Storytelling is part of how I choose photos to post. This week I wasn't seeing a story I wanted to tell in my recent shoots. So I started poking at the images below from two adventures, a visit to Woodland Park Zoo (ladybug + leaf) and a walk along the Sammamish River Trail in Redmond, figuring today's post would just be a few miscellaneous shots with no story.
After playing with them for a while, I recognized a vague sense of dissatisfaction which I connect to a contrast in compositional styles between these photos. And that, I realized, is today's story.
When I process images I try to honor my mind's intent when I pressed the shutter button. Some of my compositions here feel purposeful, like the ladybug on the leaf. Color and depth of field tell your eye where to go. Same with the shrub roses, though less successfully due to a broader plain of detail and less contrast. The trail and the river photos are deeper in focus and thus have more meandering tales: the trail leads you off towards the right; the river lacks a any clear point of focus, instead asking you to roam around between the rocks or the reflection or the concrete forms.
These are disparate compositions, and my story today is that I don't always shoot with a single intent. I tend to look at each exposure individually and pull story together when I process the images. There's nothing wrong with this, especially if my subjects have a consistent theme. For the way I typically shoot, however, this is a lesson for me that I can be more intentional at the moment of exposure by telling the story through consistent composition, should the story warrant it.
June 4, 2025 | Fujifilm X-E4 + Fujinon 55-200 f3.5-4.8 (ladybug + leaf)
June 11, 2025 | Fujifilm X-A7 + Vitrox 28mm f4.5 (other photos)
