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Kindle Notes & Highlights
bond of family—all of these are s...
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the more universal a theme you echo in your image, the more powerful it will be and the br...
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what about themes like peace, solitud...
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Make your images about ...
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photograph of an orchid can be about serenity or the wonder o...
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Make your photograph about something so the people who see your image feel something so they care about your image.
Some photographs are more poem than story,
the more powerful and universal the theme in your image, the more powerful
Conflict: The Heart of Story
“The music of story is conflict,” and that “nothing moves forward in a story except through conflict.”
But how do we bring conflict to play in a single frame?
Conflict in a still photograph is most often shown in contrasts.
conceptual contrasts of big to small, mechanical to natural, smooth to textured.
Any pair of juxtaposed or implied opposites creates what I call “c...
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The conflict comes from a clash of ideas: the primary colours of childhood and innocence clashing with the guns and colours of war.
Strongly opposed or contrasting elements create a compelling sense of conflict, which is the heartbeat of story.
Mystery: Leaving Clues and Provoking Questions
A great storyteller doesn’t tell you absolutely everything. She tells enough to make you care, to tell the story...
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Extraneous details provide nothing more t...
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What you leave in the frame must be part of the story.
Leaving a cluttered background by shooting wide and indiscriminately does not establish setting; it’s just lazy photography.
Each element must be chosen intentionally, even if that occurs intuitively on some level.
The more elements there are within the frame, the less power each of them has and yo...
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Strike a balance; leave enough clues to tell the story and exclude enough to create a sense of mystery.
Unanswered questions engage a viewer and create an interaction between the image and the viewer—
Action
Ultimately, story is about change.
In the still frame, a story is often most successfully implied by choosing not only an action but the strongest visual expression of that action.
Does a slower or faster shutter speed better communicate
Does our chosen composition exaggerate that energy or downplay it?
Relationships of elements to each other within the frame are key compositional tools that either give or deny the viewer solid clues as to the unfolding story within the frame.
One object larger than another implies something about the relationship of power between them.
The space between two elements or characters within the frame tells something about their connectedness or...
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Which lens you use depends on the story you want to tell, just as you make other choices based on the story you’re telling or the way you want to make your viewer think or feel about the characters/elements within the frame.
Being conscious of these tools and deliberate in your use of them will make your storytelling more intentional and compelling, which in turn gives the readers of your photographs the best shot at feeling what you want them to feel to experience your photographs more deeply.
most of us assume others will experience our work.
Acknowledging that audience and being intentional about our relationship to that audience is important.
what do I want to say, and how do I make myself understood by the one with whom I’m communicating?
It’s important to
know what language your audience speaks, what cultural references they identify with, and what symbols they recognize.
