Very interesting article and an insight into how difficult it is to produce a triptych panel. My thoughts are that the first panel could be a pano shot that has been dissected into 3 separate shots and the second panel I feel would look more balanced with the first ( very nice shots) shot as the middle shot. Just my personal thoughts.
Thank you very much for your comments Philip and it is interesting to hear your take on the picture order. I think the second panel would definitely work with the first shot in the middle. The first panel was three separate shots as the composition didn’t work as a pano - it would have been much easier if it had! 🙂
I think your comment about it being very hard if you go in blind is spot on. Seems to me you need to go out with the explicit aim of creating a triptych and have a reasonable idea how you're going about it. Otherwise (like me) you get home and think "I wonder if these will work as a panel" and they probably don't. For example, in your three Shingle Street images, if I was just going to shoot the top one (which I love, by the way - nice and minimalist!) as a stand-alone image I might have wanted less foreground in it, but when it's with the other two you see why you need the foreground. Doing that retrospectively might not be possible.
Thank you very much for your comments Mark, it was interesting to read your thoughts. I think if you are planning to make a triptych or any panel then you need to go out and shoot specifically for that purpose. The results will be much better that way.
Thank you very much Bonnie. The panels were put together in Indesign, but I could have used Photoshop or Lightroom to do the same thing. Is that what you meant?
Well, I’ve had occasional commissions to do large (3’x4’ framed) prints for corporate walls, and I always wanted to make some of my panoramas into triptychs just for stand up…on shelves….Nobody will pay me for those so my progress has been slow ha ha!
I think panoramas would make great triptychs - maybe presented as frameless images or where the frame is quite minimal. I have never framed any of mine but it is something I am working on.
Thank you for this informative post. I will definitely try (one day). As a beginner in photography (still taking pics with my iPhone) I really appreciate your blog. 🙏
I tried my first triptych last week coincidentally with images from Bawdsey. It was OK but there was something wrong and the penny dropped when I saw your post this morning. The images in themselves were competent and they stitched together well but they lacked the cohesive nature of yours. Similar images of a similar subject but they did not share enough attributes to make them a group. Thank you for that lightbulb moment. Another great post,
Thank you very much for your comments Rod. It is much harder than it first seems but I think it is a good learning process and is a good way to consider how images work together.
Mini projects and triptychs are a great way to focus your attention on the particular subject and challenge to create something in a cohesive and related format .
Plus these can be done quite quickly when time is available.
Your triptychs are always fascinating to me, but I still haven't deliberately set out to create my own. I need to try that soon. On the technical side- how are you combining the three photos? It seems like this could be easily done in Canva, but there might be a better way in Lightroom/Photoshop?
Thank you very much for your comments Erik - you really should try one sometime - they are a good challenge.
I put my 3 images together in 'Adobe Indesign' because that is just what I find easiest. Photoshop would work just as well, or you could use the print module in Lightroom and save the file for export as a jpeg instead of printing it.
Very informative article laying out what makes tryptichs work, certainly hadn't until now considerd all the aspects, but can see from your images why they are required. It has also given a further insight to 'the kingdom of rust' which I have always liked!😀
Thank you for a very interesting article and the challenge of a triptych. I hadn't thought of shooting with this in mind and am looking forward to trying it.
Will definitely give this a go Gill. I agree with your comment about the challenges of visiting a new landscape - a large part of the benefit of repeat visits is the time in between to allow ideas to gestate.
Thank you very much for your comments James and I completely agree. Revisiting locations gives ideas a chance to develop. All my photography book projects have been done in areas that I am really familiar with.
Triptychs are difficult to work with I have to agree but you have produced some beautiful sets here Gill. I agree with others that the top image at Shingle Street could be your second image in the triptych, yet equally for me it would be a fine stand alone print. Most of your seascapes are minimalist and with that in mind I think some subjects such at woodland landscape are more difficult to fit into a triptych because of the natural chaos of each scene thus perhaps harder to find a flow to them. 'Intimate landscapes' of woodland work more easily...I imagine!
Thank you very much for your comments Lin and your kind words.
To be honest I am not sure what images make the best triptychs. I usually find details easier to combine than landscapes but I am not sure if minimal makes things easier. For me I think there has to be a flow of colour and form across the three images which may be difficult to achieve in a woodland. I will have to give it a go to satisfy my own curiosity. 🙂
An interesting article Gill. I really like trying triptych and panels. It's a great way to include more than one image into a finished image. (Hope that makes sense). I'm in agreement with Philip, the top image would fit better in the middle. I might have tried to reverse the bottom image - just a thought.
Thank you so much for your comments Rosey and I am glad you enjoyed the article. Are you talking about the water panel or the one at Shingle Street? I would love to know which one as I would like to rearrange it for my own curiosity.
The image was the one taken at Shingle Street. I thought if one of the bottom two images was reversed so that the points were facing each other and the top image was placed between them it might appear as though the outer two images were protecting the middle image. Would be interesting to see.
Thank you Rosey, I will have a look and see what it looks like although I don't think I can share images here. It will be interesting to see as several people have made the same comment. My thinking was that I wanted the two complete pools at the top and bottom and the open ended water seemed to me to fit better in the middle but I will see what the other arrangement looks like. Thank you for the suggestion. 🙂
Very interesting article and an insight into how difficult it is to produce a triptych panel. My thoughts are that the first panel could be a pano shot that has been dissected into 3 separate shots and the second panel I feel would look more balanced with the first ( very nice shots) shot as the middle shot. Just my personal thoughts.
