This week Amy features the use of natural and artificial frames to highlight our subjects. This is a technique I’ve used on occasion to help focus attention on the subject. For more details on the challenge, you can read Amy’s post here. In my opening example, near Mount Rushmore, you will find the Iron Mountain Highway. Along the way there are stops where natural and man-made frames highlight the famous mountain.

At another point on the highway, if you stand on the road and look back through one of the rock tunnels, you’ll see Mount Rushmore perfectly framed in the center of the tunnel. All of the focus on the mountain was due to the creators of the highway which winds its way on a scenic journey. When you visit Rushmore, don’t forget to take a ride on the Iron Mountain Highway and see how many opportunities to view the presidents that you can find.

In Georgetown, Colorado, you can ride a steam train through the mountains. At the destination, there is no turnaround for the train. The engineer backs the engine on a siding and connects to the other end of the train. From there the engine is operated in reverse to bring the train back to Georgetown. I captured this image as the engineer transited on the siding from one end of the train to the other.

In San Antonio Texas, the famed River Walk provides plenty of opportunities for framing shots. As we traveled on a cruise, every bridge presented a framing opportunity. In this example, a colorful restaurant patio was framed by the bridge and the reflection of the colorful umbrellas.

In the image above, the U.S. Capitol is framed by two of the many columns holding the portico of the Supreme Court Building.

For my final example, I happened upon an unusual set of reflections to view the harbor in Long Beach, California. Prior to our departure on a recent cruise out of Long Beach Harbor, I wandered around the Norwegian Star looking for photo opportunities, I glanced up at the ship’s bridge deck. The windows on the bridge are heavily tinted and angle around a wide viewpoint so that the Captain and crew have a commanding view of the area in front of the ship. The tinting in the window created reflections of the scene around the ship. Each window presented a different image due to it’s specific angle of reflection based upon where I was standing.

Finding objects to help frame your subject is a great tool for drawing attention to your subject. In most browsers, you can click on any of the images to get a better view of that photo.

John Steiner