NZPhotographer Issue 55, May 2022

Chicago by Fairlie Atkinson
my shot. We lowered the stage lights and popped on
some red spotlights. I didn’t want a lot of noise in my
image and knew I would need a high ISO and low f
stop, and slow shutter speed in the low light, but I chose
to shoot on 100 shutter speed, f4.5 and the ISO on 6400
and increased the contrast later in-post.
I essentially used the shadow to frame the image - note
an even amount of shadow on the top and bottom of
the image and two partial shadows of performers on
the side. The shadow from the scaffolding created the
shadow at the bottom, and the strip holding the lights
at the top provided an equal amount of shadow. I did
not see this until I looked through my camera viewfinder.
Looking through the lens and moving it around allowed
me to find a frame for my subjects that I had not seen
just by sitting in the theatre and looking around.
Have you seen people making a rectangle with both
of their thumbs and forefingers and peering through
it? It’s the same concept when you sweep the scene
with your eye looking through the viewfinder. You’re
looking for something to frame your subject. And that
is the essence of framing an image. You’re looking
to emphasise your subject, add depth to your image
and create those nice lines and curves in your photo.
Work on improving your framing this month by trying
the following:
• Get someone to create a frame with their fingers
and shoot your subject through their fingers. Try
to keep not only the fingers in focus but also the
subject.
• Have a look at Friedlander’s work. See if you can
achieve a mirror or window shot where everything
is in sharp focus and then another one where just
the image in the mirror is in focus.
• Get out and about and try and take an image
where something natural like foliage or branches is
providing a frame. Have a look at Ansel Adams’s
work for inspiration.
• Have a go at shooting a subject through a door
frame, window, or through the bars on a fence,
building, or bridge. See Yasuhiro Ishimoto for
inspiration.
Remember, photography is not just about the
technical aspects like ISO, aperture, and shutter
speed. Neither does it need to be governed by your
equipment. You can take a really nice image if the
framing is good.
40 May 2022 NZPhotographer