Capture better photos. Learn the recipe for captivating photos. Know how to frame your subject.
Inside the Frame series dissects how a photo incorporates composition patterns. Every photo is annotated to clearly reveal each photo composition technique used when framing the scene. Studying these photos will help you take better pictures yourself.
I rarely shoot a full-length Christmas tree because a shot of a lone, tall Christmas tree is a snapshot (a photo a non-photographer takes). Most Christmas trees are alike as such, introducing another element in the frame will separate your photo from the rest. The wooden reindeer makes a perfect strong foreground because they’re the …
Continue reading “Inside the Frame: Christmas Tree in Crystal Cove”
Definitely not another Christmas tree. The tree is sponsored by Anaheim Ducks that’s why I chose to shoot it from really close to show the Anaheim Ducks’ logos and text on the ornaments. For the same reason, I let the tree occupied two thirds of the frame–an application of rule-of-thirds composition pattern.
What’s the best way to show the height of a summit than the reading from a GPS device? A GPS device leaning on a hiking backpack place prominently on the foreground at one of the most important positions on the photo undoubtedly says we just hiked a really high summit. A group of hikers sitting …
A highly popular spot–you’d better get here early to claim a few limited spots. I went up to the last spot available and made do (and had to do some cropping to the original composition). The highlight of this frame is definitely the (glowing) arch, but I had to cut off the top of the …
I included the Bougainvillea flowers to add an accent to an otherwise (somewhat) monochromatic landscape. I placed the flowers on the bottom right intersection of “rule of thirds” guide lines. The whole shrubs in the foreground could be considered an application of photo composition technique strong foreground, but I got more in-your-face, stronger foreground applications …
This may look like a photo with a strong foreground composition, but this shot was taken from much closer distance–normally can only be done with a macro lens–it deserves its own composition pattern: close-up. Additionally, there’s nothing of worthy in the middle or background of this photo. This close-up shot was taken to highlight the …
It’s a carefully composed busy scene here. On the foreground I placed the log on the lower third of the frame, and, on the mid-ground, a mini waterfall on the upper third. I showed some branches with leaves on the top and the left edges to frame the scene and show more of the environment. …
I cropped a lot of objects in this scene, namely, the boat and the rows of trees on the bank of the lake. I want to highlight the lake–the (cut off) trees and boat are there to provide some context. Imagine how not including the boat and the trees would change the scene. I placed …
I had to crop some top portion of the photo because it had too much of an empty sky, so the dimension of this photo is not six by four like a typical portrait photo. Ideally, the photo would have more clouds on the top portion, or the existing clouds could move up a little …