Describing a photo

4th ESOIns Can planas

Choose a photography. It can be:◦ A photo you really like◦ A photo you have taken◦ A photo where you appear in

Make a description of the photo. Explain why you chose that photo.

What do you have to do?

To make it clear, your picture description must be logically structured, e.g.:◦ from left to right (or from right to left)◦ from the background to the foreground (or from

the foreground to the background)◦ from the middle to the sides (or from the sides to

the middle)◦ from details to general impressions (or from

general impressions to details)

Which structure you choose depends on your taste and the picture!

To describe a photo:

◦ Short description of the scene (e. g. author, place, event)

◦ Details (who / what can you see)◦ Background information

What happened /was happening there? What were you /the people on the photo doing

◦ Importance Why did you chose this photo? Why is it important to you? Why do you like it?

Steps to do it

Kinds of pictures and perspectives ◦ Viewer ◦ Picture, image ◦ Portrait, landscape

Structure:◦ foreground / background ◦ in the upper part / in the lower part◦ in the left / right / central part ◦ in front of / behind / next to◦ on the right / on the left / in the middle ◦ from front /behind ◦ from above /below ◦ the second from left/right

Useful vocabulary

Information on artist ◦ The photo was taken by… in…◦ … (image) is a famous painting by … (artist).

Describing the scene◦ The picture was taken in … (place). // The photo was taken at … (party). ◦ The picture shows a scene /landscape from … ◦ It's an image of … (place, person, scene).

What can you see?◦ In the picture you can see … … (position: on the left/right/…)◦ here is / are … … (position: on the left/right/…) ◦ You can see …◦ … Is … (position: on the left/right/…)

What happened◦ The photo was taken when…◦ On the photo we were…

Importance◦ I chose this photo because…◦ I like /love this photo because…◦ This photo is very important for me because…

Useful expressions

This photo was taken by me this summer. It shows the landscapes of a mountain near Sapa,in Vietnam. I took the photo while me and my partner were doing a 12 kilometer trekking,

because we wanted to see the astonishing landscapes and the rice paddies, that is, the typical “rice terraces” you can see on movies. We also visited a Black-H’mong village, an ethnic minority who live in the mountains.

Before getting there, we were walking on a very narrow road surrounded by bamboos for about half an hour. Then, we were climbing a mountain for another hour and a half. Then, we came to the place where I took the photo.

In the picture you can see very different details.◦ On the lower left corner, and on the other side of the river, you can see rice paddies and

trees.◦ In the centre of the picture, there is a river. And in the background, on the mountain, you can

see a yellow building, which is the school of the village.

I chose this photo because I really love it. I like the intensity of the colours, and the contrast caused by the sky, the river and the green nature. It is also a great memory of my holidays and a experience I might not live again!

An example!