It’s time again for another entry in the Storytellers blog circle! If you missed last month, you can catch up here.

I usually have such a hard time narrowing down images for a blog post, but as soon as I set up this image, I knew instantly it was going to be the image for this month’s circle. I really think it’s such a perfect example of how a storytelling can be simple – it can have subtle layers, negative space and flat light, and yet still have so much to say.

This image was taken during an in-home family session on a beautifully crisp October morning. The sun was shining in the east facing windows of the living room and the family was spending part of the morning sitting on the carpet playing toys with their 2 boys. The toy train track had been built and had just minutes ago been put away, back into its bin, when the next bin was dumped by big brother. Little brother had been fighting sleep for a while and finally succumbed, right in the middle of the toys.

Details: Nikon D750, 24-70mm lens, at 24mm. ISO 1600, f/3.2, 1/250

I chose to shoot this from overhead to capture the toys, the coffee and to also eliminate other distracting details. By shooting from above, I was able to carefully compose the image to include only the details that helped tell the story, and avoid those that had the ability to distract from it. I used the flip out screen in live-view and held the camera overhead and out slightly in order to shoot straight on, and to also get wide enough to include the coffee cup. I didn’t move or manipulate any elements of the scene prior to clicking the shutter.

Before settling on this composition, I’d actually composed vertically, with the baby and the toys taking up most of the frame, but then noticed the coffee cup and chose to include it as it added a stronger narrative to the story. It clearly indicates that a parent has been there, and is mostly likely near by – in reality, both parents were just out of the frame. It’s also the story of Saturday mornings with young kids (in this house and in my own house), which are usually defined by coffee and scattered toys.

In post processing I added a slight vignette and increased the shadows near on the top and right side of the frame as a way to add visual interest and draw the viewers eye right to the baby, who is the main subject.

Ready for more? Click through to read Tara’s post. Her and her family just moved to Japan (!!), so I’m excited to see what she has cooked up for this month!

 

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