Light and Lens

Chapter 10

Seeing with a Camera

THE FRAMING EFFECT: VIEWPOINT

One of the fundamental tasks of any imagemaker is to define what the exact subject of the picture is going to be. The capacity to compose succinctly is what gives clarity and cohesion to a maker’s experience. The decisions we make are sensitive to how choices are presented or framed. Being aware that this “framing effect” can influence decision-making, one should be attentive to the viewpoint, or vantage point, for it is a crucial basic compositional device that determines how an image is presented and in turn received by viewers. It is such an elementary ingredient that it is often taken for granted and ignored. The angle of view lets an imagemaker control balance, content, light, ...