Photo Tips: Take the Long Shot
You get the people, the faces, the action and all the details; just don’t forget to shoot the scenery! Take the long shot!
Don’t forget the setting. Close ups of flowers and bugs you’ve been shooting in the national park won’t mean as much without pictures of the mountains or deserts where you found them. These long shots add context and move your story along and sometimes they can even be the story.
So let me show you how I took a few of my long shots to add to my fun shots of my subjects and in turn add to my story and the layout.
This week’s featured die:
Mosaic Moments Heart and Flower Die Set
Mosaic Moments Heart Die sets
We actually have many heart dies in our collection to choose from and I’ll add a few heart embellishments using the 1×3 heart die from the Hearts and Flower Die Set. I’m also going to add a pocket to my center square so I’ll need the Nested Pocket Die to add a little more journaling. Dies from sets A, B, C were used to cut the photos to fit the pattern.
Mosaic Moments Water Color Collection Grid Papers
I’ve decided to use the blue grid from our Water Color collection of 12”x 12” grid papers to build my layout. For the accents, Lawn Fawn’s Watercolor Wishes will keep that pretty look of watercolors and create a soft look to the accent pieces and journal blocks. I know aqua blue hearts may be a bit unusual but I’m okay with trying somethings different.
Mosaic Moments Take the Long Shot Heart & Flower Die Set
Mosaic Moments Take the Long Shot Heart & Flower Die Set
Mosaic Moments Pattern #352 a symmetrical pattern
The Pattern this week is a symmetrical pattern #352. It will be filled with 4 – 3×5 photos, 2 – 2×3 photos, 4 – 1×3 heart strips and a center 4×4 for journaling.
Mosaic Moments Take the Long Shot Heart & Flower Die Set
My top two and middle two photos are my long shots. They begin to tell my story. It’s a story about my son and his niece taking a walk together, hand in hand. Izzy was two years old at the time and Uncle Andrew was her hero. This was a routine day checking on plants at the boss’s house while he was gone and she was along for the ride.
I stood back and watched as they headed off to the hammock and lakeside. Looking back, the lush surroundings remind me of the peaceful surroundings and quiet of the day. I watched him lift her and drop her into the swinging net, and give her a push. These are my long shots. The lakeside and trees are important identifiers to our location and add context to where we were and why.
Then I close in on the action and see at first she’s lying stiffly, unsure of the constant movement of the hammock. As he eases her back and forth she relaxes a bit, but her eyes don’t leave his face, she trusts him totally. Eventually he climbs in next to her and all is good and the smiles are ear to ear! These close ups make great photos on their own, but without the long shots to fill in the details of the long walk hand in hand of a little girl and the guy she adores and the big kid that is loving his new role as an uncle, a piece of the story is missing.
This story stands on its own very nicely, but as I was working on it I couldn’t help but remember all my connections to this property as a child before it was developed then later when it sold and included those remembrances on a tag in a pocket (Nested Pocket Die Set) behind the journaling on the center block. I have no other photos to include of those times, just the memories and the connections and maybe someday the kids, especially Andrew, will see God’s hand on our lives through them. It’s one of those little details I wish I had of my ancestor’s lives so this is where I’ve chosen to put it. (We R Memory Keeper’s Tab Punch Board was used for creating the tag.)
Mosaic Moments Take the Long Shot Nested Pocket Die Set
Mosaic Moments Take the Long Shot Nested Pocket Die Set
Mosaic Moments Take the Long Shot Nested Pocket Die Set
So next time you are out shooting photos covering an event or the grand vacation tour, don’t forget to take those long shots, hold back from the crowd and observe what’s going on take a few photos and watch to see what develops. Follow the action. Go for the big picture before you focus in on the details.
If it’s scenic think ahead, plan for a panoramic view with a series of snaps as you move your camera across the view. Try to capture all that your eyes see and you may be surprised at the things you will see once your photos are developed that you didn’t notice at the time.
We all take photos on the fly, but sometimes it pays to stop and think and plan how you want to record your important events and how you want to tell your story when it comes to putting it in your scrapbook albums. Instead of just a bunch of photos you’ll find yourself telling an interesting story, a piece of your history, not just another day. I think you’ll find that your skills improve and your photos will too.
Happy Snapping!
Andrea Fisher