Knowing how to use photography to tell your stories can provide you with a number of benefits. You want to tell stories with your photography and cover a number of ways to do it.

Visit the show notes at:  https://williambeem.com/episode111

Knowing how to use photographs to tell your stories can provide you with a number of benefits. In this episode of The Photo Flunky Show, we'll talk about why you want to tell stories with your photographs and cover a number of ways to do it.

Why Use Photographs to Tell Your Stories

This is a bit of a theme for me. Not just the part about saying that your photographs should tell stories, but also recommending that you don't think of yourself as a photographer.

We love our photography, but ask yourself why it's so important to you. I'm guessing that it's because you enjoy doing something creative.

If that's the case, there's more to creating a photograph than just apertures, shutter speeds and technical skills. We love beautiful subjects bathed in beautiful light. No doubt.

Yet there's something more possible for a viewer.

Your viewer can glance at your photo or maybe look deeply into it for a long time. What makes the difference?

A story.

We're programmed in our DNA to love stories. It's why we have movies, books, plays and music. The most compelling entertainment moves us with progression. We want to understand it deep in our soul.

Stories provide that connection with your audience. Even if the story is brief. A lonely person drinking coffee. A baseball player who just hit one over the fence. A bride and groom making a commitment. A place we want to visit. Food we want to eat.

All of those are potential stories we can tell with our photography.

Yet there is more to storytelling than simply one photograph. That's why we have photo essays, wedding albums, travel books and other collections of photos wrapped around a theme.

Together, they comprise moments in a larger story.

What Makes Up a Story?

When you look at a photograph, what is it that makes you linger or just pass it up?

We can determine if something isn't interesting at a glance. It doesn't take many brain cells to recognize something that just doesn't appeal to us.

However, we stop and look at something that has the potential for appeal. Why is that?

If you're expecting me to tell you that it's because of a story, that's not quite it. A story is a supporting character here, but not the main object of obsession.

We stop and look when we can relate to the photograph.

The quality of the photograph definitely helps, but technical quality alone doesn't make a photograph interesting. I can show you a technically perfect photograph of a pothole in a parking lot, but most of you aren't going to spend time on it.

We're drawn to photographs that relate to us within a context we understand, admire or appreciate.

That's why we have so many genres in the arts. Some people love portraits, others love landscapes, wildlife or food photography. There are people who really enjoy and appreciate URBEX photography.

I am not one of them.

Yet even though it's not my favorite type of photography, I understand that there's an audience who appreciates that genre. To them, it exemplifies the unknown, a sense of adventure, or even an aesthetic for high contrast.

When you look at photos of an old, dilapidated building, it may pique your curiosity. What was this place? Who was here? What did they do? Why did they let it go, or where did they go?

There's a sense of history in every URBEX photograph. The word “story” is an integral part of “history.” This is how we engage, learn and appreciate.

A story is something that helps your viewer relate to a photograph. Stories evoke a sense of curiosity, familiarity and adventure. Knowing how to use your photographs to tell a story improves your odds of making someone stop and look at your work.

How to Use Photographs to Tell Your Stories

There are two ways to use photographs to tell your stories.

* Each photo tells a brief story of its own

Portrait photography is a bit different. It's the only kind of photography where you feel like you're being judged or rated while you're taking the photos, not just after you share them.

Visit the show notes at:  https://williambeem.com/episode68

This episode is a playback of a prior episode:  PF 068 – 3 Signs Portrait Photography Isn't for You.

Blame Tové

Our daughter Tové celebrated her 16th birthday and that's a big milestone for a teenage girl. She had a wonderful time celebrating with her friends, celebrating with family, and celebrating at home. All of those celebrations took an incredibly surprising amount of time and we just couldn't fit in a podcast this week.

If all the birthday celebrations weren't enough, we also did a home studio photo session this weekend. Lee needed some fitness photos for her blog, featuring both running and now kickboxing. Tové wanted some specific birthday photos, which included the odd combination of bubbles and confetti.

It made a horrible mess, but that's part of why we have seamless paper for these sessions. It's also why Tové gets her photos last.

3 Signs Portrait Photography Isn't for You

You can read the details of the show notes on the original podcast, but here are the highlights.

Sometimes things go wrong. There's time to setup and time to tear down your self. All of these things can add a bit of pressure to your portrait session, so use this episode as a cautionary tale and do a great job of planning your time and expectations.

 

The portrait photography session went very well. It wasn't without some apprehension and profanity (before, not during), but we came away with a variety of shots that pleased both of us.

