Tell A Story With Photos

If you’re looking for an article about ISO, aperture, or shutter speed, this isn’t it. I’ve always been overwhelmed by camera settings, so I choose to focus (pun intended) on how the photo tells the story instead both personally and professionally when capturing moments for clients. My husband even knows when I’m on the hunt for a good storytelling photo and often says, “You have a vision, don’t you?”

The goal here is to inspire you to consider your content when you take a photo so that the moment you capture brings back the experience clearly when it shows up on your Facebook memories 1 year, 5 years, 10 years later. These tips don’t just apply to fancy schmancy cameras. You can incorporate these tips with any camera…even your phone.

Back Up a Few Steps

Your surroundings tell so much about what you’re experiencing. One of my newest pet peeves is when I see someone post a close-up selfie on social media with a caption like, “So much fun at the circus!'‘ Wait! They’re at the circus? For all I know from the photo they’re sitting on the couch at home watching The Voice. Show me the fire-breathing clown behind you! Are you snapping a pic of your kids at the zoo? Take 5 steps back to include some animals or interesting tropical landscaping behind them.

Candid is King

There is a time and place for posed photos. I get it. However, candid photos tell a story in a much more dynamic and memorable way. The way your child’s brows are furrowed when he’s studying a bug or how your mom crinkles her nose when she genuinely laughs can only be captured in an authentic moment. Avoid telling people to say “cheeeeeeese” and just snap away instead.

Add People to the Picture

A photo with actual humans in the picture is so much more memorable than one without. Back to the zoo example…will you really care to see that zebra pic in 5 years or will your heart skip a beat when you look back at a photo of your daughter’s reaction to seeing a zebra for the first time? Will a picture of your plate of spaghetti remind you of the amazing hole-in-the-wall restaurant you and your husband found in Little Italy or would a photo of your husband trying to awkwardly serve the extra long noodles from a family-style platter make you giggle and launch you back to the moment?

You get the picture (pun intended again).