Sequencing

I’m continuing to follow along with Process ☼ On Photography, by Wesley Verhoeve as he makes a photo book. Wesley has been sharing his process step-by-step. Sunday’s post was all about sequencing images. As he explains:

Sequencing images is not just a matter of putting pictures in order to get a nice reading flow. That is of course part of it, but what you’re really doing is deciding what each picture means.

He goes on to give examples of sequencing his own images for his current project. I especially enjoyed his take on choosing the first and last images for the book. Very helpful information. He suggests:

After you make your sequence, leave it out for a few days. Walk past it. Look at it while you are doing something else. You will start to see where the flow is smooth and where something is sitting in the wrong place. The first sequence is never the final sequence. It is a starting point.

Sequencing photographs for my florilegium photo book, summer 2026

I have culled my images and am beginning to work on sequencing. Since late March, I have taken over 2500 flower pictures which live in at least 75 folders. It took me a long while to narrow the focus for the project, and there are many pictures that will not make it into the book. Pictures no one will ever see. But those less good pictures, got me to the really worthwhile ones, the ones that will tell my story.

Receiving Pictures

I try to be open to receive photos in overlooked places. The coffee shop that places little vases of fresh-cut flowers on each table and the morning sunshine that is their stage. The flower farm that tosses the spent zinnias into a compost heap in a haphazard way that happens to look like art.

Shifting Attention

Braehead Farm, Friday Morning, Summer 2026

One of the most effective strategies I have for letting things go is to turn my focus outside of myself. Photography, like most creative work, strengthens the observer brain, shifts focus, and helps us to get out of the rumination loop. It just feels good to receive pictures in this way.

The Experience of Life

Slow Fade, Summer 2026

There were days when I all did was wait for this bouquet to decay. I checked on it each day over the last 2 weeks, but did not add water, did not trim dead petals, did not rearrange. I just watched and waited and noticed the changes. A sustainable life makes room for days when I have lower energy, days when things do not go as planned, days when an afternoon nap is required. Sometimes the new arrangement is simply to accept.