Welcome to AdoramaTV.
My name is Marcin Lewandowski
and in this episode of The Viewfinder
we'll come back to the composition
and talk about a few other aspects
that might influence your choice
when framing a photograph.
In the last two episodes on composition
we concentrated on the topic
of the Rule of Thirds
and it's sibling,
the Phi Grid.
We also briefly mentioned negative space
and how to use it
to draw attention to our subject.
As you can probably
imagine, there are other things
to learn and break down further.
So we will discuss a few more in this episode.
One of the hardest decisions
that you will face
on a daily basis
when framing a photograph
is how much space to leave on top
and on the bottom of your frame.
This is relevant in all sorts of situations
but I find it especially riddling
when photographing landscapes
and especially when facing enchanting skies
and I don't want to miss any features
on the ground level.
Sometimes I would simply divide
the photograph in half,
to the line of
the horizon.
Or sometimes even place the horizon line
on the very bottom
and capture the glory of the sky.
This won't always work,
so you have to use your intuition
and follow your gut feeling.
The Rule of Thirds is a great starting point
and a helpful tool to find starting balance
but it doesn't end there.
Another great way of framing is
a centrally placed cross which you can
naturally shift around and use for a variety of topics,
starting with portraiture
through to documentary
and landscape.
It's about the use of the horizon line
or a horizontally placed
background object,
juxtaposed
with vertically placed foreground subject
so together they mimic
the lines of a cross.
Sometimes it will be very obvious placement
but sometimes you just have to use it
as an idea,
mixed and matched
with other techniques
that I've mentioned.
Here are a few examples
of mine to illustrate this.
This is just the tip of the iceberg
and if you would like to look
at really masterful usage
of this composition technique
I recommend checking out the portfolio's
of William Eggleston.
This leads me toward the technique
where a subject is placed
directly in the middle
of the frame.
It's an approach
very often used in portraiture
and works best
when smartly combined
with a background that adds something
to the composition
without being obtrusive
or drawing too much attention
away from our subject.
Building your background for this type
of photograph can be approached
in a number
of different ways.
Let me just mention
the two most obvious.
First of all, symmetry.
This is how our brains are wired
and a symmetrically built image
will appear balanced
and appealing.
It doesn't have to be a kaleidoscope.
Simply use an even number
of things as a guideline
when creating your photograph
or its background
and see how that influences
your framing choices.
Second of all,
and this is a whole topic in itself,
it's creating and building
your photograph's background.
Try to compose it from the outside.
Carefully choosing what to exclude
from your frame.
This is as important as choosing
what you will photograph
and can add
not only to the aesthetics
of your photograph
but also create strong visual context
for the photographed subject.
A good way to experiment this approach
is to shoot a much wider
than you need
and reframe
by cropping in post-production.
This will also allow you to try different
aspect ratios.
So next time
when you're out and about
you will have more confidence
when framing your shots.
Thanks for watching this episode.
Subscribe to our channel for more
and check out the Adorama Learning Center
for some truly great tips and tutorials.
This was Marcin Lewandowski
for AdoramaTV.
See you next time.