When it comes to photographing composition, there are pretty much techniques you could use. You may be aware of some of the most commonly used techniques such as leading line and rule of thirds, but have you heard of natural framing? It is one of the hottest techniques right now across the industry, and photographers are now embracing it more than ever before. Basically, it is a kind of special technique you can use to direct the viewer’s eye to your main subject as you add a bit of depth and dimension to your photo. It may sound like a hard nut crack, but it is a pretty much easy technique any photographer can learn today and start using right away. For starters, here is probably everything you need to know about high-end composition using natural framing.
So What Is Natural Framing?
Explaining the whole concept using some of the simplest terms, we could say natural framing is when you place a secondary object, let’ s say a window or a tree in the scene of a photograph so that is flawless frames the main object. Natural framing is fast becoming one of the most widely used techniques. Although it requires a bit of thoughtful approach, if done correctly, you could actually create some of the most impressive and stunning images. As a matter of fact, if you love framing your photos, it is very likely you have had to do it naturally at some point without you even realizing. It is an amazing framing technique.
Why You Should Use Natural Framing Composition
This, obviously, is one of the first questions anyone who is not familiar with the technique would ask. Ideally, there are a number of reasons why you should use this technique, but the following are the key ones.
- Natural framing, in a way, makes your photo stand out. It makes the viewer to be easily drawn to the subject. It makes the photo more appealing without causing any kind of distraction to the viewer.
- Natural framing also does play a key role when it comes to isolating and separating your subject. In short, this technique helps you separate the key subject from everything that surrounds it. Many at times, natural framing get rid of those boring skylines, making everything great for our eyes.
- Last but not least; this technique is all about bringing order, as well as, structure to your photo. If you know what that means, clearly, you don’t need to be told how our eyes love that.
Tip On How To Bring Out The Best In Your Photo Using Natural Framing
Ask any professional photographer today and they will all have one word for you; learning how to frame requires a bit of practice and creativity, especially when it comes to pre-visualization. You need to have an eye for finer details. Take a quick look at the image and single out some of the things you could do to make the photo much better. In any case, apart from paying so much attention to the key object, also take time and figure out those secondary elements that can back your subject. When it comes to natural framing, here are a few guidelines you may want to keep in mind at all times.
- Typically, frames are always placed on the foreground so as to lead the viewer to the main object that is behind it. However, did you also know that a frame maybe is a sort of a shadow or even a shape on the wall just behind your main subject?
- Secondly, at no time should you find yourself cluttering the image. Ideally, you need to make the frame stand out, without necessarily creating a sort of distraction to the viewer.
- Give your frame a very unique and distinct shape. You need to show that you placed it there intentionally. The intention here is to make it easy for the viewer to separate it from the rest of the photograph.
Important Things To Consider When Framing
When we talk of natural framing, just like any other framing technique, there are a couple of things you need to put under great consideration. First, and which is probably the most important, you need to ensure that everything you put in frame passes out the message that you want it to. Ideally, you need to make sure that all the elements and creativity you have employed are all working and brings out the meaning and feeling that you. This might sound a bit hard on a number of you, but here are a couple of questions to ask yourself.
- What is interesting in this scene and how can I make it better?
- Why is this so important?
- What is that I want the viewers to see?
What To Keep In Mind When It Comes To Framing
Just like what you would find in other fields, the world of photography and framing comes with their own rules. However, it will not hurt to bend some of them. The idea here is you may not want to find yourself following these rules so much and you end up with photos that look the same. Photography is all about fun and creativity and doesn’t let a few of the rules to keep you stuck in that one box. The field is still mutating and there are tons of ways and techniques you can employ to liven up some of your precious photographs. Learn ways on how to refresh your vision and you will be able to start framing your photos in a whole new way. Read a lot about the technique, talk to other photographers and create your own ideas. It is as simple as that.
Bottom Line
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you are just getting started or you a professional photographer who has been in the industry for decades; it is worth pointing out that natural framing is one of the greatest framing techniques you could use today to control how the viewer will go around your image. Interestingly, regardless of the size of the photo, a human eye won’t be able to see the whole picture all at once. The eye tends to be drawn to one part at a time and as a photographer, your main job is to direct the eye. Sounds amazing right?