Thank you very much for your comments Philip and it is interesting to hear your take on the picture order. I think the second panel would definitely work with the first shot in the middle. The first panel was three separate shots as the composition didn’t work as a pano - it would have been much easier if it had! 🙂
I think your comment about it being very hard if you go in blind is spot on. Seems to me you need to go out with the explicit aim of creating a triptych and have a reasonable idea how you're going about it. Otherwise (like me) you get home and think "I wonder if these will work as a panel" and they probably don't. For example, in your three Shingle Street images, if I was just going to shoot the top one (which I love, by the way - nice and minimalist!) as a stand-alone image I might have wanted less foreground in it, but when it's with the other two you see why you need the foreground. Doing that retrospectively might not be possible.
Thank you very much for your comments Mark, it was interesting to read your thoughts. I think if you are planning to make a triptych or any panel then you need to go out and shoot specifically for that purpose. The results will be much better that way.
Love the Shingle Street images!
Thank you very much Brian.
These are wonderful. I’m curious— can you talk about how you frame or present them??
Thank you very much Bonnie. The panels were put together in Indesign, but I could have used Photoshop or Lightroom to do the same thing. Is that what you meant?
Well, I’ve had occasional commissions to do large (3’x4’ framed) prints for corporate walls, and I always wanted to make some of my panoramas into triptychs just for stand up…on shelves….Nobody will pay me for those so my progress has been slow ha ha!
I think panoramas would make great triptychs - maybe presented as frameless images or where the frame is quite minimal. I have never framed any of mine but it is something I am working on.
I’ll stay tuned!
Thank you for this informative post. I will definitely try (one day). As a beginner in photography (still taking pics with my iPhone) I really appreciate your blog. 🙏
Thank you so much, I am glad you are enjoying the blog. 🙂
I tried my first triptych last week coincidentally with images from Bawdsey. It was OK but there was something wrong and the penny dropped when I saw your post this morning. The images in themselves were competent and they stitched together well but they lacked the cohesive nature of yours. Similar images of a similar subject but they did not share enough attributes to make them a group. Thank you for that lightbulb moment. Another great post,
Thank you very much for your comments Rod. It is much harder than it first seems but I think it is a good learning process and is a good way to consider how images work together.
Mini projects and triptychs are a great way to focus your attention on the particular subject and challenge to create something in a cohesive and related format .
Plus these can be done quite quickly when time is available.
Thanks for posting this and sharing your ideas .
Thank you very much for your comments Ian. I love working on triptychs, they aren't always easy but I love a good challenge! 🙂
Your triptychs are always fascinating to me, but I still haven't deliberately set out to create my own. I need to try that soon. On the technical side- how are you combining the three photos? It seems like this could be easily done in Canva, but there might be a better way in Lightroom/Photoshop?
Thank you very much for your comments Erik - you really should try one sometime - they are a good challenge.
I put my 3 images together in 'Adobe Indesign' because that is just what I find easiest. Photoshop would work just as well, or you could use the print module in Lightroom and save the file for export as a jpeg instead of printing it.
I hope that helps.
I don't have InDesign, but I'll look into the Lightroom print option. Thanks!
Thank you Gill. Certainly food for thought here. Two lovely triptychs ☺️.
Thank you very much Sian. I am glad you enjoyed the triptychs.
Very informative article laying out what makes tryptichs work, certainly hadn't until now considerd all the aspects, but can see from your images why they are required. It has also given a further insight to 'the kingdom of rust' which I have always liked!😀
Thank you very much Chris, I am glad you enjoyed the post. I love putting triptychs together but they are not always easy to do.
Nice post and lovely triptychs
Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it.
Really nice piece on triptychs. I’ve done a few and you inspired me to do more!
Thank you very much Mark, I am glad you enjoyed the article.
Hi Gill,
Thank you for a very interesting article and the challenge of a triptych. I hadn't thought of shooting with this in mind and am looking forward to trying it.
Thank you very much for your comments Susan. I am glad you enjoyed the article and I hope you have fun with your own triptych.
Will definitely give this a go Gill. I agree with your comment about the challenges of visiting a new landscape - a large part of the benefit of repeat visits is the time in between to allow ideas to gestate.
Thank you very much for your comments James and I completely agree. Revisiting locations gives ideas a chance to develop. All my photography book projects have been done in areas that I am really familiar with.
Triptychs are difficult to work with I have to agree but you have produced some beautiful sets here Gill. I agree with others that the top image at Shingle Street could be your second image in the triptych, yet equally for me it would be a fine stand alone print. Most of your seascapes are minimalist and with that in mind I think some subjects such at woodland landscape are more difficult to fit into a triptych because of the natural chaos of each scene thus perhaps harder to find a flow to them. 'Intimate landscapes' of woodland work more easily...I imagine!
Thank you very much for your comments Lin and your kind words.
To be honest I am not sure what images make the best triptychs. I usually find details easier to combine than landscapes but I am not sure if minimal makes things easier. For me I think there has to be a flow of colour and form across the three images which may be difficult to achieve in a woodland. I will have to give it a go to satisfy my own curiosity. 🙂
An interesting article Gill. I really like trying triptych and panels. It's a great way to include more than one image into a finished image. (Hope that makes sense). I'm in agreement with Philip, the top image would fit better in the middle. I might have tried to reverse the bottom image - just a thought.
Thank you so much for your comments Rosey and I am glad you enjoyed the article. Are you talking about the water panel or the one at Shingle Street? I would love to know which one as I would like to rearrange it for my own curiosity.
The image was the one taken at Shingle Street. I thought if one of the bottom two images was reversed so that the points were facing each other and the top image was placed between them it might appear as though the outer two images were protecting the middle image. Would be interesting to see.
Thank you Rosey, I will have a look and see what it looks like although I don't think I can share images here. It will be interesting to see as several people have made the same comment. My thinking was that I wanted the two complete pools at the top and bottom and the open ended water seemed to me to fit better in the middle but I will see what the other arrangement looks like. Thank you for the suggestion. 🙂