Using the edges of my frame to imply a black triangle
I recently had one of my blog followers send me this note:
Hi Joe,
I’ve followed your blog and website for some time now, and things are usually very clear and instructive.
In this edition, you stated:
“BTW, when you crop in front of a computer, you’ll never know where the edges of your frame are, nor will you ever be able to use the edges as a compositional tool.”
I am completely unsure as to what you mean – can you elaborate?
Thanks and keep up the great work!
I’m glad he asked because it’s a question I often get either in my online class with the BPSOP, or in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet.
First, here’s an excerpt from an interview done on Henri Cartier-Bresson, who is adamantly against cropping. He said, “We have to have a feeling for the geometry of the relation of shapes, like in any plastic medium. And I think that you place yourself in time, we’re dealing with time, and with space.
Just like you pick a right moment in an expression, you pick your right spot, also. I will get closer, or further, there’s an emphasis on the subject, and if the relations, the interplay of lines is correct, well, it is there. If it’s not correct it’s not by cropping in the darkroom and making all sorts of tricks that you improve it. If a picture is mediocre, well it remains mediocre. The thing is done, once for all.”
I’ve also read that shooting loosely and cropping in post-processing are signs of sloppy technique and a lack of discipline…that would include yours truly.
To create stronger photos, use the edges of your frame as a compositional tool. For example shape is one of the basic elements of Visual Design that I teach both in my online classes and my workshops. The four basic shapes are circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles. If you were to use one or two sides of your frame to complete the third line of a triangle, you would be making your image stronger.
I hope this post helped clears it up, and thanks for asking.
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my upcoming workshops at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
JoeB
