Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Diptych Fun

by Dotti



Spring and summer are my favorite times for taking photos. I love it when the earth begins to breathe again after a winter’s nap, I love it when the flowers begin to bloom in our garden, I love it when we can get outdoors and do more things. At least I love these things until about mid-August.



You see, that’s when the garden begins to dry up, the flowers lose their luster; it’s too hot and humid to want to be outdoors very much. And it’s also the time of year my camera becomes very unhappy.

But this year, my friend Susan Licht came to my rescue. She suggested a #weekofdiptychs photo adventure. This was just what the doctor ordered for my camera and me! I joined in with great gusto, turning out at least one diptych a day.

It was a great exercise in learning to see and think differently about my photography. My natural inclination is to shoot in landscape but when I began my diptychs, I wanted to shoot in portrait so I could do side-by-side diptychs. But as my diptych skills improved, I realized I was limiting myself. There are many different ways to make diptychs and many different things to communicate with diptychs.

A diptych can be used to remember an ordinary day’s outing that turned into a wee adventure when a storm blew up and you had no umbrella.



 Diptychs might tell about common colors or shapes and they don’t always need to be symmetrical.



One of the fun things I found to do with diptychs is a detail photo next to a wider photo.



And diptychs don’t always need to be side-by-side.



I created my diptychs in the Lightroom print module. I already had a template or two and I created more as I processed these photos. You can also create your own diptychs templates in Photoshop Elements or Photoshop. Another resource for diptych templates as well as storyboard templates, etc., is Coffee Shop Blog.

Now, here comes the fun part! Susan is “hosting” another diptych get-together for autumn, the week of October 17. It’s already on my calendar and I hope you’ll put it on yours. The hashtag is the same, #weekofdiptychs and you can share in any or all of these places, Facebook, Instagram or Flickr. Just be sure to use the hashtag.

I can’t wait to see what beautiful diptychs you create and share with us. It’s going to be fun!

8 comments:

Sandra said...

What beautiful diptychs. I especially love the first one which has a feel of late summer to it!

Carol said...

I've been following along as you did this, and its been great. These are terrific examples. I may have to give it a try!

AFishGirl said...

I want to go to that butcher bbq place with you!!!! Like NOW!!!! What a joy to have FOL posts appearing again. Thank you, FOL women, thank you, thank you. I also have been following these diptychs on other media and wow, it is a whole new way of seeing and showing, I really like the one with the bowl and flowers and bottle. I sure wish you were here to show me how to do them. I'm going to Light Room to see if I can find it and following your other leads to try to get a template. This site is a ray of sunshine.

Deanna said...

Fun post Dotti. And I second the idea to get your diptych templates from the coffee shop blog and they are free. You can also call on instagram as a backup or make your own. I may have to join you and Susan for the challenge in October. You have given us some great examples.

kelly said...

I absolutely loved following along with your diptychs. Fresh, new ways of seeing...always an inspiration!

terriporter said...

Loved your week of diptychs and am looking forward to more in October! I especially love the ones that feature a close-up and wider angle shot. Thanks for all the info on how to create them. I just might have to join in next time!

Focusing on Life said...

I was a follower of your diptychs, too. They were well done and beautiful! My favorite is the first one. The colors and your perspective are wonderful. I'm thinking the week in October sounds good. I'll mark my calendar, too.

Cathy H. said...

The comment above is from me! I was working on a blog post and forgot to sign out!

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