Picture In A Picture In A Picture

A scene found along Colorado's Million Dollar Highway (Rt. 550) between Ouray and Silverton, Colorado.  (click to enlarge)
All images made with an Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ various focal lengths; 1/160th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

Sometimes I think we miss opportunities to see images, hidden images, that are right in front of us but because of preconceived mental assumptions we miss them.  I can't remember how many times, after I've returned home after a long road trip, weekend of exploration or even a daily outing of wandering and photographing, that when looking closely at my images on my computer monitor, I see more than one composition within the overall scene I had captured.  The result had been, using cameras with relatively low pixel counts, high noise profiles as well as not having terrific enhancement software, I felt powerless to dig deep into the image and draw out those additional compositions by cropping and resizing.  I just shook my head and wondered why I didn't see what was right in front of me.  I seem to have been a little too late in recognizing the potential of what was before my eyes.

Typically, when I'm out photographing and see something that catches my eye I stop, look carefully at it, then if it appears to potentially make a good image, I compose, set my exposure parameters and press the shutter button.  The problem is  that when a scene catches my eye, I have now 'seen' it in a certain way.  I get a preconceived notion as to how it should look and how I want it to look.  After all, that is why I stopped.  It is that way that my brain tells me to make my composition.  On most occasions I would also 'work' the scene by walking around it and making additional images from different perspectives, different directions, different heights, etc., but it was the same basic scene.  After many lessons learned several years ago I changed the way I look at those scenes.  I now always try to find the 'picture (or pictures) within the picture.'  I look for portions of the scene that can, in their own right, make excellent images in and of themselves.  I also look for details within the scene that can make additional images.  I now do that in two ways.

First, instead of just walking around, moving in and out, getting higher and lower and capturing the entire scene in various ways, I now give myself the option of changing focal lengths allowing me to narrow my view and capture part of the scene as well as small details contained within the scene.  Also, I allow myself to widen the view.  But that doesn't happen nearly as often.  Sometimes I may get three or four final images from a scene that originally only appeared as though it had one composition.

Second, and this is not my preferred method, I can make that initial composition then, when returning home, crop in and create additional images counting on the quality of my camera's sensor, image processor and lens to hold up.  That method is not optimum as you are giving up some quality, at least.  Yes, there are plug-ins, such as Topaz Gigapixel AI that will allow me to upsize my cropped image, but I don't think the results are quite as good as if you actually used a longer focal length or got closer to the subject.  Typically, I only resort to this method if a) I miss the picture within the picture, b) I don't have a focal length long enough with me at the time, or c) I can't get closer or by getting closer it totally ruins the perspective of how I am trying to capture the subject.

The images in this post are an example of seeing more than one composition in an overall scene.  Both methods were used.  Most are separate images using different focal lengths and others are crops which have then be resized using Topaz Gigapixel AI.  These images were made along Colorado Route 550, also known as "The Million Dollar Highway."  I'm told that there are more avalanches per linear mile on this road than any other in the United States.  These images were made between Ouray and Silverton, Colorado.

Obviously, it's best to change positions and/or focal lengths to compose as well as possible in-camera.  That way you retain the highest quality.  However, with today's digital cameras, as well as the new artificial intelligence based plug-ins, seeing a 'picture within your picture' now holds the possibility of diving deep into your image file and extracting that piece of the image that will, in and of itself, make other good images.  The quality and technology now exists to allow you to see stand alone images within your image and, using your creative abilities, make additional satisfying images from that one file.  

All that said, it is up to each of us to really 'see' what is before our eyes before we move on.  Otherwise, we may miss those opportunities to discover those pictures within our pictures.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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