Storytelling with Photography
November 2016's guest speaker Rafael Ludwig presented on using your photographs to tell a story. His pointers from a movie making background, where your have 2 hours to tell a story, made us all think about what we are trying to accomplish in 1 frame. Here are notes from his presentation to ponder:
Rafael started by going over the three types of storytelling and how each has a very unique feel and quality
He reminded us that while we all get comments like " that's a beautiful photograph" all the time, it is up to us as the photographer to lead the viewer past that initial statement and into exploring the 5W's ( who, what, where, why, how) of your image. You as the photographer need to understand and decide what it is that you are trying to capture and use that to connect with your viewers. In order to do this we must learn the language of photography but beyond the technical side.
The Language of Photography
We all know these things - Lighting, colour, composition, perspective and subject focus, but from a technical view. Rafael wants us to look at them from a more artistic side that he knows and understands from movie making.
Lighting - Light is everything, that doesn't change. BUT the type of light can change the mood of an image or make an image seem "off" if used incorrectly. Harsh light makes images seem dramatic and cold, taking a picture of a young child in harsh light not only feels but looks wrong. The emotion the lighting sets in your image sets how the viewer feels about the image and can either make or break the mood and emotion being portrayed. If you want a very specific feel or even are trying to portray a specific type of storytelling you may need to control and set up your lighting and shot. There is NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.
Colour - Like lighting colour is very powerful in an image. Colour can convey emotion and change the mood of your image. Just remember that colour and it's relationship to mood is ethnically dependent as well. ie - red in an image can mean anger in one country and love in another. Colour is also used to produce the cinematic and documentary types of story shots, by controlling the colour ie - de saturating. Using complementary colours from the colour wheel can make specific focus points jump off your overall image, Rafael talked about Blue and orange as an example.
Framing - We all know about the rule of 1/3's and how where you put things in your frame draws the eye through the scene. Rafael talked about how the brightest thing in the image is where people will look and you need to watch where that thing is placed and whether it is where you WANT the viewer to look.
Perspective - Using perspective in your photographs can help convey to the viewer the feeling that they are experiencing the moment. If you are taking a picture of a moment with a child, getting down to their level will give their POV and make the viewer feel as if they are observing the scene from the child's perspective. Using high and low perspectives can give objects in your images power and using extremes ( such as " Dutching" the angle) can create discomfort. As the photographer you need to bring the viewer to the level you want them to see the scene from.
Subject Focus - This is all about what is all in your shot. Remember to take a picture of your subject NOT the environment, UNLESS the environment is very important. How do we accomplish this ? By using the old standby's - wide view, mid range and close up
In the end since you only have one frame to tell your story you must take everything in the frame into consideration and use what is there to connect with the viewer and have them feel the emotion you felt when you took that image.
Rafael also mentioned this site which is full of useful tutorials https://fstoppers.com/
Coming soon - the results of our " tell a story" challenge from Remebrance day will be added once they are submitted.
Rafael started by going over the three types of storytelling and how each has a very unique feel and quality
- Ambiguous
- Documentary
- Cinematic
He reminded us that while we all get comments like " that's a beautiful photograph" all the time, it is up to us as the photographer to lead the viewer past that initial statement and into exploring the 5W's ( who, what, where, why, how) of your image. You as the photographer need to understand and decide what it is that you are trying to capture and use that to connect with your viewers. In order to do this we must learn the language of photography but beyond the technical side.
The Language of Photography
We all know these things - Lighting, colour, composition, perspective and subject focus, but from a technical view. Rafael wants us to look at them from a more artistic side that he knows and understands from movie making.
Lighting - Light is everything, that doesn't change. BUT the type of light can change the mood of an image or make an image seem "off" if used incorrectly. Harsh light makes images seem dramatic and cold, taking a picture of a young child in harsh light not only feels but looks wrong. The emotion the lighting sets in your image sets how the viewer feels about the image and can either make or break the mood and emotion being portrayed. If you want a very specific feel or even are trying to portray a specific type of storytelling you may need to control and set up your lighting and shot. There is NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.
Colour - Like lighting colour is very powerful in an image. Colour can convey emotion and change the mood of your image. Just remember that colour and it's relationship to mood is ethnically dependent as well. ie - red in an image can mean anger in one country and love in another. Colour is also used to produce the cinematic and documentary types of story shots, by controlling the colour ie - de saturating. Using complementary colours from the colour wheel can make specific focus points jump off your overall image, Rafael talked about Blue and orange as an example.
Framing - We all know about the rule of 1/3's and how where you put things in your frame draws the eye through the scene. Rafael talked about how the brightest thing in the image is where people will look and you need to watch where that thing is placed and whether it is where you WANT the viewer to look.
Perspective - Using perspective in your photographs can help convey to the viewer the feeling that they are experiencing the moment. If you are taking a picture of a moment with a child, getting down to their level will give their POV and make the viewer feel as if they are observing the scene from the child's perspective. Using high and low perspectives can give objects in your images power and using extremes ( such as " Dutching" the angle) can create discomfort. As the photographer you need to bring the viewer to the level you want them to see the scene from.
Subject Focus - This is all about what is all in your shot. Remember to take a picture of your subject NOT the environment, UNLESS the environment is very important. How do we accomplish this ? By using the old standby's - wide view, mid range and close up
- Wide views - wide shots take the viewer out of the image, they become more interested in the surroundings of the subject than the subject itself ( think people in a field, you quickly lose interest in the people and want to know more about the rest of the scene)
- Mid range - in these shots the subject isn't the focal point and the surroundings become part of the story ( think person on a bridge, you see the person but wonder why is he/she on the bridge)
- Close up - the subject IS the image. Close up shots make the viewer want to know more about the subject, it is all you can see and in animal and people shots the eyes draw you into the image, you CONNECT.
In the end since you only have one frame to tell your story you must take everything in the frame into consideration and use what is there to connect with the viewer and have them feel the emotion you felt when you took that image.
Rafael also mentioned this site which is full of useful tutorials https://fstoppers.com/
Coming soon - the results of our " tell a story" challenge from Remebrance day will be added once they are submitted.