Photographic Framing: Complete Guide (Examples Included)

The photos are first taken with the eyes and then, by means of the camera, they are immortalized on paper (or in a digital file). The difference is that vision has no established limits (or they are ignored) while cameras do and these limits, known as borders, will be the frame of all your photographs.

The way you use this limit when framing (composing) your photographs may radically change the sensations that your photos transmit, so knowing the secrets of framing becomes almost an obligation.

In the article I will tell you not only what the frame is and the different types of these, but you will also learn in which situations it is convenient to use one or the other in order to enhance the messages and sensations that they transmit. You can not lose this! Nor can you miss the most complete guide on photographic composition. If you want to delve into essential tips and tricks, click on the link.

What is photographic framing?

The frame, in photography, alludes to the portion of the scene that as a photographer, you will use for your photographs. That is, what proportion of the scene are you going to capture in a photograph. Imagine the frame as the stage where your photos take place.

Framing is a fundamental element when constructing photographs, since the edges of the photo, which are almost always rectangular, have a great influence on its content and on the messages and sensations they convey.

The way you use the edges of the frame to distribute the elements (compose) within it, will give strength or not to your photographs. Getting the most out of the frame will depend on two things: the first, your composition knowledge and the second, the experience you will get photo by photo.

Take your time framing

There are basically three ways to frame:

  • You plan the framing in advance, so that once you have decided on all the elements to include in your photograph, you can adjust the parameters of the camera for the shot.
  • You compose the photo while framing, that is, you decide what elements you will or will not include in your photos in the instant before you press the shutter button.
  • You take the picture and then reframe it on the computer.

Distinguishing the different ways of making a frame does not mean underestimating one method over the other. Most likely, depending on each situation, you will use one or another method, according to the possibilities that the type of photography you are doing allows you.

In nature photography, for example, it is more important to be able to take the photograph of that rare species of bird, than to worry about framing before the shot or reframing after it. In fact, in wildlife photography the vast majority of framing is then done on the computer.

frame dynamics

When going through a scene through the viewfinder, you will be able to notice how countless possible photographs begin to appear in it, which will be more or less attractive depending on how you frame them.

Depending on which elements you want to include in your photograph and how they relate to the edges of the frame, these will have a greater or lesser influence on the final image.

Remember that, as I told you in the article “16 ways to give prominence to your subjects”, the observer’s gaze always seeks to be guided to go through a photograph: the framing and the lines, explicit or not, will mark the path to follow. eyes while reinforcing messages and helping to better transmit sensations.

Pay attention to the following examples:

The way in which the elements have been arranged within the frame is not accidental: the horizontal borders and the vertical lines have strongly contributed to the final design of the photographs, generating a greater impact on the spectators.

To do so, the photographers Mikel Ortega and A. González-Albahave used both the lateral edges and the diagonal lines and the angles that these form with each other, in order to generate tensions that are very attractive to the eyes of the observers.

Look at the following photo:

This frame does not generate as much tension as the previous one

As you can see, it is the same situation as in the example of the fisherman with the red cap, but this time, the framing used has been different. In this case, the parallel lines of the ground and the cane to the edge of the frame do not create as much attractive tension as in the example above. If you look closely, not only did I change the way of taking advantage of the angles, but also the author has opted for a different framing format: the square.

Photo frame format

As you have already seen, the edges of the frame and the proportion of these have a great influence, not only in the form that the final photograph takes, but also in the sensations that it generates in the viewer.

The framing format fulfills the function of separating the image from everything that surrounds it, that is, it frames it, so that you can control its composition. Depending on what you want to convey, one framing format may help you do it more than another. But what is the frame format?

Photographs, despite the fact that they can be worked on so that they acquire a sense of depth, only have two dimensions: height and width. When we talk about the proportion or format of the frame, we are precisely referring to the (mathematical) relationship that exists between the height and the width of the frame.

  • Standard Format 3:2 (Width x Height): This format is the most used by the sensors of photographic cameras, whether they are 35mm or not (35mm refers to the width of the sensor or film). This format is very popular because it represents very well the sensation of horizontality of the human vision.
  • Intermediate formats 4:3 : These types of formats have gained more prominence in recent years with the growing popularity of digital cameras and the “more natural” feeling that their images offer. Despite this, as far as composition is concerned, as there is not such a dominant direction (the difference between the width and height of the frame is less marked), they are not as comfortable when it comes to arranging the elements in the scene. . Despite this, they are more flexible when shooting.
  • Square format: the ratio in this type of frame is 1:1, that is, both the width and the height are the same. Very few cameras allow you to shoot natively in this format, but you can simulate it by cropping the photo on the computer, that is, reframing it later. It is an unusual format in that there are few scenes that lend themselves to that format. How to get the juice? Taking advantage of the sensation of symmetry and perfect balance that they transmit, to later break it when arranging the elements, or taking advantage of said balance and enhancing it.
  • Panorama: These types of images, as you can imagine, are those in which the width of the frame is much greater than its height. This type of format allows you to create a horizontal frame, which corresponds to the horizon line, which is ideal for landscape photographs. In most of these scenes, the length of the scene is key, much more so than the depth that they can convey. If you want to know more, in this complete guide we explain how to get impressive panoramas step by step.

Orientation

Surely, thanks to your photographic eye and your instinct for aesthetics, without realizing it, you have realized that, in certain situations it is more aesthetic to take a photograph with a vertical orientation and in other situations, using a horizontal orientation.

The orientation of the frame is just that, the vertical or horizontal orientation that you will give to the frame (your camera and its sensor) when taking your photos. Next we will stop to see each of them:

Horizontal Framing: depending on how you intend to arrange the elements present in a certain scene, a horizontal orientation can be more effective than a vertical one: if what you want is to convey a sense of stability or the elements to be portrayed are arranged horizontally, the ideal is to use this orientation since it is very comfortable when composing.

If you notice, monitors, televisions, and a host of other visual media around you, are oriented horizontally. This orientation is the most common, probably because the camera sensor is oriented in the same way, so it is the most natural position when taking a picture.

horizontal framing

vertical framing: Unlike the previous one, which provides more stable images, this type of framing provides more strength to those photographs whose elements also respect that orientation, such as a portrait (people are taller than they are wide).

If you pay attention, the vast majority of magazines, advertisements and everything related to fashion, this type of orientation is the most used.

Vertical orientation

The decision to adopt one or another orientation will depend on the message you want to convey with your photographs. When to use one or the other will basically depend on your experience as a photographer, so the more photos you take and the more time you spend analyzing the results, the better decisions you will make. As an exercise, I recommend that you practice the different orientations in the same scene and then see how one or the other works in the eyes of the viewer. That if, before I recommend that you take a look at the following article: “9 Tips and Tricks To Improve Your Photographic Composition”.

Pay attention to the following photograph: What feeling does it give you?

Isn’t that uncomfortable for you?

The key when selecting a frame is: balance. Achieving balanced photographs is what will motivate you to choose one or another frame, always depending on the situation you are trying to photograph and the elements you want to use in your photos. Of course, always keep in mind that the balance depends on you: do you dare to break it?

re-framing

As its name suggests, reframing is a “technique” that refers to, once a photograph is taken, working on it on the computer or in the studio to achieve the desired framing. In other words, the photograph is taken first and then the best frame is sought.

Although you can make several frames in the same scene, reframing refers to reframing once the photograph has been taken. Below you will see as a single shot, made by photographer Julio Codesalafter reframing it can acquire greater or lesser strength depending on what you want to communicate:

The original photograph of a small cabin has been framed so that the color of the sky can be seen and while the small house and the ground were used, as a…