Working the frame
For other examples:
Marc Asnin p. 13
Lewis Baltz p. 27
Joel Sternfeld p. 68
I love this picture by Lars Tunbjörk. I love the fact that no single part is beautiful. The beauty comes from everything working together. Nothing is out of place. Nothing seems incidental.
You can’t ‘snap’ pictures like this. They’re the result of knowing exactly what’s going on in every part of your frame.
When lining up your shot, it’s your subtle movements that will make everything slot into place – a little lower, a touch to the left, a couple of steps back. These minor adjustments ensure the foreground fencepost is absolutely vertical. They mean the passing taxi is framed rather than cut in two. They make the vivid tapestry of colours balance each other, without anything becoming too overpowering. They ensure nothing is creeping into the frame that doesn’t belong.
When composing your image avoid ‘passive’ areas that don’t add much.
Just when you think you’re ready to take your picture, pause for a moment and glance around your frame – is everything where it should be? Is the composition working as a whole? If you’re not quite nailing it, change position – even very slightly – and keep an eye on how all the elements move around in relation to each other.