Here’s a photo from Roland Portillo of Cambria, California. He’s an extremely talented photographer I located through a friend from church, Midge Lenoue. She works in a dentist’s office and he’s a patient whose talent she admires. She put us in touch and Roland’s graciously allowed me to showcase his work on my blog. Take a look at his amazing photos at: www.flickr.com/people/rolandbp/ I don’t know how long he spends to get just the right shot, but he certainly has a knack for capturing the quintessential moments of life.
What’s going on here? Is the cormorant catching the fish as it jumps out of the water, or is it playing with its food? How aware is the fish of what is happening? How difficult is it for the bird to eat such a large catch?
Now take this one step further. If this were a setting, what kind would it be? A room, a building, an outdoor park or a forest? What is the atmosphere? How does it smell, taste, feel? What sounds do you hear in this place? What do the bird, the fish, the water, the act of death symbolize? How are they rendered in this setting? For example, the water could be a bed in a dark, undergound room. The fish could be the slick mossy shale that covers the floor. And so on.
It’s quite enlightening to take a natural act of survival and turn it into a setting for your story. Best of all, it comes with symbolism already built in, which can help you deepen the underlying meaning of your tale, and perhaps take you in directions you wouldn’t normally think of going.
Have fun!
Comments? Your story ideas from this photo…
(Hint from Write It Right, Volume 2—Settings: When searching for the right details to render your settings, always keep symbolism in mind. That helps you keep extraneous details out and leaves in only those that are most intrinsic to the story.)