A frame within a frame

Learning goal

You will be able to use a door, a window, an arch or a branch as a second frame surrounding the subject. You will explain the tendency of natural frames to gather the gaze inward and add depth to the frame; you will tell full and partial frames apart; you will recognize situations where the frame draws more attention than the subject or squeezes it; you will decide whether to put sharpness on the frame or on the subject; and you will expose a bright subject inside a dark frame, or a dark face in front of a bright window, readably, on every skin.

The question

On a street, you pass in front of an old carpentry workshop whose inside can be seen through its open door. Inside, under the light filtering through a window in the ceiling, a craftsman is pulling a plane. First you go up to the door and photograph only the craftsman: the frame is full, but ordinary; a workbench, a man, wood shavings. Then you step back a few steps and bring the door's dark wooden frame into the shot too. This time the craftsman is in the middle of a scene full of light inside a dark rectangle; the frame is like a window opening inward.

Why are doors and windows so powerful? Building a second frame inside the frame, surrounding the subject, tends to change the viewer's gaze and the photograph's layers. In this lesson we will talk about natural frames, what they are for, and which traps to watch for when using them.

Context

On the vineyard road, the lines of the fences carried the gaze all the way to the woman with the basket; the tree's branches, on the other hand, ended that walk with an arch. Lines take the gaze somewhere; a frame holds the gaze in one place. The two often work together: a road stretches to a door, a corridor ends at a window.

Every photograph already has a frame: the camera's rectangle. A frame within a frame is building, inside this rectangle, a second border that comes from the scene itself. This border can be a door frame, a window, an arch, the underside of a bridge, the gap between two trees, the edge of a mirror, or a vehicle's window. They all do the same job in different ways, and all of them are an option that can be used, not a rule.

Simple explanation

What does a frame within a frame do?

A second frame surrounding a subject tends to gather the viewer's gaze inside that frame. The edges of the frame make it harder for the gaze to slide out of the shot, and steer it back to the scene inside. That is why, on a crowded street or in a detailed interior, a subject standing inside a door or a window stands apart from the crowd around it.

A frame also adds depth to the shot. A door frame in front, a room behind, and a person inside the room form several layers in a two-dimensional frame; the viewer looks inside by passing through these layers. A frame can carry context too: a workshop's door, a house's window or a bus's window tells where the subject stands and inside which life. Sometimes it also gives the viewer the feeling of looking from a threshold, like someone looking in from outside.

A full frame or a partial frame?

A frame can surround the subject fully on four sides: a door frame, a window, an arch. But a frame doesn't always have to be full. A partial frame is something that stands on only one or two edges: a branch hanging down from above, a wall standing on one side, the edge of a piece of fabric passing in front. Partial frames are less noticeable, but they do the job of gathering the gaze inward with a lighter touch.

A foreground frame is when the frame is very close to the camera; for example, a shot taken through leaves or through a gap in a fence. With a wide aperture, frames like this can turn into a soft patch of color in the foreground, and make the subject look as if it is seen through a mist. Which frame to choose depends on how much you want the subject emphasized, and how open or hidden you want the scene to look.

Where does a frame become a problem?

A frame doesn't work when it draws more attention than the subject. A brightly colored door, an arch with intricate carving, or sharp lettering on the frame can take the gaze away from the subject inside and pull it to itself. Problems also come up when the frame squeezes the subject: if the subject is stuck to one edge of the frame, or the frame cuts off part of it, the shot can look cramped and uncomfortable. Stepping back a step or sliding to the side opens room inside the frame for the subject to breathe.

Sharpness also calls for a decision. Usually the sharpness is put on the subject and the frame stays a little soft; this makes it easier for the gaze to go to the scene inside. If the frame is also wanted sharp, you need to stop down the aperture and deepen the zone of sharpness, as we saw in the depth of field lessons. If the frame is very close to the camera, even a narrow aperture may not be able to keep it sharp.

What happens if the frame and the subject are in different light?

Frames are often in a different light from the subject, and this calls for a decision in exposure. When you look into a bright room through a dark door, if you build the exposure for the subject inside, the door frame falls into darkness, sometimes almost into black; this often strengthens the frame and is a wanted effect. The camera's metering, on the other hand, can shift toward the dark frame and open up the scene inside too much.

