Filling In The Frame Photography

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I've written most using negative space in composition both here on the website and in my composition ebooks. Merely it's too interesting to write near its opposite technique – filling the frame.

In that location are two problems you demand to exist enlightened of when it comes to filling the frame. The first is that when y'all use the rule of thirds you lot might become a large area of empty space on i side of the photo.

The other is that you can also end up with also much empty infinite if you lot over-simplify the composition.

The solution is to notice something interesting that fills the space. It should complement the subject without distracting from information technology.

The 35mm problem

Yous're more likely to encounter these issues if you use the 35mm format. The 3:2 attribute ratio means that you lot're working with a narrower rectangle than photographers who use Micro-four thirds cameras (which have a 4:iii aspect ratio).

The long rectangle is even more challenging to work with when you use it in the portrait format. The caste of difficulty depends on your field of study. It's easy to fill up the frame when making a portrait, for example, but a lot harder when you're making a mural photo. Some mural photographers adopt to use a medium format photographic camera (with a four:3 aspect ratio) because of that.

Now it's time to look at some applied examples of how you tin make full the 35mm frame.

Utilize more than than ane focal point

Many photos take a single master subject area and a background. A portrait is a good instance. The model's confront is the subject, and the rest of the photo is background.

One fashion to add together interest to the composition and make full the frame at the same time is to use more than than one focal indicate.

In the photo below, for case, the facades of the buildings in the photo have the eye from i side of the frame to the other. They fill the space and create a kind of visual rhythm as the middle jumps from one to the other.

Filling the frame with pattern

This isn't a technique you lot can utilize oft. But it comes in useful when you lot discover interesting repeating shapes and patterns. See what happens when yous move in close and so they fill the frame.

That'south exactly what I did with the photo below. I could have stepped farther dorsum and included the entire basket in the photo. But in this situation it fabricated more sense to move in shut and fill the frame with the apples. The repeating shapes, colors and textures are interesting to look at. You can come across enough of the basket to encounter what information technology is. There's no need to include more of it.

Filling the frame with an interesting background

A common technique in photography is to utilise a prime lens and a wide discontinuity to blur the groundwork. There are times when this is the correct way to compose a photograph. Merely there are others when information technology's improve to stop downwardly and brand the background sharper. The idea is to include interesting, contextual detail that'southward partially blurred, but not unrecognizable. Yous can encounter how that works in this photo.

Filling the frame with story telling item

The final technique is to fill the frame with interesting details that tell a story about the subject.

For example, in the photo below the main bailiwick is the firm. The residual of the photograph provides context. The stone wall in the foreground shows that the house is in a country lane. The trees tell the states that it'due south summertime and that there's an orchard in front of the house. The clouds add interest to the heaven – it would have been far less interesting photo if information technology were blue.

How long did information technology have you to encounter the birds? They add together interest and provide a kind of reward for looking at the photograph and taking in the detail.

Conclusion

Regardless of your camera's aspect ratio in that location are times when using negative space is a good approach to limerick. Only there are times when y'all demand to take the opposite approach and notice interesting means of filling the frame.

A lot depends on the subject. If you're making landscape photos with long exposures, for example, then it'due south natural to use negative space. Information technology'south role of the point of the technique.

The same applies if you're making photos with a prime lens set to a wide aperture. This technique can blur the background completely and look very constructive in a photograph.

Merely in that location are times when stopping down and making the background sharper is better. You'll larn to tell the difference with feel. Don't forget you tin can experiment with different apertures to see which results y'all prefer.

If you use the rule of thirds a lot in your compositions then you demand to pay attention to filling the frame. Equally we've seen using the thirds can result in a lot of empty space. Information technology'due south not plenty to put the subject on a third – you need to think about the unabridged frame and what's going on in every part. The ideas in this tutorial will help you with that.