Given this week’s challenge by Patti to focus on details, my mind went back to a Toastmaster Photo Club I tried to start and a speech given by a professional photographer in the group. He talked and demonstrated about a different way to focus on details: finding the picture within the picture.
He showed us how to focus on the details of an image to find more images by cropping sections. His example was of a construction site. First he showed us the entire landscape of the site. Then he focused in on a worker, continued with more sections and ended with a pair of shoes. It was an amazing lesson.
Today I’m going to try the same with a landscape taken yesterday at Scotts Flat Reservoir in Nevada City. I was hiking with my daughter-in-law Jess and granddaughter Olivia. Here’s my picture within a picture.
First the landscape.
Next I isolated Jess, Olivia and their dog Hana.
My final capture from this landscape is of a log on the beach.
Although the official Toastmaster group disbanded, a few of us kept meeting until 14 months ago when the pandemic shut us down. We continued to share information, but I will never forget this lesson on details and finding the picture within the picture.
Slow Shutter Speed 
Certainly a great lesson. Thank you for sharing
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Thank you MM!
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Yes, I often carry two lenses, 24-70 and 70-200 to do this and not move much. I am lazy 😉 As for the reservoir, I have never been. It reminded me of the Donner lake a bit and some parts of Tahoe.
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It’s not far away. Not much beach area. Definitely a boating lake.
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I like this picture within the picture idea!
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Thanks Anne! It’s another way of looking at your compositions. I’m thinking if there are too many pictures, your image may be too cluttered.
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Anne, that is a REALLY clever idea for teaching how to make the most of a scene. The cropping would train your eye to look for the most interesting perspective, and also to see the various opportunities a scene presents. I loved that idea and promise to steal it for our photo club!
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Thank Tina! It’s something I could do given my current absence of photos. 😊
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Excellent series. Well done. But I’m stumped. (Nevermind.)
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Thanks John! Why are you stumped. I don’t understand “Nevermind!”
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Tree stump/roots on the beach. My usual bad joke. 😎
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John, not a bad joke, just my mind!
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Thank you, Anne for sharing your photography lesson. Your photos show the differece of focusing on details. I love the the log on the beach image.
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Thanks Amy!
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Nice! Great lesson. The tree stump would have gone unnoticed otherwise. Looks like it was fun to play around with. Donna
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Thank you Donna!
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Well done, Anne, that’s a good lesson. 😘
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Thank you Ana!
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This is wonderful, Anne! I’ve never thought of doing this with my photos. A great lesson. Thanks so much for sharing.
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Thank you Patti! And you’re welcome.
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Thank you for an excellent entry, Anne, and an excellent lesson! And the results of your experiment is again…details matter and are the components of the whole picture – but can also stand alone.
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Thank you Ann Christine! Glad to pass the lesson along.
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