Creative Photography Challenge--February

 I can't believe how fast January went by!  I had so much fun playing with reflections, and I know a lot of you did too!  I'll have a post up soon with some of my favorite reflection images taken by members of the Facebook group and posts on Instagram using the tag. 

I hate to admit it, but I'm kind of reflectioned out.  (Yes, it's not a real word, I totally just made it up, but you get my drift, right?!?)  Mostly due to the fact that I couldn't get many reflections taken outside because it was such a snowy, cold and gloomy January for us.  I won't complain about getting the much needed snow...or the fact that it was an amazing month of skiing!  I honestly love snow and winter, just not the cold, dreary, and snowless winters we sometimes get.  ;)  Anywho, it was honestly wasn't as great for reflections as I'd hoped.  But that's okay, you win some, you lose some!

Alrighty, who's ready for a new challenge?  For February, our challenge is framing!  There are some many different ways you can use framing creatively in your photography, and it's such a fun & unique way to compose a picture.  In fact, part of my inspiration in doing this whole project was from seeing this picture:

​It was taken by my friend, Amy Nash, while in a class together at Click Away in Seattle last October.  When she shared this image in our group, I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor!  I was in the same location, shooting the same subjects and then almost immediately jealous that I didn't think of taking a shot like this.  Thus the spark of this challenge began!

(And I must insert here, that Amy has the most delicious looking website--she's a foodie and a food photographer, so she shares amazing recipes with drool-worthy images of her creations.  Check out her blog here!)

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What is framing?

Framing is when your main subject has something surrounding it.  It's most commonly used in the foreground, but can also be used in line with your subject or even behind it.  This is a compositional technique that can work magic, turning an ordinary image into a magical one!

When you use a frame, it can go completely around your subject, or just partly around it.  It can be a structural frame, such as a building, doorway or between smaller parts of a larger object.  It can be natural, such as branches, leaves, trees, mountains, living things or even light and shadows.

Framing is such a great thing to incorporate into your photography because it can help give context to the story you're trying to tell.  It can also give scale and depth to your image, as well as create layers that draw your viewer's eye to your subject.  

There are a few good posts on framing that I found while researching this topic.  Check out this one on Click it Up a Notch, this one on B&H's site and this one from Photography Blogger. They all have some wonderful examples!

Some tips and tricks when using framing:

• ​​Framing is like jewelry or makeup--it should only be an accessory to your image, and shouldn't take the center stage, but draw the viewer's eye to your subject.  Of course, like anything in art, rules can be broken, but if you break them, do it on purpose and make it look like it's on purpose, otherwise it just looks like you didn't know what you were doing.  
• Using framing can help give your image and subject a sense of scale or tell a story.  (In the first image just above, I included the legs of the stool holding the blanket fort up to help the viewer recognize that it is a fort, and not something else.)
• It should add something to your image, not take away from it.  If it's too busy or obtrusive, it's better to leave it out.  Can't decide?  Try taking your shot both ways, then decide later!
• Framing can be blatant or subtle.  I looked through some of my images to find frames, and some are a lot more obvious than others (shown above and below), but they all work.
• Framing does take time--it takes time to learn and time to set it up. This isn't something that you just snap away and achieve (unless you're very lucky!).  You will need to slow down, look around and try a few different angles.  First observe and reflect, then shoot!
• There are 2 ways to be successful at finding frames.  The first way is to think of your subject first, then find a way to frame it. (The picture below of my sister holding her baby was done this way.) It may take some moving around until you have it just right.  
  The other way is to find a frame, then wait for the right moment for a subject to enter it, or have someone do it on purpose.  (The picture of a stranger on her phone was one where I saw the frame, put my camera in the right spot and waited for someone to enter.  I took about 30 pictures to get this 1.  The one of my son, was one where I saw the frame, then told him to walk slowly down the middle of the path.) 

To participate this month on Instagram, please use the tag: #2017creative_framing.  (I'm changing the format of it, because it was kind of long, and there were a lot of people using it just because, and they didn't know it was for reflection images only...)  Hopefully this will keep the tag free of un-framed pictures.  Hopefully...

Also, if you haven't joined the Facebook group yet, and would like to, click on that gray button in the upper right hand corner.  It will send you to the FB group page, and you'll need to request to join. You will have to be approved before you can get in. I have blocked a few sketchy people, because I don't want weirdos in the group and I'm sure you don't either. ;)  We want to keep it a safe and happy place! 

And lastly, thank you so much to all of you who have joined in the fun so far!  It's been an inspiring month of reflections and I really hope that February inspires us all too!  

Please don't hesitate to share the challenge with anyone others who want a little visual challenge this month!  The more the merrier!  
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