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Posts Tagged ‘Telling’

DPReview TV: Behind the scenes – telling a better story through cinematography

16 May

This week, Jordan takes us behind the scenes of his short feature film, A Walk Down to Water. He and director Levi Holwell discuss the gear they chose for the production, as well as the importance of camera movement in storytelling.

Want to see the entire film? You can watch it here.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

  • Jordan needs a haircut
  • Introducing Director Levi Holwell
  • Lenses we used
  • Cameras we used
  • Lighting techniques
  • Camera movement
  • Thanks
  • Support your local independent theater!

Watch the film: A Walk Down to Water

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Telling a Story in a Single Image – Tips from a Photojournalist

16 Jan

Photography is visual communication medium. You can follow and use some rules, through composition and technique – but photojournalism takes it a step farther and states facts and gives information that is true and real. You need to follow two basic pillars to be an ethical photojournalist. Those principles are: you do not manipulate your scene, and the information you are photographing must be real.

The best recipe you can use for getting a good photo that tells a story is by combining good composition, action, and emotions. If you are able to engage with your subject mixing those three elements you will be able to get a good photograph.

As photojournalist you can display facts and affairs but you will level up your work if you are able to evolve those facts in something emotional and touching. Then is when you photo stars to tell a story.

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Suruç hospital receives Kurdish fighters from Syria.

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Kurdish women cry for the wounded, treated in Suruç hospital.

Both photos describe real facts, something that is going on. In the first one you see some action, and some mood in the people waiting for the wounded fighters. But in the second one, the emotion is stronger and you see the action coming out from the other women crying around them.

“If you want emotions in your photos you need people around”

Include people in your frame. Look for the faces, not for the backs, but understand that body language in human beings is another way of communication so a full body can also express emotions.

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Ukrainian army enters the eastern city of Mariupol leaving civilians casualties as result of the attack.

Firefighters are in action, the fire inside the personal armoured carrier is action too and the whole scene makes the tension of a probable incoming explosion. You need to make the action evident, so you need to get close. The action needs a bigger space in your frame. For that, use your feet – they are your best zoom. You could step back ant shoot the armoured vehicle on fire from the distance, but the main characters of the photo will be lost and the man handling the water and the fire in the foreground is pure action.

You can get a story going on in your photos too, if you are able to engage with your subject. A close portrait with the right attitude is it always good. In these photos you can see a little bit of action in the background but not much. However, you can replace that making a strong engagement with your subject. You can feel in these photos they are arrogant, they are proud of what they are, they stand up not ashamed, and look forward and straight into the camera and their body languages speaks for itself.

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Pro-Russian sniper guards a checkpoint in Slaviansk, eastern Ukraine.

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Pro-Russian militias patrol the main administrative building in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.

When you look for a story in your photos try different angles, do not be afraid of watching things from a different perspective. Get low, as a photographer you need to change your point of view. When photographing kids and animals you always need to get to their level, at the same level you make them to stand up and you give them the major role in frame.

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Pro-Russian militia Vostock Battalion celebrates the independency of the Donetsk People’s Republic.

As you can see in these examples the action and emotions are the key. There is no better way to find those emotions than looking forward and getting close to the principal characters of the events.

A good indicator of whether your photography is good is if you do not need to explain anything. A photograph telling a story does not need to be explained. If you want to make the story more complicated you will need to put more elements in harmony in your frame, it is more complicated but is a challenging experience.

How do you tell stories with your images? What can you learn from these tips that you can use in your own photography, even if you do not do true photojournalism?