Visit the show notes at:  https://williambeem.com/episode110

Last week, we spoke about 10 Tips to Produce Your Photo Session. Then I had a photo session. So, how did my photo session work out?

Let's Cut to the Chase About the Photo Session

The photo session went very well. It wasn't without some apprehension and profanity (before, not during), but we came away with a variety of shots that pleased both of us.

If everything went perfectly, there wouldn't be a reason for me to create this post and pat myself on the back. Instead, I want to discuss some of the things that I could improve. Hopefully, this review will help you on your next photo session.

What Was Different About This Photo Session?

This photo session was a kick-off of a long term project for me. I want to create a portfolio of work that's worthy of a gallery showing. This session was a bit of a shake-out for me, and I treated it differently than most of my other sessions.

Here's what usually happens in my portrait sessions. Either I invite someone over to my home studio where I have a lot of gear and studio strobes, or I go with a small flash on a location session.

In this case, I decided to bring my studio to the location so I would have both quality lighting and plenty of options.

That worked out both to my benefit and consternation.

Gathering My Resources

Step 5 of my 10 Tips to Produce Your Photo Session says to gather your resources. Seems like sound advice. I just had one problem in this step.

I'm a tad disorganized.

The problem with having so much gear and few places to store it means that it tends to scatter all over the place. Some of my gear is in my home office, other pieces are in my garage. Generally speaking, I know where to find everything. This time, I had difficulty locating some items.

This is where the profanity came about.

Ultimately, I found everything. It seems that some items – like my Tether Tools Table – didn't go back to its proper spot after it was last used about three years ago. Lee found it stuffed between a chair and end table in our living room.

Another frustration was an Elinchrom strip box I recently bought used online. The good news is that I stored that in the right place. The bad news is that I didn't fully inspect it when it arrived. As I started to assemble it, I realized that it had the wrong speed ring for a strip box.

It's an Elinchrom speed ring, but the joints to accept the poles in the strip box are in the wrong place. I ordered a new speed ring, but it wouldn't arrive in time because I discovered this problem the night before the photo session.

That means I had to fall back on some older gear – a pair of Photoflex LiteDome Medium soft boxes. Each comes with a grid and produces lovely light.

I hate these soft boxes with a passion.

The reason I hate them is because you have to assemble the poles into the speed ring by hand. No spring joints or umbrella action here. Put pole in hole and repeat. Then reverse that process to strike the boxes down.

Quite simply, it's a pain in the neck and increases the time to setup or strike your equipment when on location.

I should have examined things sooner than the night before, but I was sick and let it slide. Lesson learned.

I Forgot a Few Things

Despite bringing a lot of gear, I let myself forget a few things.

First, I generally use an (affiliate link for Amazon) to make sure that I have accurate and consistent color on my photos. Though I had it with me, I forgot to use it.

Fortunately for me, I already have a camera profile using the lights and lens combination I used on this shoot. Still, it's a good practice to use this for every new shoot and I plain forgot to pull it out of my bag.

Next, I didn't think to get a decent photo of my lighting setup.

Start producing your photography session. Think of these tips as a format to help you visualize your result and think of all the details necessary to make it happen.

Visit the show notes at:  https://williambeem.com/episode109

We came up with 10 tips to produce your photo sessions and improve your results. Think of these tips as a format to help you visualize your result and think of all the details necessary to make it happen.

You're Not a Photographer Anymore

People love to claim they are a photographer. That's OK. You don't need to be a professional photographer who makes a living at photography just to call yourself a photographer.

If you can take a photo, you're a photographer.

Of course, we now know that even a monkey can take a photograph. It's just not that hard. If you want to get great results, it's time to stop thinking of yourself as a photographer. Photography is a technical skill.

The real art of photography is knowing what it means to be a producer, and how to bring elements together to make your vision come to fruition.

What is a Producer?

You often see movie titles for a Producer or Executive Producer. Just what do they do?

The simple explanation is that they are the people with financial and managerial responsibility to make something happen.

The producer may develop the concept, work with a script writer, oversee casting and manage many other aspects of the development of a movie, stage play or other form of entertainment.

There are photographers on movie sets, but they aren't the ones calling the shots. If you want to improve your photography, then you need to start working harder to call the shots.

You need to produce your photo sessions.

Our 10 Tips to Produce Your Photo Sessions

OK, poof! You're a producer. Now what do you do?

Don't worry. Our 10 tips to produce your photo sessions will help you make the decisions necessary to create some of your best work. These tips are high level processes, and you have to fill in the blanks. That's OK, because your photo session is your creative darling.

