Framing visual elements

Composing a photo means arranging the visual elements in the viewfinder or on an LCD monitor screen.

Whether you stand far away or move in close, you are framing your subject within that window. You can:

• Frame the shot to focus attention on your subject.
• Crop the shot to make the strongest visual statement about the subject.

Framing

Framing allows you to focus attention on your subject – isolating the subject from the larger world.

As you frame a scene in the viewfinder, you crop out extraneous pieces of visual information – getting rid of peripheral visual elements that do not say something about the visual statement you intend to make.

Looking at a scene, you may find something that can be used to frame the subject. It does not need to be a four-sided frame.

Examples of framing elements you might find in a picture could be a doorway or arch, or trees with overhanging branches.

Cropping

Images may require cropping after they are shot.

Cropping removes the outer parts of an image to improve framing and accentuate the subject.

When you view an image later, you may see fat you would like to trim away from the sides, top or bottom.
You will want to keep anything that strengthens your visual statement while removing elements of the photo that have less relevance and weaken the image.

Those could be anyone or anything extraneous, irrelevant or unrelated to the subject, providing background clutter, blaring a distracting hotspot, or showing too much empty space that contributes nothing to the statement you want to make.

Shape after cropping

• You can crop a horizontal photo so it appears to be a vertical picture. You might do that to give the image a feeling of strength or make it more imposing.
• On the other hand, you can crop a vertical picture to make it horizontal. That could give the image a more relaxed feel.
• Or you can crop a photo to a square picture to give the subject a sense of symmetry and quiet strength.