Photography Tip #7: Framing

Framing your subject in a photo is a fun compositional technique that brings special emphasis to the person or object and can sometimes make a dramatic impact on your photo. It can be quite literal, where a foreground element is used to encircle the subject, like placing your subject in a window frame or having your subject's face show through a hole in a book.

Framing can also be subtle. Architectural elements as well as elements in nature work well when framing your subject in an photograph. Use foreground elements to frame your photo's subject. Remember to keep your subject as the most important element in the photo or else the element used for framing could rob the focus, making it difficult to determine what the subject is suppose to be. Consider the two photos below that I took on our trip to Oahu last year. 

The first photo is ho-hum. Not a whole lot of dimension in this picture. Just looks like a hotel. 

But when you add the tree for framing, the hotel (the subject of the photo) now has more importance and really pops out to the viewer.

What elements have you used to frame your subject when photographing? Challenge yourself the next time you pick up your camera to use elements in nature as well as in your home to frame people and objects in your pictures. It'll be a fun way to experiment with the composition of your photo, and you'll be able to see the depth that simply adding a framing element can create.