Storytelling
This is an area of photography that few people do well. In general, I've found videographers "get" this concept almost immediately. There is no way to avoid a natural narrative in video. And in a single photograph, telling a story can be challenging. That's not to say it's impossible. In an earlier chapter, I talked about including people in your photos at epic locations to provide a sense of scale. Adding people also tends to help the storytelling aspect of a photo.
What I'm talking about here though is more about intentionally telling a story through multiple photographs. Often times when you are going on a trip, your tendency may be to not break out the camera until you've arrived at your destination. The "story of your trip" is far more engaging though if you've got those first few shots showing you at the airport, on the plane...shots of the journey, not simply the destination.
Some of this is becoming a great deal more natural to all of us as social media (also known as micropublishing) has caused us to learn to document smaller moments of life. When you are considering any photo project, I think you'll benefit from going into it with a good understanding that you need certain elements that closely mirror what you might if you were writing a story. In general, you need:
An introduction. A broad overview. Individual plot points. Close up details. And a conclusion.
What does that look like? For me it means that every single event I ever shoot, I aim to collect the following four types of photos:
1. An establishing shot: this is a wide angle view of the entire environment. What does this place look like?
2. Action shots: What is going on? What images best tell the story of this event or place?
3. Face shots: Add emotion and personalization to your story.
4. Visual Metaphors or Symbols: What little details add texture to the story?
And I will often look for shots that work for Introduction and Conclusion. Most of the time Introduction can be covered by the broad establishing shot....unless the photos are a trip, then you NEED "in movement traveling" photos. I've found many variations for closing shots. Maybe it's a happy face. Maybe it's a visual metaphor (like a photo of an empty glass after dinner...if dinner is your event.)
Intentionally memorizing these shots BEFORE you go out and start shooting helps you think in terms of storytelling while you are shooting.
What I'm talking about here though is more about intentionally telling a story through multiple photographs. Often times when you are going on a trip, your tendency may be to not break out the camera until you've arrived at your destination. The "story of your trip" is far more engaging though if you've got those first few shots showing you at the airport, on the plane...shots of the journey, not simply the destination.
Some of this is becoming a great deal more natural to all of us as social media (also known as micropublishing) has caused us to learn to document smaller moments of life. When you are considering any photo project, I think you'll benefit from going into it with a good understanding that you need certain elements that closely mirror what you might if you were writing a story. In general, you need:
An introduction. A broad overview. Individual plot points. Close up details. And a conclusion.
What does that look like? For me it means that every single event I ever shoot, I aim to collect the following four types of photos:
1. An establishing shot: this is a wide angle view of the entire environment. What does this place look like?
2. Action shots: What is going on? What images best tell the story of this event or place?
3. Face shots: Add emotion and personalization to your story.
4. Visual Metaphors or Symbols: What little details add texture to the story?
And I will often look for shots that work for Introduction and Conclusion. Most of the time Introduction can be covered by the broad establishing shot....unless the photos are a trip, then you NEED "in movement traveling" photos. I've found many variations for closing shots. Maybe it's a happy face. Maybe it's a visual metaphor (like a photo of an empty glass after dinner...if dinner is your event.)
Intentionally memorizing these shots BEFORE you go out and start shooting helps you think in terms of storytelling while you are shooting.
