How Serge Ramelli's Frame Within a Frame Technique Quietly Transforms a Flat Travel Portrait

How Serge Ramelli's Frame Within a Frame Technique Quietly Transforms a Flat Travel Portrait

Last month I was editing a set of outdoor portraits shot near a wrought-iron archway in downtown Portland, and something felt off. The subject was sharp, the light was decent, but the images kept reading as snapshots rather than photographs. I kept adding contrast, pulling shadows, nudging the white balance. Nothing worked. Eventually I realized the problem wasn’t in the tones at all. It was the framing. The archway was there, but I hadn’t actually used it.