Photographic Composition 101 Part II: More about Framing

Sunrise on Tybee Island

Sometimes you can put the subject quite literally in a frame, as in this photograph of a sunrise on the beach at Tybee Island, Georgia, as seen through an old anchor just above the beach. Unfortunately, I don't remember what camera I used to make this picture, but it was probably an Olympus OM2n. The film was almost certainly Fujichrome 100, since that has been my film of choice since around 1986.

The Warm Springs Hotel, Warm Springs, Georgia

The frieze and column of a shop across the street form a frame for the old Warm Springs Hotel Bread and Breakfast, taken on my return trip to west Georgia in 2010 to complete my tour around the state. This photograph was made with one of my very favorite cameras -- a classic Minolta Autocord twin-lens reflex,  using Fujicrome 100 film in 2-14 X 2-1/4 size. I should use this camera more often! The two photos above are from my limited-edition book Georgia: A Backroads Portrait.

City Hall, Barnesville, Georgia

Surely the funkiest city hall in the entire United States!

 

Framing adds depth to a picture by drawing the eye to the main subject. Sometimes however, there are subjects that are so distinctive they can stand on their own. The unique City Hall in Barnesville, Georgia is what is, as it is, and needs nothing but a straight-on presentation. This photograph could not be improved by anything I could do to enhance it, whether by choosing a different angle or looking for something in the foreground to frame it. I love the way the street lamp reflects the curve of the arched windows. I used a Canon EOS 6D digital camera for this photo, with an EF 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 lens.

 Photographs and text copyright 1992-2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone

 

 

Photographic Composition 101 Part I: Put It in a Frame

 

Above are two photographs of the beautiful, old Starr's Mill, a few miles south of Fayetteville, Georgia. They were taken at different times and with different cameras, however, looking at each file at high magnification, there appears to be no difference in photographic quality.

Which one do you prefer? Can you say why?

Although the second photo is sharp and has beautiful light and color, most people prefer the first one, even though many probably could not say why. The mill looks great in the second one, but there's no feeling of depth and no place for your eye to rest. In the first one, the tree on the right, the rocks on the shore, and the dam all combine to lead the eye to the mill. They form a frame around it,  which gives the picture a a sense of depth and dimensionality.

"Framing" a photo is a very effective compositional technique, and one I use a lot. In this photograph of Short's Mill near Clarkesville, Georgia, the mill is actually only a small part of the picture, yet the stone ledge, flowing water, and autumn tree form a frame to lead the eye to the old mill. 

There many ways to put the subject of your photograph in a frame. For instance, in this photo of a children's Sunday School class, the way the children's heads are turned direct the viewer's eye to the teacher and the child she is speaking to. 

I don't use this technique of framing for every shot, of course, but I think if you learn to look for opportunities to put a frame in your pictures it will improve your photography.

Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone

Birthing a Book

Chicken Farmer Danny Gandy

"This is not a fighting cock" 

US Hwy 41, Cook County

Continued from previous post. . .

Over the next year or two I made a few day-trips to round out my coverage as the book began to take shape in my mind. I narrowed down the selection of photographs, wrote an introduction, a number of brief essays to go with some of the pictures, and asked my son Rob, a really fine writer, to write a foreword.

Then I loaded everything on a flash drive and took it to my long-time friend Michael Largent, who knows everything there is to know about design. It was amazing to watch him as he sequenced the pictures and put them all in order with the text and the captions -- all in one day!

Your Yard Sale Place

GA Hwy 32, Bacon County

 

We sent it off to Blurb.com, an online printer, and a few weeks later I had in my hands a beautiful, 12 by 12-inch, 144-page book. You can see it for yourself at https://www.blurb.com/books/4973943-georgia-a-backroads-portrait.

All the photographs in this post and the previous one are in the book, along with nearly 130 more. If you would like to have a copy, contact me at djphoto@vol.com or send a text message to 423-240-2324.

Disclaimer: I must tell you that since the book is a limited edition and I only have a few printed at a time, it is not cheap.

I will probably never sell enough to recover what I've already invested, but I wanted to create a visual ode to Georgia, the state where I lived for 44 years.

Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone

Around Georgia with a Camera

Chaise Lounge

U.S. 129, Irwin County

 

Sorry this post is a day late. Like I said, sometimes life gets in the way.

In 2004 I begin taking occasional day-trips around north Georgia, looking for whatever interesting things I could find to photograph. In 2010 I took some of the money I earned from an architectural job and spent a week driving around the perimeter of Georgia to see if I could find enough interesting photos to complete the book I had in mind.

Accordingly, on May 5th I laid down the back seats of my 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan, put in an air mattress, a sleeping bag, and some clothes, and set out on my quest.

Since I had already covered north Georgia pretty thoroughly, I headed to the east central part of the state looking for whatever I could find.

Please keep in mind what I've said several times on this blog, that the most important ability in photography is the ability to notice things. Unfortunately, I'm kinda slow, so the way this process works for me is that I see something, go on down the road for a half-mile or so while the thought slowly penetrates my brain, "Hey, that might make a good photo!" and then search for a place to turn around, or, if the road is deserted, a wide spot where I can make a U-turn.

Satellite Dish

Georgia Highway 22, Taliferro County

 

 I worked my way down the east side of Georgia, then across the bottom of the state, then up the west side about as far as Butler, which is west of Macon. At that point I had used up my allotted time for the trip and went home. A few weeks later I made a three-day trip down the west side of the state as far as Warm Springs to complete the circuit.

Crazy Spider

Georgia Highway 193, Walker County

 

 So how was it, as a then-72-year-old man, sleeping in my van for a week? Actually, it was fine. I mostly slept in WalMart parking lots, although I slept one night at a truck stop. That was kinda noisy. Otherwise, I was very comfortable and slept well. I brought with me a small, battery-powered fan, in case the nights were hot, but only used it one time.

All the photographs in this post were made with the original Canon EOS 5D (a great camera -- I used it for eight years) and various Canon lenses. I also carried  a Canon EOS 20D as backup, but didn't use it much. 

To be continued. . .

Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone