July is coming to a close and with it, our month of creativity exercises. This week's assignment was a fun challenge for me. Our goal was to use layering as the compositional foundation of our images by consciously giving weight to the content in the foreground, middle and background of the shot in order to tell a story. I found it difficult to purposefully bridge the technical layering - intentionally creating three physical layers - with the story-telling elements.
By way of example, I specifically shot this first image with layering in mind. I like that the seals act as sentinels, framing my son as he stands in a pool of light. There is a clear background, middle and foreground and the subjects in the image layers are cohesive. However, there's not much of a story going on.
Whereas this shot, which I took a few weeks ago without this assignment in mind, more successfully accomplishes the storytelling layers I had intended to create this week. Small boy taking a break from a family meal - the foreground tells us not only where he is but the drinks and placemat signal my active presence in the scene, despite being behind the camera. The background shows the family and some detail of the restaurant and the middle layer is reserved for my subject. Good food for thought for future shooting. Please pop over to Who We Become - layer week is a good one!