Using framing devices in image composition
Framing (usually the subject) is also used to compose an image. Examples of framing devices used in image composition can vary from an actual image frame (and a fun shoot) to trees, branches, buildings, and so on. And the frame doesn’t always have to be a full frame. Here are a few examples.
Sometimes the image title can point to how we use compositional elements in a photograph. For example, in the rainbow image below, if the image is called, say, “Manhattan Skyline Framed by a Rainbow” then the Manhattan skyline (or Empire State Building) is the subject and the rainbow is the frame or framing device. But, if the image title is “Rainbow over Manhattan” then the rainbow itself is the subject, and not the framing device.
The image posted below was shot in Liberty State Park and captures a silhouette of Jersey City and New York City skylines.
And here’s the reflection of the Tear Tower 9/11 monument on the surface of the tear, itself.
And a zoomed-out shot of the Tear Tower, a frame-in-frame kind of example, if you want to look at it that way.
“The Price of Love” captured in Sylt, Germany, a #tbt.
And the Brocken spectre or Brockengespenst. I mentioned earlier using the rainbow as a framing device. Here’s again the rainbow framing our silhouettes, creating this beautiful optical illusion, first noticed on Brocken Mountain in Germany. Famous Brocken Mountain visitors include Goethe, who mentioned the Spectre in Faust, and poet Heinrich Heine, who mentioned it in Harzreise (1826). “Viele Steine, müde Beine, Aussicht keine, Heinrich Heine” describes the difficult mountain climb in foggy conditions.
Until later and as always, thanks for stopping by!
Alina Oswald 