Filling The Frame
Filling the frame is a great way to draw attention to your subject and to provide an ‘endless’ reach to an image. You can trick the eye into believing there is much more of something than there actually is. Additionally you can simply use the technique to provide a different view on an age old topic.
I shot these Mardi Gras beads in New Orleans, Louisiana whilst trying to find a different way to convey the celebration. These alone tell a complete story of location, time of year and the celebration itself. Not being able to see where the beads end in this image leave it up to the imagination as to where they end and how many there are. Is it a row that stretches for several feet or just a short piece of wood on a market stall, the beauty of this technique is that the viewer decides meaning they can getwhat they want from the image. |
Filling the frame can work with a whole host of topics and bring a very different perspective to your shot. The gallery below shows examples with captions to explain the reasoning behind my decision to shoot the topic that way in that particular instance.
Filling the frame can also cause people to linger on an image trying to work out what exactly it is that they are looking at, and if they linger then they are going to enjoy the image more simply because it caused a momentary stimulation. We all love to see something different of the same old thing from a different perspective, take a look at the gallery below to see some frame filling shots that might cause you to linger for a moment.
The technique really is something you should be considering when determining your composition, it will renew and old topic. It provides a new viewpoint and therefore generates interest. It leaves something to the imagination of the viewer (which is always a good thing) and it will help your images stand out from the millions of others we see every day. The gallery below shows a few more examples of the technique and captions explain my reasons for choosing that method of composition.