Frame Within a Frame: Natural Framing for Better Photo Compositions
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Loading... - Jacob Bauer
- 01 Jul 2022
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Since the early days of photography, photographers have framed photos after making a print for display. Frames help focus a viewer’s attention on the subject of the photograph or on the entire picture in itself.
This article is an introduction on the photographic tool knowns as natural framing (sometimes called subframing), or using a frame within a frame as a compositional technique to improve your photos.
Why Use Natural Framing in Photography?
The human eye has a natural field of view (FOV) of about 135 degrees, so we can see a sufficiently large area even if we are staring straight at something, but whatever we are directly looking at is what seems to be in focus and everything around gets seemingly out of focus (even though they are in the same plane of focus). That’s our natural ability to notice or focus only on the significant things.
As a photographer, making use of natural framing within the actual photograph itself takes advantage of our inherent tendency to focus on the subject and blur out the rest of the picture. It forms part of the most basic rules in photography and thus can be applied to photos taken on a basic smartphone to all the way to a high-end pro-grade DSLR or mirrorless camera.
If you are a beginner in photography, you have likely already heard about the composition advice of capturing a frame within a frame. Natural framing provides a visual funnel for the viewer to peer through to the subject. If used with complementary colors (i.e. having the frame in one color and the subject in its complementary color) it makes for a more visually compelling picture. The technique can also be used to deemphasize distracting elements and subtly hide areas that otherwise may lack interest.
In summary, natural framing can be a useful compositional tool for:
- Directing the viewer’s eyes to the main subject or region
- Allow the viewer’s eyes to focus more easily on the subject
- Deemphasize less important or distracting elements or areas
- Create an aesthetically pleasing structure to the composition
- Creating more depth within a photograph
Seeing Natural Frames in the World
How do you make use of natural framing to “frame” the subject? All you have to do is look for frames in the world. Frames can range from manmade objects (things like windows or doors) to creative things found in nature (things like rock formations and trees).
If you are at your house you don’t need to look far. Simply look out of a window that has a good view of your neighborhood and you can see natural framing in action. Most windows give the default rectangular framing that we are used to. Take a photograph of anyone or anything outside the window and you have naturally framed the subject. Read More...
