Framing

"The mechanical eye of the camera cuts up the field of vision in a way that the natural eye does not. Every time you snap a picture with a camera, you make a frame." (Lupton, 103)

Framing is one of the most striking and innovative compositional techniques in photography. It is often used to guide the viewer's eye to the subject and keep them focus on that subject. Aside from directing attention, this technique also adds an element of interest and additional layers to photographs.

There are tons of different ways to incorporate framing into photography. However, one of the most effective ways, also the type of framing that I most frequently use is natural framing. This kind of framing is accomplished by using the elements from the natural environment. 

Below are some photos that I took for my sister's wedding photoshoot in which I utilized natural elements to create a frame within my shot. 

In this image, I used bamboo trees to create a blurry foreground framing. This technique of drawing focus to the subject not only enhances the composition but also gives the photo more depth from front to back.

Here is another example of natural framing. By using trees and flowers to create partial border around the subject of the photograph but not focusing on them, the scene is framed beautifully and the viewer's eye is drawn to the couple, which is the subject of the image.

Similarly, the frame around the subject in the photo above is filled with the green of the trees and red of flowers, directing the eye towards the couple, which is the focal point of the image. These natural elements not only add depth and interest to the image but also give a sense of romantic to the viewer. 

What I like about this technique is that the possibilities are quite endless when it comes to finding elements in nature for framing. Almost anything in nature can be used as a frame within a photograph. This allows me to think outside the box and use my imaginative eye to view my surroundings in order to create natural frames for my photography.

Framing is indeed my all-time favorite composition technique in photography. It is very helpful in controlling where viewer's eye goes when they look at the photographs.