Using Tight Framing to Create a Sense of Infinity
The way you frame and crop your shots has power to give a sense of size to a scene that may not actually be there.
For example – the shot to the left of a field of tulips is framed in such a way that there is not beginning or end to the tulips anywhere inside the frame.
While the field tulips may in fact end just beyond the edge of the frame in any direction – the feeling that this framing gives is that of a never ending sea of tulips.
To get the effect the photographer has managed to get the angles right so that there’s no horizon and they’ve filled the frame with their subject.
To see the same principles illustrated again – check out the two following images. The first shot actually contains a lot more flowers than the second one – but because there’s a break in the flowers with the horizon there’s a sense that the flowers are limited to a certain area. Whereas the second scene could actually have a lot less flowers in it – but they go on and on in the mind of those viewing the shot.
The same principles can be applied to numerous other situations. For example the same thing is done in the following image of a sailing boat:
The boat is seemingly in the middle of an ocean – as there’s no end to the water in the frame. However the inclusion of land in any direction or even a horizon would have interrupted the water and given the image a different feeling.
Again it is a combination of the angle that the photographer is shooting from (from slightly above) and the framing of the subject.





32 Responses to “Using Tight Framing to Create a Sense of Infinity” - Add Yours
December 14th, 2007 at 12:45 am
Thanks for the great tip! I am learning so much from this blog.
December 14th, 2007 at 1:12 am
This is a technique I would have never even have thought of using a few years ago, but love using it every now and then now. Here a couple posts on my blog with photos using this technique:
http://www.amatterofmemories.com/2007/10/busy-saturday.html
The phot of my daughter in the orchard is one of my favorites from this year…even though the orchard is really pretty small, it looks like she’s ‘lost’ in an elaborate forest.
http://www.amatterofmemories.com/2007/11/finally-some-picturesstrategic-air.html
The shot of the flag is my favorite from this museum trip…considering it’s a pictue of our flag, I think it speaks volumes.
http://www.amatterofmemories.com/2007/09/red-square-in-omahas-old-market.html
I love this photo of the wooden dolls…it is so vibrant and it looks like there must be hundeds of them when it was really just a small side table.
December 14th, 2007 at 6:54 am
this also works great in the city shooting downtown w/ a telephoto lens. You get that busy, crowded fast paced look.
December 14th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Excellent advice and guidance – so often it is the little things that make a huge difference. I really appreciate the quality of your advice and the ability to be able to see examples and access additional related information.
December 14th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
I often use extra lens vignetting as well as a tight crop to really push my images, cropping is so important to get the desired effect!
Enjoying these blogs, thanks
Chris
http://www.11thstudio.com
December 15th, 2007 at 1:12 am
It is always great to be reminded of the power of framing!
December 17th, 2007 at 1:07 am
Aw, I’m the “what not to do” picture
Well, I never claimed to be the world’s best photographer. Still, in this particular case I wanted to get the horizon in the shot because I wanted to show that the field of flowers *actually* went on close to forever, rather than just giving the illusion of that.
I totally understand your point – I like tight framing, too:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/161988995/
Maybe the field of flowers is not as artistic the way I took it, but I think it says more about the impressiveness of the field.
Now of course my photo would also be improved if I replaced my wife with a naked model, but don’t tell my wife I said that
December 21st, 2007 at 10:53 am
Ahh
The “naked model” is chuffed that you used one of her photos in a tutorial (which she found out via flickr stats – a useful little feature). Thank you and love the tutorials, I find them really inspiring.
December 21st, 2007 at 12:13 pm
thanks KT
December 22nd, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Thank you for this tip – I had never thought of it. Within a few days of reading it, I needed to post a blog about a new library book. I thought I had planned to photo the librarian adding it to the shelf. Thanks to your tip, I was able to convey the idea that it is the most recent edition to a long stream of learning visually – as though the library went on forever.
http://edithosb.blogspot.com/2007/12/encyclopedia-of-catholic-social-thought.html
I learn a lot here: thank you.
December 22nd, 2007 at 8:50 pm
I love your blog! Thanks for sharing such practical tips.