The opposite is harder: if a person is sitting inside, in front of a bright window, the window frame fills with the brightness outside and the person's face can stay dark. In this situation, a dark-skinned face easily turns into a silhouette; a light-skinned face, on the other hand, stays gray and dull if exposed for the outside, and if exposed for the face, the window becomes a pure white patch. Building the exposure for the face, adding a light or a reflector inside, or seating the person a little to the side of the window leaves a readable face inside the frame. This choice of where to set the exposure is frame exposure.

Visual evidence

You go back to the door of the carpentry workshop. You step back two steps and bring the door's dark wooden frame into the shot. The camera first meters for the dark frame and the lit workbench inside turns white. When you rebuild the exposure for the craftsman's face, the frame turns into an almost black border; inside, the craftsman, brown-skinned and gray-bearded, pulls the plane in the light falling from the window in the ceiling. The shavings can be made out in the air; among the wooden spoons lined up row after row on the shelves at the back, only one is painted red.

Then, with the craftsman's permission, you go inside. The apprentice, a light-skinned young girl, is sitting in front of the window facing the street, sanding a spoon. In the first frame the window is pure white, and the girl's face a dark silhouette. You seat her a little to the side, half turned toward the window, and expose for her face; inside the window frame the outside is bright but the houses on the street can be made out, and there is the window's soft light on the girl's cheek. The same workshop, two frames; in each, the decision was made for the person inside the frame.

Common mistakes

Summary

A frame within a frame is surrounding the subject with a second border that comes from the scene, such as a door, window, arch or branch; it tends to gather the gaze inward, add depth to the shot and carry context. A frame can be full or partial, but it shouldn't draw more attention than the subject or squeeze it; sharpness is usually put on the subject. If the frame and the subject are in different light, the exposure is built for the person inside, and a face in front of a bright window is made readable, on every skin, by adding light inside or changing the angle.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will find and use the natural frames around you.

1. Photograph a scene through a door, a window or an arch, first without the frame, then bringing the frame into the shot.
2. Photograph a subject using the edge of a branch or a wall as a partial frame.
3. Shoot through leaves or a gap in a fence so that the foreground frame softens with a wide aperture.
4. Photograph someone sitting in front of a bright window, first with automatic exposure, then exposing for their face and changing their angle if needed.

Check yourself

• When you brought the door frame or the window into the shot, did your gaze linger longer on the scene inside?
• Did the frame draw more attention than the subject?
• Did the face of the person in front of the window become readable, regardless of skin tone?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. How does a frame within a frame tend to affect the viewer's gaze?

• A) It pushes the gaze out of the shot
• B) It gathers the gaze into the scene inside the frame
• C) It scatters the gaze at random
• D) It doesn't affect the gaze at all

2. Which kind of frame is a branch hanging from above that stands only at the top edge?

• A) A partial frame
• B) A full frame
• C) It is not a foreground frame, and not a frame either
• D) A vanishing point

3. When photographing a bright room through a dark door, what happens to the door frame if the exposure is built for the subject inside?

• A) It turns pure white
• B) It changes color
• C) It falls into darkness, sometimes almost into black
• D) It turns blurry

4. If the face of a dark-skinned person sitting in front of a bright window turns into a silhouette, what do you do?

• A) Leave the exposure set for the window
• B) Build the exposure for the face, add light inside, or seat the person to the side of the window
• C) Stop down the aperture
• D) Taking the window out of the frame is a must

Answers

1. B — The edges of the frame make it harder for the gaze to slide out, and tend to steer it to the scene inside.
2. A — A branch that surrounds the subject from only one edge is a partial frame.
3. C — When the exposure is built for the bright inside, the dark frame stays even darker; this often strengthens the frame.
4. B — The window's brightness pulls the metering to itself; exposing for the face, or bringing light to the face, makes it readable.

Summary card

• Door, window, arch, branch: a second frame that comes from the scene.
• It gathers the gaze inward, adds depth and context; these are tendencies, not rules.
• Full or partial; a foreground frame can be a soft patch.
• The frame shouldn't draw more attention than the subject or squeeze it.
• Build the exposure for the person inside; a face in front of a window should be readable on every skin.

Bridge to the next lesson

While looking in through the workshop's door, you saw the wooden spoons lined up row after row on the shelves at the back; all the same shape, the same light color, only one painted red. After following the rhythm of these rows, the eye went straight to that red spoon. Why do repeating things hypnotize us? The next lesson talks about symmetry, pattern and rhythm, and how a single element that breaks a pattern draws the gaze to itself.