Travel theme: Frame

During my recent visit to the Rock of Dunamase I spent ages shooting photos through chinks and windows in ruined walls which created interesting frames for the views beyond. I do love a good framing opportunity and admit I don’t seek them out often enough. There are always windows. tunnels, doorways, low hanging branches and strategically positioned people and trees just begging to be used as a frame to draw attention to the main subject of your photo. Frames can add layers and depth, give a photo context and also add mystery; what lies hidden can fire the imagination and draw the viewer in. Here are a few framed photos I’ve taken on my travels, beginning with a very literal frame – looking out an ancient window in the walls of the lighthouse at Hook Head.

An extraordinary garden design, perfectly framing the dome of St. Peter’s basilica in Vatican City – even more extraordinary, the whole vista is framed by the tiniest of apertures – a solitary keyhole in a gate to the Villa del Priorato dei Cavalieri di Malta on top of the Aventine in Rome – through which this photograph was taken.

My favourite kind of framing is to find reflections in puddles surrounded by interesting surfaces, in this case fabulous cobblestones in Rome’s Piazza Navona.

Light seeps into the entrance of Ape Cave on the slopes of Mount St Helens.

The fiery furnaces of Tacoma’s Museum of Glass – the glow was so fierce it make everything around it look black by comparison, creating the perfect frame around the delicate glass being formed in the fires.

Last but not least, the stunning windows carved into the car tunnels running through Zion National Park, framing just about the most glorious vistas on this planet. Can you tell how much this place moved me? Must. Go. Back.

I hope you’re in the frame of mind to come up with your own interpretation of this week’s theme. If you would like to join in (everyone’s welcome!) here’s what to do:

Create your own post and title it Travel theme: Frame
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xxx Ailsa

Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame. – Gilbert K. Chesterton

Each man should frame life so that at some future hour, fact and his dreaming meet. – Victor Hugo

About ailsapm

Hi there! I’m Ailsa Prideaux-Mooney. I’ve lived in many places, and travelled to many more. I had a lot of fun getting there and being there, wherever there happened to be at the time. I climbed a castle wall in Czesky Krumlov, abseiled down cliffs to go caving in the west of Ireland, slept on the beach in Paros, got chased by a swarm of bees in Vourvourou (ok that wasn’t fun, but it was exciting), learned flower arranging in Tokyo, found myself in the middle of a riot in Seoul, learned to snowboard in Salzburg, got lost in a labyrinth in Budapest and had my ice cream stolen by a gull in Cornwall. And I’m just getting started. If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read so far, I’d love you to follow my travelogue - wheresmybackpack.com - and remember, anyone who tries to tell you it’s a small world hasn’t tried to see it all.

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