Framing by Buzz
A few articles back, Buzz suggested that I rethink how I (digitally) framed some of my images. I took him up on the suggestion and here it is.
I took this shot today (November 23, 2013). It was cold 34 degrees; after dark today, it snowed, so, in the morning I'll see if there's a "snow photo op."
For now, my pic, Buzz's frame idea.
All Rights Reserved (A. Mac)
Tags
Who is online
722 visitors
Hey! I was framed!
And liked it.
Click the pic for best view.
Very nice indeed Mac, both the picture and the frame. I'm a total amateur at this, but might I suggest that, if you can get the same scene with snow cover, that you make the lighter part of the frame about one shade darker for that one. That might draw the eye to the much lighter, snow covered, picture and make it more dramatic. Not sure if it would actually work, but I pictured in my imagination what it should look like, and it seemed to. I would further suggest, if the spot is readily accessible, that you shoot the same spot early in the Spring, when the leaves are just starting to come out and again during the Summer, when the leaves are in full bloom. With the appropriate framing for each picture, the four shown together should make a very interesting comparison study in how the seasons change the appearance of that place; all of them beautiful, but in four different ways.
TTGA,
I probably have this spot in three seasons, but not in snow. Hopefully in the morning (if I can get to it).
Dang Buzz, always coming up with good ideas; love the picture.
Looks cold, seems cold, feels cold. Alive and vibrant though. Nice job A. Mac!
My concept was two-fold: to use a lighter coloured frame (although there is nothing wrong with the darker edges of it), but also to pick a pedominant colour from the photo, or the central focus. That would draw the eye from the frame into the matching colour in the photo. The one A.Mac displayed previously may have had that matching colour, but I don't see a match in this particular photo. I think of a central focus in this photo as being the grey moss on the brown trees and the grey dead limbs. The blue water is too imposing to match - wood colours are better, besides making the frame appear more natural.
The "central focus" is generally the darkest, the brightest, the most sharply focused and/or something prominent placed on one of the thirds in most compositions.
In this case, the pine tree trunks with lichen growth, these on the right, vertical third are, for several reasons cited above, the "central focus".
While the wood grain portion of the frame is not a match for anything prominent in the image, it is nevertheless, unobtrusive, yet in consonance with the theme of a woodland scene. The multiple black borders and strokes, although strong, are not so strong as to distract from the colors and textures and elements of the composition as a whole.
I very much enjoy these kinds of image analyses.
Wow! The frame really makes the photo pop! Beautiful photo Mac!
Actually, that is an astute opinion. It's probable that my concern about the other photo was that the colours were more muted (with less darker, more imposing objects) whereas in this photo, save for the top left quarter, the colours are stronger, overpowering the "weakness" of the frame colour. Perhaps this photo requires a darker frame.