So! You have a camera and you want to keep working on your craft. I see you! I was you! 

The very best way to improve is to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! But, I also know that it can sometimes be overwhelming deciding where to start. That’s where having a purpose to your shooting can help. Enter…..creativity exerices.

Creativity Exercise: Diptychs

Providing environment and context is generally the starting point in storytelling, but to dig a bit deeper we need to tell the details story too.

But not just random details, the details we include have to have meaning to the overall story and help support the narrative.

Each detail image should be strong enough to stand on its own, but when paired with a wider image, it provides more context.

Think of the leading actor in a movie and the supporting actor. Each have good performances on their own (even award-worthy), but together, they make the movie.

The easiest way to start this exercise is to think about one image from far back and one from close up. The detail can be the weather, the mood, a sign, a close of up something within the wider image, etc. Then, as you get more comfortable thinking in diptychs, think about other ways you can use complimentary images to support each other.

Think about every image you take this week needing a complimentary image. Tell me the story and then reinforce it! 

If you do shoot client sessions, diptychs can be really handy to always have in the back of your brain as you’re shooting as they can work really well in album layouts. When I’m shooting a session I do try and think in terms of complementary images that will work well together on a full-page spread.

Once you have your 2 images, you can put them together in Photoshop or In the Lightroom print module so that you can see them together. Sometimes you’ll find that images look so good together, you can even print them as a single print.

-Kelly