There are a number of different ways to add a little extra punch to your pictures. One of them is emphasis thru framing and is the topic for this month's photo challenge. When I use the term "framing" I am not talking about the frames that are made out of wood and hang on your wall. It is a technique used by photographers to lead the viewers' eyes to what they want them to see in the photo.

In photography, your subject can take up most of the photo, or it can be a tiny image. The use of framing draws attention to the subject and enhances the overall theme. It can be used in all types of images, though it is most commonly used in both travel and architectural photography.

When you photograph a landscape for instance, adding something in the foreground serves to emphasize the distance from where you are (near) to the landscape beyond(far). Our brains process the space between them by using a relative size comparison.

Don't think of framing as something that has to be present on the sides or top and bottom of your photo. Framing can be a harmonious background that causes the subject to stand out against it or it can be as simple as an identifiable shape in the foreground.

There are many ways to accomplish framing and these are just a few of them. I like to thumb through magazines to see how many images that I can find that use framing as a technique for emphasizing the subject. It is a great way to open your eye to all the possibilities around you.