Now let's see how to get started.

1: Understand Why You Need This Photo

Let's start with your motivation. People don't do their best work without understanding why they're doing it. There are plenty of reasons to want to create great photography.

* You want to demonstrate your ability

* You enjoy the process

* Serving others with a great photo

* Giving people a reason to raise your rates as you raise your talent

Understanding your motivation and making a commitment to it will drive you through the process. Some sessions may be quick, others may be arduous. Knowing why you're going through the process helps you make decisions during the process.

Maybe you just need a graphic for a blog post or social media post. Perhaps you want to create a new portfolio to show your skill. You could take on a photo session because you want to try a different genre of photography.

If you're serving clients, keeping them happy and earning their recommendation for future clients is a great motivator.

Know you're “why” when you start to produce your photo session, or else you may end up failing.

My purpose lately is to develop a new portfolio of work that will earn a place in a gallery showing.

2: Develop Your Message or Story

Photography is communication. We take photos to make a statement. Sometimes it's a memory. In other cases, it's a sale tool. Your photos ought to say something.

The message or story behind your photos need to support your motivation.

As I mentioned, I want to create a portfolio for a gallery showing. That means I need a body of work with some unifying theme or element.

In my case, I'm choosing to photograph athletes doing what they love.

I want to show passion, drive, integrity, athleticism and the pursuit of excellence. It's something I appreciate in others who work hard to attain something,

Starting out in Photography? We want to help new photographers avoid some of the surprises and mistakes many of us make along the way.

Visit the show notes at:  https://williambeem.com/episode108

The reason we're sharing Ten Things You Wish You Knew Before Starting Photography is because we want to help new photographers avoid some of the surprises and mistakes many of us make along the way. Photography is rewarding, but there are a lot of aspects that you may not know about when you get started.

Ten Things You Wish You Knew Before Starting Photography

Why ten things?

Well, why not? There are probably many more things you wish you knew before starting photography, but we've tried to condense them into a manageable list. You'll hear us expand upon the items on the list during the podcast, and see it in the show notes below.

With that in mind, here's our list.

1: Photography May Be Expensive

You may not realize this when you buy your first camera, but what you're really doing is sticking your toe into the water of a vast system of tools and technology.

The good news is that you have enormous options to enhance your photography with new gear, providing options that you can't achieve with your first camera and lens.

The bad news is that these options are frequently expensive, ranging from “Ouch!” to “You Must be Kidding!”

Please note that I say photography may be expensive. Nothing says that it has to cost a lot of money. In fact, I promise you that you can take beautiful photos with any modern camera, and quite a lot of older cameras.

The expensive part comes when you want to do something that your current gear doesn't allow, or something it doesn't do as well as you wish it would do. If you can work within the scope of your camera and lens, you can still create some amazing photographs.

The most important tools for photography are light and imagination. Both of those are free.

2: Technical Skills Aren't the Important Part

Hand most people a DSLR camera and they'll find out quickly that it's not a point and shoot tool. You need to understand how to set it so you get  decent exposure, at the very least.

Yes, you may find a mode on your camera that sets some of the exposure for you. On my Nikon cameras, it's P (for Professional). Even with that, you may not have the right ISO. In short, the camera needs a human to operate it.

It's easy to get hung up on technical issues when you get into photography.

Yet, these technical skills aren't why many of us got into photography in the first place. Understanding how your camera works, and it's an important part of making a good photograph. Those technical skills just aren't the most important part of photography.

3: Your Vision is the Important Part

Photography isn't just about documenting your subject. It's an expressive and creative art. Well, it can be if you learn how to use your sense of vision. If all you do is concentrate on technical skills, then you're going to end up with photos that look like a mug shot.

Your vision is the sense of style created by your imagination that you turn into a photograph.

For example, let's say that you want to show motion in your photographs. You can do that by manipulating the exposure triangle (Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed) to allow your moving subject to blur.

What if you want part of the photo sharp and another part in blur?

Then you learn how to use off-camera flash with a short duration to freeze the motion created with that light, and let the part of your subject in ambient light turn to blur.

Another possibility is to pan your camera with your subject as it moves.

Maybe you use a tripod to keep the non-moving parts of your photo sharp while you leave the shutter open longer to let the movement blur.

The only reason to know these technical skills is so that you may apply them when your creative mind and vision comes up with an interesting way to tell the story of your subject.

Motion is only one aspect of your vision.