Real-world examples of using color and light in framing photography

Everyday examples of using color and light in framing photography

Let’s start with scenes you can actually go out and shoot this week. The best examples of using color and light in framing photography aren’t rare or fancy; they’re often hiding in plain sight.

Think of a person standing in a subway entrance at dusk. The street behind them is already getting dark, but the inside of the station is flooded with warm yellow light. If you stand back and line up your shot so the glowing doorway surrounds the person, the lit doorway becomes a natural frame. The contrast between the warm interior light and the cool blue-gray street pulls your eye straight to the subject.

Another example of using color and light in framing photography: a kid standing at a window on a cloudy afternoon. The room is dim, but the window is bright. If you expose for the child’s face, the window frame and the strip of light on the wall create a soft, glowing border around them. The light doesn’t just illuminate; it literally shapes the frame.

These are the kinds of real examples you’ll start to notice everywhere once you train your eye to see color and light as framing tools, not just background decoration.

Using contrasting colors to build a frame around your subject

Color contrast is one of the most reliable examples of using color and light in framing photography. You’re basically using one color to fence in another.

Picture someone in a bright red jacket walking past a wall painted deep teal. If you wait until they pass through a doorway or a painted arch, you get a double win: the architectural shape frames them, and the color contrast between red and teal makes them pop. Your viewer’s eye goes straight to the person because the color combination is so strong.

Another example of this color framing trick shows up in street photography. Imagine a cyclist wearing a yellow helmet passing under a blue overpass. If you time your shot so that the cyclist is centered under a patch of rich blue paint, the blue arc of the bridge becomes a color frame around that bright yellow point.

You can also reverse the idea: use neutral colors to frame a bold subject. A dancer in a vivid purple dress in the middle of a gray parking garage, framed by concrete pillars. The pillars are dull on purpose; they’re the quiet frame that makes the color sing.

Color psychology research from places like the National Institutes of Health has shown that certain color combinations attract attention more quickly than others, especially complementary pairs like blue/orange or red/green (NIH overview of color perception). You can lean into that science when you’re planning your color frames.

Light as an invisible frame: spotlights, pools, and pockets

Some of the best examples of using color and light in framing photography don’t rely on physical borders at all. Instead, the light itself creates the frame.

Imagine a musician on stage. The background is dark, but a single spotlight creates a bright circle around them. If you expose for the bright area, everything outside that pool of light falls into deep shadow. The lit area becomes a circular frame, even though there’s no physical object there.

You’ll see similar effects in everyday life:

• A streetlamp casting a cone of light on wet pavement at night. If someone walks through that cone, their body is framed by the bright patch on the ground and the darker surroundings.
• Afternoon sun hitting a small rectangle on the floor through a skylight. If you ask your subject to step into that rectangle, the patch of light becomes a crisp, geometric frame.

Photographers and vision scientists often talk about “figure and ground” — what stands out versus what recedes. The U.S. National Eye Institute has information on how contrast and brightness help us separate objects from their surroundings (NEI, How the Eye Sees). You’re using that same principle when you let light carve out a subject and frame them in brightness.

Warm vs cool light: color temperature as a framing tool

Color temperature — warm versus cool light — may be the most underrated example of using color and light in framing photography. You don’t always need bold red or neon green to create a frame; sometimes it’s just about warm vs cool.

Picture a couple sitting in a café at night. Inside, the light is warm and golden. Outside, the street is lit by cool, bluish lamps. If you stand outside and shoot inward, the café window becomes a literal frame, and the warm light inside becomes a color temperature frame inside that. The couple is wrapped in warmth while the outside world feels cooler and distant.

Flip that around for another example. You’re indoors, looking out at someone standing in the blue hour light right after sunset. The room behind them is warm, but you expose for the cool outdoor light. The doorframe or window surrounds them, and the cool color of the evening air isolates them from the warmer interior.

In 2024 and 2025, you’ll see smartphone camera apps and editing tools leaning heavily into warm/cool sliders and AI-powered white balance. Instead of letting the phone decide, think of those tools as a way to strengthen your frame. You can cool down the background slightly and warm up your subject, subtly building a color temperature frame without going cartoonish.

Real examples of using color and light in framing photography outdoors

Outdoor scenes give you some of the easiest real examples of using color and light in framing photography, because the sun is doing half the work for you.

One classic example: a person standing under a tree canopy at midday. The dappled patches of light around them are bright, but their face is in open shade. If you position yourself so the brightest patches form a loose circle or arch behind them, those spots of light become a textured frame.

At golden hour, the possibilities multiply. Imagine a runner on a path, with the low sun behind them. The backlight creates a glowing rim around their body and hair. If you shoot from a slightly lower angle, tree trunks and the path edges form dark vertical and horizontal lines, while the sun flare wraps around the runner. The combination of warm color and directional light turns the whole scene into a frame.

On the beach at sunset, you can use silhouettes as another example of using color and light in framing photography. Place your subject between two dark rock formations. Expose for the sky so the rocks go nearly black. The gradient of orange and pink behind them becomes a soft color frame, and the rocks are the hard, dark edges.

