YenraPhotography

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Following a gesture across photographs

Choose successive moments, notice what changes, and try another ending.

A small gesture can offer several photographs. Hands open, a face turns, or an object occupies a new place in the frame. Looking across those pictures lets you explore what changes and what helps them belong together.

Keep one action in view.

These four selected views show hands and a clear sphere from changing viewpoints. Read them in order, from 1 to 4. The sequence follows their recorded capture order: 18:35:02, 18:35:09, 18:35:10, and 18:35:12 on October 5, 2013. They are selected moments from the gallery, with time between them.

A rear view with one raised hand and a clear sphere partly at the top edge.
1 · A raised hand and a sphere at the upper edge.
Woman in Pink Skirt at Outdoor Event · Photograph: Yenra
A rear and side view with open hands and a clear sphere higher in the frame.
2 · Open hands and a sphere higher in the frame.
Hands beneath a clear sphere · Photograph: Yenra
A side view with open hands beneath a clear sphere.
3 · Hands beneath the sphere in a side view.
Side view with hands beneath a clear sphere · Photograph: Yenra
A front three-quarter view with open hands and a clear sphere near the face.
4 · Open hands and the sphere near the face.
Front view with hands beneath a clear sphere · Photograph: Yenra

Notice what changes between pictures.

In picture 1, a raised hand and the sphere partly entering the upper edge lead your eye upward. Picture 2 brings both open hands and the whole sphere into view. Picture 3 offers a side view with hands below the sphere. Picture 4 brings the face further toward the camera, with the sphere near it.

Look at just the hands for one pass through the sequence, then just the sphere for another. Finally, look at the face and the surrounding space. The same pictures can reveal different connections depending on what you follow.

Try another last frame.

A front-facing view with a clear sphere lower near the chest and hands.
An alternative ending: the sphere lower near the chest.
Renaissance Festival Photo · Photograph: Yenra

This later photograph is recorded at 18:35:13. The person faces toward the camera with the sphere lower, near the chest and hands. Imagine it after pictures 1, 2, and 3. How does that ending change the sequence's final emphasis? You might choose the face and open hands of picture 4, or enjoy the lower arrangement here.

Keep the fuller gallery nearby as you make a selection. It gives each short sequence a home and leaves room to return with another idea. You can make a new sequence from the same photographs whenever something different catches your eye.

Look back with curiosity.

  • What changes between frames?
  • What helps the sequence stay connected?
  • Which ending invites another look?

Continue with Exploring movement in a portrait, Exploring hand gestures in a portrait, Learning from a contact sheet, or Varying pace in a photo story.

Browse all 164 photographs from October 5 → · Take the gesture-sequence experiment with you →