There are many times when a photo is taken, that later when viewed, we find there is a (PIP) occurring. Sometimes this happens with street scenes with a wide angle lens or maybe from some distance away with a telephoto lens. We open up the original image to process it, zoom in to look at details of the expected result, and are often surprised to see different things that were not immediately noticed at the time of clicking the shutter.

As mentioned, this occurs often in a street scene where you might be shooting a building or some event or even a person or group of people. Then when you zoom into the image you start seeing different situations that are occurring. These could be still life details that you weren't shooting for, but none-the-less they are there and they turn out sometimes to be as interesting as the original intent of the photo. Probably more often though, it's the people element that offers the most surprises. We've all seen this in photos we've taken. We might be shooting some kind of street performer or event where there are many people standing around watching. Then when we zoom in on the original image we start to see the "side stories" that are going on. Maybe these are the expressions on people's faces in regard to what they are observing. Maybe they are completely different stories in themselves, with interactions between people, or some other situation occurring in the middle of the environment where the original photo was taken.

While we see these type of (PIPs) most often having to do with people, there are often other types of surprises we encounter in a (PIP). Sometimes these may not be so much an example of real-life happening in front of us, as they are symbolic moments. One such situation like this occurred when I visited a small church just off the Natchez Parkway on a trip from Mississippi to Tennessee. This was an old historical church that had been built along the original Natchez Trace. It was a ways off the road and there was a small path leading up an easy incline to the top of a hill where the church was situated. There was no one else there, so I had time to walk around a bit, rest from my long drive and grab a few shots. The building was mostly dark inside, only being lit by a window directly behind the pulpit and some softer light coming from a small window on the side of the building.

Church Window Standing at the back of the church, I liked the way the old wooden pews were worn and aged from use. What caught my eye was the center divider going right down through the middle of the pews. The design was interesting because the center divider had begun to bend and bow some with age, starting to curve like a snake from the back of the room up to the front pews. This added an additional element that made me want to take the photo even more.

Because the window was directly in front of me, this was going to cause a severe backlit situation. The pulpit was white so fortunately that would be distinguishable as the lighting would brighten it. However, everything from the front row of pews to the back where I stood would be much darker. I adjusted the exposure to be able to distinguish the view out the window behind the pulpit, to see the large tree there and also not have a large blown out window as the centerpiece of the photo. I noticed a slight highlight shining on top of the vertical divider going down the middle of the pews and that helped give some definition to the dark area. So I decided to take the shot, expose for the window and later in my post processing I would try to lighten up the forefront of the image, to be able to see the pews farther back in the church.

Later, when I worked on this image and began to selectively brighten areas that were dark, it was only then that I saw the (PIP). It was a symbolic one this time. Here in this small, out of the way church, up in the hills, where all was quiet, peaceful and welcoming, was this reminder that God is with us wherever we are.

What had become more readily apparant in this scene, after I later lightened darker areas of the church, was the second shaft of light highlighting the top of one of the pews on a horizontal angle, thus intersecting with the vertical highlight from the main window behind the pulpit, and forming a lighted cross from the highlights on the top of the pews and center divider.

A symbolic (PIP) - "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" Jesus - Matt 28:20