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The post Telling a Story in a Single Image – Tips from a Photojournalist by Felipe Passolas appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Couple Photography: Telling Their Love Story

18 Sep

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A while ago, I went to the funeral for my husband’s dear Grandpa Wes, and I looked through old photos of him and his beautiful sweetheart, Daphene, who passed away just 6 months before (they couldn’t live without each other for very long). They had photos when they were young snuggled up together, holding hands, and even kissing, and it struck me how rare that was. Old photos usually are much more formal, and don’t show a lot of emotion or candid feelings. They also had more recent photos that showed the same affection, and that’s rare as well, to be married for decades and still have that connection. It made me realize even more how much I love what I do, and how much I especially love capturing those real moments, the ones that the grandkids will look back on later and say, wow, Grandpa and Grandma REALLY loved each other!

I’ve found some great ways to get couples to really connect for me, and hopefully these tips will help you capture a love story for every couple you photograph too.

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Be Invisible

I tell couples many times during a session to pretend that I am not there. It usually works to bring their focus on each other, and some of the focus off of me. You want your subjects to act naturally towards each other, and interact how they normally would on a daily basis. You don’t want them to be so worried about you taking their photo, that they forget that they even love each other.

I like to tell them to look at each other, and say everything they feel about the other person with their eyes only. Some couples actually have deep, meaningful connections when I ask them to do this. Others laugh at the corniness, but it doesn’t matter. They are laughing with each other, and the connection is there. Either way, have your camera ready, and capture it.

Another good interaction builder is to ask them to whisper something in the other’s ear. I tell them that I do not want to know what they said to each other under any circumstances! This usually helps them to relax, and gives them permission to whisper all sorts of things to each other that will either ignite sparks, or laughter. It doesn’t matter, as long as they are pretending I’m not there, pretending the camera isn’t there, and making a connection.

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Get Them Closer

Most of us have a distance comfort zone that we like to keep around ourselves. We don’t usually like people to be too close, especially when a photographer is watching us. Your job is to get them closer to each other. It may feel a little uncomfortable to them at first, but remind them that in a photo it doesn’t look as close as it feels, it just looks like they love each other.

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You want to have a physical connection somewhere. Ask them to bring their foreheads or noses together (depending on height difference). Ask him to put his hand on her cheek, or on her back. She could put her hands on his chest, or on the back of his head. A good old fashioned kiss can work great too. A physical connection could be as simple as a hand hold, but just make sure they are connected. You don’t have to direct every hand placement, and pose them into uncomfortableness. Sometimes it’s enough just to ask them to hug lightly. Little cues go a long way – you want them to be natural with each other, and connect in a way that feels comfortable to them.

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Give Them Something to Do

People that aren’t particularly comfortable with the camera can get even more uncomfortable if there isn’t anything for them to do. Couples sessions can be easier than a solo session in that regard, because at least they have someone to hold on to, but sometimes that isn’t enough to get them comfortable with the situation. If you just expect them to stand there and make beautiful images for you, you might be disappointed.

Tell them to take a walk together, or look at each other and laugh. Corny? Yes. Effective? Most of the time. Use vehicles to sit on, sit in, or lean on. Let him push her gently on a swing. Have them bring a puppy to interact with together, or a horse to hold onto, or a blanket to sit on. Even a wall or tree to lean on can help them feel a little more comfortable.

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Faces Aren’t Mandatory

It’s great to get a few photos of the couple looking at you, although I still try to get them to have that physical connection with each other (cheeks together, but facing you; her head on his chest, both facing you, arms around each other, etc.). However, you can show even more connection sometimes without showing their faces at all. Intertwined fingers are a favorite thing of mine to photograph. A head on a shoulder, their backs as they walk away, or holding hands can show a lot too. Find those little details that can tell their love story in a subtle way.

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Be Invisible – Again

You’ve already told them to pretend you aren’t there, but you can really remove yourself by peeking your camera through branches, leaves, or curtains. Not only does it kind of remove you and the camera from the sight of your subjects, but it gives you a great perspective for your photo. It lets the viewer feel like they are peeking into something that they shouldn’t be seeing, and makes the emotions feel even more genuine.

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Who doesn’t like a good love story? If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a whole photo session with a loving couple is a romance novel. Your job as the photographer is to make it a good one.

