Diptych Fun

by Dotti

Spoiler Alert: This post contains a lot of flower pictures.

I have always loved diptychs, triptychs and storyboards. Used effectively, they can be a lot of fun for photographer and viewer alike. However I usually thought about them after the shot rather than before. Then a couple of weeks ago, I came across a post on Mortal Muses with some ideas that sounded fun. Although this particular post was focused on mobile photography, I think it’s a great resource for conventional photography.

The writer suggested using portrait orientation for diptychs for a more pleasing composition than say two landscape orientation photos.Since I am a person who instinctively shoots in landscape and I have to remind myself often to rotate my camera, this sounded like a great way to get me out of my comfort zone.

Would this idea help me see things differently than I do at first glance, to contemplate more before I press the shutter? The idea of shooting with the objective of making a diptych also challenged what I looked for and how I looked at it. And … it proved to be quite a lot of fun.

With my garden finally beginning to bloom, I didn’t have to travel very far to get some photo ops. These are photos I might normally have taken in landscape mode but consciously looking for portrait orientation allowed me to see my garden through different eyes. Every spring I’ve tried to capture the beautiful scene created by our red tulips beneath the river birch tree … in landscape, of course. And, I’ve never been happy. Rotating my camera made a huge difference. I was able to capture the interesting bark of the tree while still showcasing the lovely red tulips. 

While I’d always admired photographers who showed opposing points of view such as I did in this photo with the blue bottle, it was something I didn’t practice myself. Now I wonder: why? I think I needed someone to suggest the idea to me so that I could own it myself.

Then, just this past Friday, I got an email from Texas Chicks (which I learned about from our own Linda Owens) with yet more good information and ideas about … storytelling with diptychs and triptychs. Isn’t it funny how that happens? Two weeks ago this subject was not anywhere on my radar. All of a sudden, it’s all around me. Perhaps somebody is trying to tell me something …

Anyhow, if you need a fresh perspective for your photos, you might want to try this idea. My own experience has been a sense of renewed energy and excitement about enjoying time with my camera after the long winter. And you can use this technique for much more than flowers. There are portraits …

and memories of ordinary times of your life …

and so many more moments that can be captured this way, all the while giving more depth and meaning to your storytelling and memory making. I think it’s exciting. How about you?