composition square?

im looking for the name of the tool that is the sized of a credit card and you hold it up and look through it to frame a picture before you take the picture with your camera.

it helps with composition

hold your thumbs against your other hands pointer finger

I've simply made a set of my own in thick card, but I prefer bigger, so I can use them a distance from my face and give my aging eyes a chance.

Lowner wrote in post #14174425
I've simply made a set of my own in thick card, but I prefer bigger, so I can use them a distance from my face and give my aging eyes a chance.

do you know what the name of it is

The name of what?

the thing you made

Brandman wrote in post #14174893
do you know what the name of it is

Brandman - perhaps this would be a "visual crop" or "field of view crop?" I'm curious about it's purpose though......wouldn't it be just as easy to look through the camera's viewfinder?

Brandman wrote in post #14175676
the thing you made

No idea.

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote in post #14175730
An artist friend of mine has something that sounds like that and is called a 'viewcatcher'. Is that the right sort of thing?

Sounds about right. If so, this is what it looks like:

http://cdn.dickblick.c​om …9/95/04995-1000-3ww-l.jpg

Is that what you're looking for? Btw - welcome to POTN.

kjonnnn wrote in post #14175820
Maybe a dumb question, if you're doing it right before you take the picture, can't you just look through the viewfinder?

Yes, I do that of course. But the rectangle of card helps the thinking process AND helps me make sure I study the whole scene before I break out the tripod, cable release, ND filters etc, etc.

I've gone one stage father in fact. I have my cards with clear film in the window, on the window is printed one of several different composition aids. Rule of thirds of course, but I've also got curly line ones amonst others - about 4 different styles.

i talked to a guy at my local camera shop and he said that it was called a composition guide. the reason why i want to get one is to become a better photographer. I want to slow down and really think about the composition of my shot instead of machine gunning alot of pics. the thing im talking about has a table on it telling you how far away to hold it from you eye to give you the focal length. it looks very similar to that viewcather

Brandman wrote in post #14176209
i talked to a guy at my local camera shop and he said that it was called a composition guide. the reason why i want to get one is to become a better photographer. I want to slow down and really think about the composition of my shot instead of machine gunning alot of pics. the thing im talking about has a table on it telling you how far away to hold it from you eye to give you the focal length. it looks very similar to that viewcather

If you feel it will help then by all means make the purchase.

But more than that, as you indicated why don't you just slow down and contemplate the landscape before even bringing the viewfinder - or anything else - to your eye? Slowing down is a mental thing.... an attitude towards your representation of the world when you pick up a camera. You shouldn't feel compelled to rush through or "machine gun" the image captures, unless of course you're doing action photography.

I imagine this has a lot of value if you're using several fixed focal lengths, so maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way - I use mostly zooms for convenience, plus I like to travel light .

I've heard of them referred to as viewing or framing cards. Ansel Adams was said to use them with his students. You can just get some mat board and cut one out yourself.

http://froknowsphoto.b​igcartel.com …-key-chains-free-shipping

3 pack for $10