The post Couple Photography: Telling Their Love Story by Melinda Smith appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Create Powerful Silhouettes by Telling a Story

06 Feb

Create Powerful Silhouettes by Telling a Story

Telling the Story

Silhouettes remove all the distractions and clutter in the scene and distill the image down to its most basic, this is why the story is so important. Just using shapes you must make a photo that is recognizable, and that the viewer can relate to. While this sounds easy in practice, it can be difficult to achieve. You must have the right elements. The light needs to be in the right location, the subject needs to be facing the right way, and they need to be in a pose that makes their action recognizable.

Silhouette 1

Movement by the subject helps tell a strong story in your silhouettes

Tips for creating good silhouettes that tell a story

Clean outlines

If you have multiple objects that are back-lit you want to make sure there is separation between the objects so that each one is distinct and recognizable.

Profiles or straight on shots work well

For people, profiles or straight on shots work best. For profiles you should be able to clearly make out the shape of the nose and chin on their face. For straight on shots the subject’s arms should be away from their body, and their legs parted so you can see both legs and not just a single blob. Recognizable shapes – this is important for every silhouette.

Capturing action

Movement in your subject can create strong lines and positions that are instantly recognized by the viewer and help convey the story of what the subject is doing.

Props

Silhouette 2

The added hat and cane help enhance the story in this image

Props can help tell the story, an outline of a flower, a tip of a hat can add meaning to the image.

Interaction between subjects

Having multiple subjects can be challenging because you want to minimize overlap of their shapes so they each maintain their own identity. There is a balance between telling the story and having the subjects interact in a minimal way. For example holding hands or kissing often work well, but a hug results in silhouette that is just a big black blob.

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Separation between subjects is important. This image would be stronger if the man’s leg did not merge with the camera and tripod

Lighting for Silhouettes

To light a silhouette you need to light the subject from behind. The type of light is not important; it can be natural or artificial and can be direct or indirect. The important thing is that the lighting is behind the subject, and the subject is not lit. Technically silhouetting occurs when you have a lighting ratio of 16:1 or greater (4 stops), however I will describe how you can create a silhouette in post-production using lower lighting ratios.

Natural Silhouette Lighting

One of the most common types of silhouettes using natural lighting is to place the subject between the camera and the setting sun or moon. Your camera exposure should be set for the background lighting, either the sunset or moon, and this will cause the subject to appear black against the light background. Another common technique is to use the light reflected off of a wall or the side of a building.

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This lighted wall in Las Vegas provides great back-lighting for silhouettes

Studio Silhouette Lighting

There are two common techniques for creating silhouettes using studio strobes. The first is to use a white background and bounce the strobes off the background. The second is to point the strobes towards the camera and place the subject between the strobes and the camera. This second technique can also produce a light flare in the image which can give an interesting effect.

Post-processing techniques

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If you have a backlit subject, but can still see some detail in the subject you can often make it a pure silhouette in Lightroom, or Camera RAW. Use the develop module in Lightroom and adjust the Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, and Blacks sliders. Use different combinations to darken the subject. Typically you will need to increase Contrast and decrease one, or all of the other three sliders. Either the Shadow or Blacks slider should be set to -100, try both to see which produces the desired effect. Decreasing Highlights is typically only necessary if the edges of the subject are lit and you wish to make them darker.

Conclusion

Silhouettes are a fun and easy to do and by concentrating on the story being told you can create an image that has impact.

Want more silhouettes?

  • 5 tips for photography silhouettes (non-human subjects)
  • How to photograph silhouettes in 8 easy steps
  • 12 stunning silhouettes
  • Great B/W silhouette images

The post Create Powerful Silhouettes by Telling a Story by Craig Colvin appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Story Telling Photography

07 Sep

Learn more at www.ppsop.com . Please send your questions to bryanfpeterson3@mac.com

 
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