Be warned, another photography post or in the words of Jamie, "Geek-talk".



Framing: Some notes.

The setting for any photograph is the picture frame and the borders of the frame places limits and influences composition. The frame can be made to interact strongly with the lines of the image. They are commonly used as references for diagonal lines within the pictures as well as to form angles. The usual frame standard for 35mm DSLRs is the 3:2 aspect ratio, for compact cameras 4:3, and these different aspect ratios will have ramifications upon the image.

Orientation, switching from 3:2 to 2:3 with a simple tilt of the camera may sometime be desirable, especially for standing human figures.

Filling the frame - varying the size of the subject in the frame will result in different perspectives. One must make the choice whether to close right in onto a subject so that it fills up the picture frame or to pull back so we can see something of the surroundings.

Placement - Other than how to fill the frame, the other decision to make is to where to place the subject within the frame, whilst remaining sensitive to the proportions of the space around the subject. One useful way of doing this is to consider the vectors in subject. To aid placement, the frame may also be divided up. A useful division is the rule of 3rds. Other more complicated methods of division include the Fibonacci Divisions, as well as the golden section proportions.

Other things to consider: Where to place the horizon line, looking for frames within the frame.