Make Pictures that are Larger than the Frame - Michael Davis - Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)

Recently stumbled across a great blog (*) hosted by Michael Davis (*), a Professional Picture Editor (*). Lots of great insights there for any budding photographer.

The following is an extract from a post, that caught my attention:

You can engage people who look at your work more dimensionally if you decide whether to make the picture larger than the frame. [..]

The notion is pretty straightforward but explaining it is not so easy.

The idea is that when people’s minds complete aspects of a photograph that don’t appear within the frame, the experience of looking at the photograph is more dimensional than when everything fits within the frame.

From Make Pictures that are Larger than the Frame (*) by Michael Davis (*) [Tue 29 Nov 2011]

I think the first photo below demonstrates the dimensionality that Michael talks about above. The rear part of the car on the left hand side of the frame and the reflective puddle leading in from the bottom of the frame, being the elements needing completion.

I did spend a bit of time in this car park photographing the surrounding buildings. As I sit here looking back at that time in the car park, I can see that I experimented with different framings, trying to find something that was stronger than the others.

Maybe this is a good way to think about composing a photo - be a bit looser in the framing and make pictures that are larger than the frame (*). Thanks Michael.

Mural (3 of 3) - Sainte-Catherine St / Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)
Mural (2 of 3) - Sainte-Catherine St / Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)
Mural (1 of 3) - Sainte-Catherine St / Montreal (Thu 25 Aug 2011)
PS - If you look at the first two photos close enough you will be rewarded with the tiny detail that caught my eye - it was not the giant mural, but something much smaller that resonated with the mural. Will show this detail in a later post.