There’s are many reasons why you may want to use the ‘fill the frame’ technique but what exactly is it?  In photography terms, the frame refers to the edges of the photograph or your cameras viewfinder, so filling the frame means to make the subject(s) a significant part of your final photograph.  For example…

1. Remove a distracting background – Getting in closer and filling the frame with your subject(s) can be a great way to stop objects (or even people!) from drawing the eye away from from the main focus of the image.  The first shot (left image) was taken standing back from the new parents and their gorgeous baby, a precious moment but your eye is automatically drawn to the black car across the road, ruining the moment somewhat!  In the second image (right), you can see that by taking a couple of steps closer to the subjects, not only do we lose that distracting scene beyond the window but the moment takes on a new intimacy and the focus is well and truly on the star of the show.

2. Focus on the details – There’s nothing like capturing the details of your newborn baby to create some beautiful images.  Babies change so quickly, after the whirlwind of those first weeks and months their tiny features develop so much, their new baby wrinkles fill out, those tiny toes grow and it’s easy to forget that your smooth chubby little three month old had such soft downy hair or fingernails so tiny you couldn’t bring yourself to trim them.  These are some of the most powerful images for parents, bringing those moments back to life for years to come. Zoom lenses are great for these type of shots and it’s fun to experiment.

3. Wow factor – Eyes are a great focus for images with wow factor to make stunning art of your child, especially when printed big. Imagine capturing your child’s gorgeous face with those big eyes full of hopes and dreams to come (or hopes of ice cream!), printed onto a huge canvas for your home, I promise you it will be the talking point when your guests visit!

4. Capturing emotion – This is one of my favourites.  Not everyone likes to be photographed up close but if you can do it, you can capture some real, true emotion. By getting your subject to interact with someone, you don’t have to capture both people in the frame but having an expression of love, joy, thoughtfulness or even sadness as the main focus of your image can be incredibly powerful.

5. Just because your child is so darn cute – Sometimes it’s great just to get those gorgeous wide eyes and the cutest baby face while you can! Have fun, I’d love to see what you create! x