Even bad weather helps. On a foggy morning, streetlights create glowing orbs with soft halos. If you place your subject inside one of those halos and let the rest of the street fade into gray, the light halo becomes a dreamy frame.

Urban examples: neon, screens, and modern light sources

City environments are packed with modern examples of using color and light in framing photography, especially with neon signs and digital screens.

Imagine a portrait taken in front of a convenience store at night. The interior is lit with harsh white fluorescents, but the sign above the door glows red. If you step close and angle your camera so the red sign’s light spills onto your subject’s face, that colored light becomes a frame within the frame. It separates them from the cooler mixed light of the street.

Another urban example: someone standing in a tunnel lined with LED strips. The lights might alternate blue and magenta. If you place your subject in the center and let the repeating lines of colored light converge behind them, you get a framed corridor of color leading straight to their face.

You’ll also see photographers in 2024–2025 using laptop screens, tablets, and even smart TV ambient light as framing tools. Put your subject in a dark room, open a bright webpage on a laptop, and hold it just out of frame. The screen casts a soft, colored glow that can act like a spotlight frame around the face, especially if the background stays dark.

These are some of the best examples of how modern light sources can frame a subject without any traditional props or architecture.

Using reflections and shadows as color and light frames

Reflections and shadows give you more subtle examples of using color and light in framing photography, and they’re surprisingly accessible.

Picture a rainy city sidewalk at night. Neon signs reflect in the puddles, painting streaks of red, blue, and green on the ground. If you crouch low and shoot across a puddle, you can frame your subject between two bands of reflected color. The reflections become your color frame, even though the light source is above and behind you.

Shadows work in a similar way. Midday sun casting strong shadows from a metal fence can create repeating stripes on the ground or wall. If you position your subject so they stand inside a “window” of light between the shadow stripes, those dark bands act like a frame.

You can also use interior reflections. Think of a person sitting by a café window. The reflection of the street overlays the scene, with car lights and signs floating around their face. If you shift your angle until the brightest reflection forms a halo or rough border around the subject, you’ve built a layered light frame without touching a single prop.

Practical tips for creating your own examples of using color and light in framing photography

Once you start seeing color and light as framing tools, you can create your own real examples almost anywhere. A few habits make this easier.

First, scan for edges of light. When you walk into a room, notice where light stops and shadow begins: doorways, window edges, patches on the floor. Those edges are ready-made frames. Ask your subject to step just inside or just outside those borders.

Second, pay attention to color blocks. Walls, signs, painted doors, even parked cars can create solid color areas. Try placing your subject where one color surrounds them on three sides — that’s often enough to feel like a frame.

Third, control exposure on purpose. If you’re on a phone, tap on the subject’s face and drag the exposure slider down slightly. Darkening the surroundings lets the bright areas or strong colors feel more like a frame. If you’re on a camera, use exposure compensation to protect the highlights on your subject and let less important areas fall into shadow.

Finally, don’t be afraid of editing. Simple tweaks to saturation, contrast, and white balance can strengthen the color and light frame you already built in-camera. The goal is not to fake a scene, but to emphasize what your eye saw in the moment.

If you want to go deeper on how our eyes respond to light and contrast, organizations like the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the National Eye Institute share accessible explanations of vision and brightness perception (AAO, How the Eye Works, NEI resources). Understanding how viewers see helps you design stronger frames.

FAQ: examples of using color and light in framing photography

Q: What are some easy examples of using color and light in framing photography at home?
Look for window light on a cloudy day. Stand your subject just inside the window frame so the bright opening surrounds them. Use a darker room behind them so the window becomes a natural light frame. You can also use a TV or computer screen in a dark room to cast a soft glow on their face while the rest of the room falls into shadow.

Q: Can you give an example of using color to frame a subject without strong light contrast?
Yes. Think of a person in a bright yellow shirt standing in front of a wall painted deep blue. Even if the light is flat, the complementary colors create a strong visual frame. If you position them inside a doorway or between two pillars, the shape plus the color contrast does the framing.

Q: Are phone cameras good enough for these techniques?
Absolutely. Most modern phones handle mixed lighting and color very well. The examples of using color and light in framing photography in this article can all be done with a phone: backlit windows, neon signs, puddle reflections, and warm indoor vs cool outdoor scenes. The real skill is in noticing the light and color, not in owning an expensive camera.

Q: How can I practice finding real examples of these framing techniques?
Pick one idea at a time. Spend a week looking only for doorways with different colors or light levels inside and outside. The next week, hunt for reflections at night. Treat each outing like a small assignment. Over time, you’ll build your own mental library of real examples of using color and light in framing photography.

Q: Do I need to understand color theory to use these techniques?
You don’t need a formal course, but a basic sense of which colors contrast or harmonize helps. Resources from art and design programs, such as university visual arts departments, often share free introductions to color theory that translate well to photography.

When you start seeing these everyday scenes as examples of using color and light in framing photography, your images immediately feel more intentional. You’re not just pointing the camera at something interesting; you’re building a visual doorway and inviting the viewer to step through it, exactly where you want their eyes to go.