Sometimes it’s fun to experiment and play around with your craft a little bit. It’s good to try new techniques; go in different directions; break some rules; see where it takes you. And, occasionally, that experimentation results in something surprising, something interesting, something compelling.
I’ll get a little technical in my discussion of this image: It was made from pictures taken during a scavenger hunt organized by my camera club. It is constructed out of four images of the same jungle gym in the play area of Klyde Warren Park in Dallas. I arrived at the park early enough to avoid needing to compete with children playing on the climbing attraction.
The component pictures that make up this image were all taken with a stationary camera on a tripod. The only thing that changed was the focal length used for each picture. I took one at each of 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 70mm. Then, back home, I merged the four pictures into one image using my photo-editing software. The effect is similar to a quad exposure on a single frame in a film camera.
For me, this image evokes mixed emotions. Is it what a child sees and senses while falling from a jungle gym? Is it what it would feel like to be caught in a giant spider’s web or a hunter’s net? Or, is it just a compelling abstract image that pulls your eyes in, exploring the shapes and lines and gray tones?
Regardless, it has opened a new pathway through my creative explorations. I have added multi-picture images to my check list of items to look for on my photo walks.
Now I just need to figure out how to get out of this spider’s web before the spider returns.