In every photo you have taken, there is another picture. Or rather, lots of them. A very good exercise is to try and identify new scenes in a photo you have already taken. You can do that at home on your computer, or you can do it on site. Those are not the same, of course.
Sunny autumn colors... by Marius Waldal
Looking for pictures in a picture
Looking at a photo you have taken and trying to find other scenes is good for learning to see, but you lose the practical work involved. You can identify possible new scenes, but it is not likely that cropping it out will create a good picture. But nevertheless, it is a good exercise. But if the photo is shot someplace you can return to, you can do this as a preparation for possible scenes and angles for when you return.
Finding new scenes on-site
What you really want to do is practice this onsite. Find a scene that will likely contain lots of other possibilities. Take a photo of it, and then look for other scenes, moving closer. Whenever you find something that might make a nice picture, explore it in different angles, taking a photo from each angle. Now, can you move even closer to find another scene? Try this until you cannot move any closer, then “zoom out” (move back) again, trying to find another scene worth zooming into.
This may not create stunning photos all the way, but exhausting a scene is a great way to train your creative vision. And you might be surprised that you found a striking image where you hadn’t even bothered to look earlier!
See these photos for alternative shots from the same scene:
Do you have good examples of picture-in-picture photos? Please share them with us! And your insights are always welcome, of course!
framedreality.com is founded by Marius Waldal, long-time photo enthusiast.