I love the creative energy at an art school.  I was recently a guest lecturer at California College of the Arts and walked the campus with students looking for plants to photograph and saw this empty frame hanging in a tree.

Empty frame hanging in tree at California College of Arts

I assume whoever hung it was very careful, because tit perfectly frames the branches of the tree behind.

I often show students the simple framing tool of one’s own hands hands-framingand also explain that the camera viewfinder itself is a framing device.

In some workshops I actually set up 4′ x 8′ frames in the garden for students to look through in composing a scene, wanting the exact effect found here at the art school.

The frame has been hung so well I am tempted to go one step farther, explaining how the branches are composed with shape and balance.

Before and After Slider

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Framing and Composition is a chapter in Think Like A Camera

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and also its own mini-ebook available for $1.99 in iTunes of Google Play