December 24th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
thanks a lot for sharing my “tulip fields” photo in this cool blog of yours.so glad to hear all of this.i’m happy to see people who think like me:)
June 7th, 2008 at 12:14 am
You should’nt have but I’am so glad you did. NOW that is, sharing all your wonderfull tips. I find it great.
April 21st, 2010 at 10:37 pm
Yes…this is a really great tip. these little tips are helping me a lot in improving my photographs.
October 6th, 2010 at 7:43 am
I’m convinced that framing (and cropping) is the best photography exercise anybody can and should do, anytime. It is fundamental, does not cost anything, and does not even require you to have a camera at all!
I put together a small page for this http://www.kirpi.it/Photo/Learn-image-cropping-by-practice with the hope it can be useful to many
October 6th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
I’ve used the same effect for “crowd” shots, at events where a crowd was expected but didn’t quite fill all the seats.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lendog64/4983029968/
October 6th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
This is a great tip, I did this without knowing why I like the pics that much, now I have the explanation.
Thanks for another great article! You have to loooove DPS!
October 6th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
I usually crop the image to gain this effect, it’s amazing!
October 6th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Great tip! I do it all the time. Some times, I would use a telephoto lens for a picture even I knew I could get the shot with a standard or wide angle lens. This technique also work on shooting portraits on large size people.
October 6th, 2010 at 11:51 pm
This is a good tip to remember.
October 7th, 2010 at 2:14 am
Great tip! here is an example that i did.
October 7th, 2010 at 2:15 am
Great tip!
October 7th, 2010 at 4:00 am
I love this effect. Used it loads of times, with this shot of Paris as a prime example
http://www.flickr.com/photos/123rik/5019979412/
October 7th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Excellent tips something that everyone should look at,whether you are a beginner of a professional.
October 7th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Thanks for writing this article, I was doing this without thinking because it looks good and now realize it is a technique.
October 8th, 2010 at 12:10 am
Amazing tips! I really like this framing..
Here are some of mi pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/sambeth/
October 8th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
A very handy tip to remember, and some walking around to get the right angle is often needed.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg67/zooloader/Gateway%20Bridge%202/secondbridgeopening_0025.jpg
http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg67/zooloader/Telephoto/?action=view¤t=waterlily_3.jpg
October 8th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
I see what you are getting at but I’m not sure I agree that the images you have chosen actually reflect what you are trying to say. By your rules the model in the field has everlasting arms because her wrists don’t appear in the frame!
The picture of tulips says to me … tight shot of tulips. I’d be more inclined to think “everlasting field” if the shot had been wider and longer. However, Peter’s shot of the rape-seed field could have created a greater impression of infinity – if he’d wanted it to – had he chosen to shoot from a slightly higher angle and cropped below the start of the wood.
It isn’t tight cropping or framing; you need to give angle and a feeling of scale for the object within it’s context for this to work. The yacht from higher (angle) shot longer (scale) and without the rowboat (scale again) would give you a much better feeling of being isolated in an ocean.
October 8th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
The technique is useful, but the photos chosen to illustrate it are not that relevant…
October 9th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Love your columns, Darren!
The mind is actually quite smart. It will mentally extrapolate beyond, when it sees clues.
For example, the rowboat gives away that we are not looking in the middle of the ocean. He could easily have photoshopped out the boat if he wanted ocean. The rowers: the calm water and dark reflection of the trees tells us we are looking at a river scene. But it isall OK – it shows the better effect of cropping out nonessential distractions from the image, if not the infinity.
A couple that really work with the infinity idea are the apple orchard by Jill and the shot in Paris by Rik.
October 9th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
I guess its a matter of,” different strokes for different folks”I get much more sense of expansiveness when the horizon is included . The tight framing tends to give me a sense of claustrophobia. The nice thing about photography is that while there may be rules or guides , there is always the matter of an individual’s reception to consider.
April 11th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
thank you very much digital photographyschool and for the author of this. i am always excited to check out my email for new tips from this website. everything is helpful and interesting.
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