A precise panoramic photography framing is quite difficult. Or mayby: to imagining a whole frame is difficult. You must pay attention to many things, get a carefull look, find the best possible composition. Many times you have to also consider the extent of the frame as it is impossible to see everything at once.
But, as for everything, it is always a way, a suitable equipment that will help achieve our task. It’s framing frame. It is a very simple, effective, lightweight and cheap to do by anyone with some manual skills.

The version of a frame simplest to implement is string loop of an appropriate length. A piece of string with knots tide in relevant distances, which should be on the corners of our frame. It takes only a few minutes to bind precisely such a loop, and have the tool ready to use. The loop we stretch on our fingers, with the knots which are the frame corners right on our fingers.

Advantages:

  • Price, or rather a lack of it
  • High mobility.A piece of string in your pocket, you can have always and everywhere whit yourself.
  • The possibility of placing on a single piece of string knots in different proportions of the frame.
  • Indestructibility.In the field anything can happen, the fall in the mud or water and a crushing. None of that, will do a slightest impression on the string.

Disadvantages:

  • Transparency. The string only creates a line, which gives us an idea of the frame, but it does not separates it from the background, we see everything that is out of the frame, which may interfere with the detailed work.
  • Average precision.Since each time we stretch it on our fingers, a repetition of the frame and its geometry is not perfect.

Another way to have the frame is a piece of cardboard with a hole cut in the middle, with a carefully designated proportions. The material that we need is a thicker piece of stiff cardboard, preferably at the surface in some way protected against any mechanical damage. A format does’n need to be large, the size of a sheet of paper is more than enough. We can use a simple piece of cardboard such as the back cover of a drawing block. This may be a needless cover of an old ring binder that is rigid and covered with a plastic which for us is a great option. If you do not have this at home, you can inquire at office supply stores if they do not have any damaged, for them needless and for us useful. A good solution is also a piece of paper laminated in service, it will give us the rigidity and mechanical strength, but Imust admit that I did not check how it would behave after cutting a hole. We can also go to a shop and ask for the appropriate cut of passe-partout. Important in this is that the cardboard is in a dark, neutral color, the best is black of course, but gray is also good. The white color is not bad, but I think that in the strong light it will reflect a lot of it and this could simply dazzle the eye.

Advantages:

  • Low price. This is already something more “serious” but still very cheap.
  • Precision and repeatability of the framing.Thanks to its rigidity and exact proportions of the frame, it gives us a repetition of framing.
  • No transparency. Since we have a several centimeters of frame around the hole, the frame cuts itself off from the background which allows for a close look and precise evaluation of the composition.
  • Hands free. In contrast to the string, we have one free hand. The cardboard frame is much more comfortable to use than the string. With one free hand, you can move your finger in the air, pointing to ourselves what is good and what is wrong in one or another framing.

Disadvantages:

  • Less mobility than the one of the string.But without any problem it is possible to take the frame in a hand, a backpack or a bag.
  • Susceptibility to damage. With time, corners begin to break down, bend, stratify. For this, any wetting or soiling can be devastating for our frame. That is why a good quality of the material from which is it made is important.

What gives us such a frame in our hand?

Following the designated route, walking around the city, being on a walk, we can see how interesting theme could look like, without assembling the equipment. We can look at what we are interested in meny times from various points, seeing final image in the frame at once. We have time, plenty of it to look at it and decide whether this picture is worth recording, or it is just nice.

During the trip to a new location it is a good at first go without any equipment, only with the frame. To walk, to look and to seek. Not loaded with equipment, we can go farther, be less tired, visit more and find more. And when we find, we go to that place at theright time to record a picture that is worth being recorded.

May the light be with you …