Inside the Frame: Buena Park Downtown

Had I not shot up the signage, I would have shot an everybody’s snapshot. I placed the signage along the rule-of-third lines and used it as a strong foreground. The bright light at the top right intersecting rule-of-third guide lines was strategically placed, too, otherwise, it’s just a distracting glare.

Inside the Frame: Cliffwalk at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

The opportunity to take pictures from a higher vantage point is rare–take it. I took this picture from a platform above the Cliffwalk–suspended walkways off the granite cliff face. I ensured to include a bit of platform on the top left of the frame to act as a foreground. The main subject–a portion of Cliffwalk–was …

Inside the Frame: Christmas Tree in Crystal Cove

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 …

Strong Foreground–A Banging Composition Pattern

People don’t squat down and examine a rock–not most people. This is our opportunity as a photographer to present a perspective that most people don’t get to see. Start with a bang–that expression represents what the photo viewer will get with a close-up, in-your-face, exaggerated-in-size object in the foreground.  You want to get really close …