines to lean inwards as they recede into the distance.
• Broken lines: The line can be designed to flow through an image. Once the eye is moving it will pick up a direction of travel and move between points of interest. The photograph to the right is a good example of how the eye can move through an image. Viewers of this image will be guided towards the distant hills on the right side of the image. The lines created by the dry stone wall and the converging lines created by the ridges of the hills all serve to guide the viewer in this direction. A photographer can strategically frame an image and position the lines within the frame to aid this process (note the dry stone wall entering the image from the bottom left-hand corner). The use of simple and uncluttered backgrounds (without distracting detail) can also help to isolate focal points that use lines as an important part of the design.
• Diagonal lines: Whether real or suggested, these lines are more dynamic than horizontal or vertical lines. Whereas horizontal and vertical lines are stable, diagonal lines are seen as unstable (as if they are falling over), thus setting up a dynamic tension or sense of movement within the picture. Curves Curved line is very useful in drawing the viewer’s eye through the image in an orderly way. The viewer often starts viewing the image at the top left-hand corner and many curves exploit this. Curves can be visually dynamic when the arc of the curve comes close to the edge of the frame or directs the eye out of the image.

8. Depth

When we view a flat two-dimensional print which is a representation of a three-dimensional scene, we can often recreate this sense of depth in our mind’s eye. Using any perspective present in the image and the scale of known objects we view the image as if it exists in layers at differing distances. Successful compositions often make use of this sense of depth by strategically placing points of interest in the foreground, the middle distance, and the distance. Our eye can be led through such a composition as if we were walking through the photograph observing the points of interest on the way.

In the image above our eyes are first drawn to the figure occupying the foreground by use of focus. Our attention moves along a sweeping arc through the bench to the people on the far left side of the frame and finally to the distant figures and tower. A greater sense of depth can be achieved by making optimum use of depth of field, careful framing, use of line, tone, and color. In this way, the viewer’s attention can be guided through an image rather than just being drawn immediately to the middle of the frame, the point of focus, and the principal subject matter.

9. Frame in Frame