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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Nine: The Layered Image – accumulating meaning > Changing seasons, Buttermilk Hills, California, 2006
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18-OCT-2006

Changing seasons, Buttermilk Hills, California, 2006

Four layers deep, this image attempts to express a moment in time when three different seasons are simultaneously in play. The green foreground suggests summer, while the dark rocks offer a transition to fall, which bursts into color just above them in the middleground. The entire background is made up of snow-covered hills -- terrain already in winter’s grip. Each layer flows across the image in diagonal movement.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50
1/400s f/5.6 at 88.8mm iso100 full exif

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Phil Douglis05-Feb-2008 19:50
You are right, Vera -- the concept of layering goes well beyond landscape photography. Anytime we juxtapose context and subject and any time we relate information in the foreground, middleground and background of our images, we are dealing with layers of information. Layering also provides an illusion of depth, and can draw the eye deeply into the image. Just be sure that your layers are clearly and cleanly defined, and varied enough to make a difference.
Guest 05-Feb-2008 01:50
Phil,
Since I had tried unsuccessfully to do a layering image, I thought I would jump ahead to this chapter tonight as it would be relevant to me at this point in time. This is an amazing example of layering. What struck me on this page though is your comment to Sandi that there are layers to be found everywhere. Now I will be on the look out. Before your cyberbook, I thought of layers in terms of landscape and that was it.
V.
Phil Douglis29-Aug-2007 10:50
Thanks, Sandi -- there are layers to be created everywhere. We just have to see them for what they are, and make the most of them by finding vantage points and creating compositions that take advantage of them.
Sandi Whitteker27-Aug-2007 17:31
Certainly some wonderful layers in this part of California. Nicely done!
Phil Douglis01-Nov-2006 18:39
I have you to thank for first spotting the interplay of colors, seasons, and shapes here, Tim. You are right-- the diagonals alternately enter the image from opposite sides, weaving the seasons together as a climatic tapestry. And thank you, Jenee, for looking at it as an interlocking puzzle of layered mysteries. It's a matter of the time of year, the weather, my vantage point, and my framing and composition.
JSWaters01-Nov-2006 17:49
Beautifully done, Phil, like pieces in an interlocking puzzle. I could peel one up to reveal it's appearance in another season.
Jenene
Tim May01-Nov-2006 17:36
Not only do the layers play a part here, but also the diagonals - each season slices across the stage.
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