Frames

While framing your photograph can enhance its appearance, framing within the image is a highly effective way to enhance your composition.  It draws the viewer’s eyes to the subject and emphasizes that subject and gives a sense of depth, of being there and adds perspective.

Framing can also add interest and intrigue to the composition.  If it is prepared poorly or if it’s overdone it can detract from your photograph.  Using a dark frame, an out of focus frame or a frame that doesn’t compete for the viewer’s eye will work best. 

Some examples you could look for when wanting to utilize a frame for your image could be arches, doorways, bridges, trees, silhouettes and vignette with dark tones.  Types of frames are environmental, natural, shapes, round, square, light and shadows, architectural and many more.

Most effective frames will lack detail and are simple in design and nature so as not to detract from the subject but rather draw attention to your subject.  An important point to keep in mind is to ask, does this frame detract from or does it enhance the subject?  Many times leaving the frame dark or out of focus will help downplay the importance of the frame allowing more attention to be drawn to the subject.

Don’t be frustrated with not being able to include all four sides of the frame as you’ll find that just one or two sides of that frame can be just as effective in improving your composition. 

Framing like the other so called rules of composition can be broken and when appropriate may also make your photograph or composition strong.  An example of this is when the frame is actually part of the subject and adds context to that subject.