Mobile Photography: Framing PT.2
Talking about Mobile Photography, this is the 2nd article of the series.
This time we will dive into an important aspect of Photography, in general, Framing.
Previously, we discussed the basics of Photography, things like Aspect Ratio, the terms, and lenses including the focal lengths, uses, etc.
Today, let us talk about, framing!
Framing, by definition, is to frame the subject in the picture, so that the viewers’ attention is drawn towards the subject instead of the surroundings. More elaborately, Framing in photography refers to a compositional technique that helps bring attention directly to your subject, blocking off part of the image to form a frame around a point of interest in your photo. Its main goal is to draw the viewer’s eye to what’s most important, but it also works by making the scene look more interesting, which makes the photo more compelling!
ALL CREDITS, IMAGE CREDITS, AND REFERENCES ARE AT THE THREAD'S END.
Shot on Samsung Galaxy A33 by Me.
Frames bring depth to your photos, they are one of the pillars of photography. As it's said, from Awe to Awesome, is what framing does! Framing the subject properly, such that the viewer's attention is grabbed and drawn towards it, while also maintaining the composition concerning the surroundings. The subject can be anything, a person, an animal, a tree, a mountain, a star, anything! Now, there are no rules for composition and framing and never limit yourself to anything else than your imagination. But here is a set of rules, not a baseline, not a hard and fast rule but to help you, no it's just for the sake of being, rest it's up to you! Your imagination knows no bounds, so get creative and frame uniquely!
The so-called Rules:
1. The Rule of Thirds.
2. Symmetry.
3. Leading Lines.
4. Leading and Head Room.
5. Depth.
6. Size Equals Power.
7. Break The Rules.
Additional ones:
A. The 180 Degrees Rule.
B. Up/Down Angles
So, let’s get started:
1. The Rule of The ThirdsThe Rule of The Thirds is a way to frame the subject, using a 3x3 grid, this divides the entire view into 9 parts, which can be used to frame the photo, the subject!
Yes, a 3x3 grid as such. Now, to depict its usage, I am going to use some images to do so. There are 3 vertical and 3 horizontal lines, forming 4 intersections. We use them to frame a shot and for composition, the top 3 rectangles/squares, concerning the 1st horizontal line from the top, can be used to frame horizon level, top level, eye level, or the surroundings. Let me give numbers to the things I refer to below to make it easier. (image above)
Now that image will give you a rough idea about what I will talk about below. As you can see, the object (a cloth peg, a bit out of focus, but that's not the concern) is in the lower. So, let me get things with a scene, imagine a grass plain, a river flowing, a mountain, and the sun rising from behind the mountain. The classic scene right? Now, let us frame it using the rule of 3rds. First up the plains, set them at the lower 3 rectangles, below the 1st line from the bottom, and put the mountains in the middle portion and the sky in the top part, that is very basic. Let’s complicate things, now let’s frame a cloth peg, with a background of the sunsetting sky and a cityscape of buildings that have signs on them. Now you have 9 different options to frame it. Now out of the 9 possible, you tell me which one is the best according to you.
Formally: The basic principle is that your shot will look better if you put points of interest on the thirds of your frame. You can visualize these points when imagining lines dividing your screen into nine blocks: three sections vertically, and three sections horizontally. There are many theories about why the rule of thirds works. One reason is that a shot can have so many competing points of interest, and adding points of interest on the thirds will help eliminate any unnecessary distractions. It also helps position the shot in a way that shows what the character is thinking and feeling. Overall, it provides an intuitive feeling of balance and context that’s helpful for your viewer.
In Next Post, will cover Symmetry.
Till then, thanks and bye!
