Imagine these pictures:1. A baby lying down.2. A group of men talking.3. A broken down car.4. A Policeman on the street.5. A girl skipping.6. A kid playing marbles.Most people would imagine them something like this.

Mid-shots.Side on.With the main object in the middle of the frame.Almost in 2D, a bit like a diagram.It's hard to imagine pictures from other angles.Even harder to draw them.So most layouts start life a s a kind of 2D diagram, a bit like the pictures above. It's always been the case. But over the last ten years or so, the 'mock-up' has grown. So now, after the art director has drawn rough, we look for a better, photographic representation of what the art director has drawn. The client signs the ad off. Now we have a blueprint for the photographer to match. The photographer doesn't have to think about it too much. Why reinvent the wheel? It can be embellished, but essentially the image is related to the one we used in the mock-up. Otherwise why mock it up? Consequently the idea was stunted at birth. It didn't evolve from that very basic 2D drawing. Good photographers work in 3D. They can find angles which can make an idea more dramatic, more surprising and more emotional. Useful when you're trying to get someone to engage with your message. At the moment too many photographers are simply used to colour in, not create. It's a waste, because they know all the angles.