How to Use Storytelling in Photography Sessions
Very early on, when I started reading about how to be a better photographer, I came across a lot of articles that discuss the art of composition in photography. Composition is, simply, all the stuff that you choose to include (and exclude) in a photography frame. There are all sorts of ways that you can “compose” a shot, and most of these articles cover the very basics that I had already learned in art school, like the rule of thirds, leading lines (use of perspective), and light and shadow. But I wanted to go deeper than that. I wanted photos that really gushed emotion and depth. Then I remembered something:
Growing up, I was really into reading. My favorite day was Library day, the one day a week that my class got to go to the library for an hour to choose new books to read. Around 3rd or 4th grade, I came across some graphic novels. I knew what comic books were, but it was the first time I’d really seen the novel version. And something about them made the biggest impression on me: what the artist chose to draw, panel by panel, to go with the text.
I found the nuance in body language, scene, and even what the artist chose NOT to draw so fascinating. How did they take little scraps of conversational writing and an overarching plotline and turn that into such an emotional, visual story? Sometimes it would be a zoomed out silhouette of the person leaning against a wall. Then the next panel, zoomed in on their face. Then the next, back to a color panel of their head, torso, and a shifted pose, like maybe beginning to turn to walk away, and then the final panel would just be high, zoomed out drawing of their silhouetted form and the city around them, as they walk off into the sunset.
When I started art school, I learned that while there is not an exact formula for this, there are tricks you can utilize to create a sense of storytelling in your work. Yes, the artist/photographer has to choose wisely to evoke the right kind of emotion for the shot, but there are strategic ways to use this same sort of storytelling in photography to get really emotional images.
Let’s start with the easiest one that I’ve found to incorporate in photographs:
Foreground, Middle Ground, and Background
This was a concept I learned in art school that teaches you to consider and deliberately design each of these three spaces within a frame. By considering these layers of your composition, you can be sure that the overall experience of the work is as impactful as it’s meant to be and guides the viewer in an intentional way.
Utilizing this tactic was something that I found was intuitive for me when I first started photography. I sort of fell into photographing my clients within a scene (Background, or “wide” or “long” shot), then move in to just the two of them (Middle Ground, or “medium shot” ), and then zoom in on an intimate point of contact (Foreground, or “close shot” or even an “extreme close shot”). I allowed it to become a personal style choice and used it often, and it works fabulous for creating a sense of flow during sessions, and as a bonus, adds so much more visual interest to pages when laid out in albums, and helps create a sense of flow as you progress through the album. So I found this especially powerful for wedding and engagement photography, especially if the engagement session had a story attached, such as we were photographing where they had their first date, or in the location where the proposal was.
Utilizing Camera Angles
We expect to experience a photograph from the standard view, which is from our eye level at standing. This is how we normally experience the world so this feels natural and expected. So when you change up the camera angle, it can communicate visual interest and make a statement about the subject.
Low Angle and Worm’s eye view, or looking up from ground level, can communicate a sense of “bigness”. This is the heroic angle that gets used in filmmaking fairly often to make the person (or superhero) seem larger than life. Think back to how many superhero movies use a low camera angle just as the heroes are moving in…this will be a very familiar angle when you think about it. I’ve used this during all kinds of sessions to communicate a lovely sense of quiet power and sovereignty to the subject. I’ve found it works especially well for High School Seniors and Engagement sessions where you can communicate a sense of strength to face anything the world throws at you.
There is a difference between the two. Low angle doesn’t have to be all the way on the ground and can be a little farther back, which allows you to incorporate more of the scene around the subject. Worm’s eye view is very close to the subject(s) and puts intense focus on them.
High Angle and Bird’s eye view, or looking down from above, can communicate smallness or have a zooming in effect to create a lot of visual focus and interest. I’ve noticed this in superhero movies as well, as oftentimes the “bad guys” arrive from above the heroes to communicate dominance or power over (consider the bad dude standing on a balcony above or a building roof, or literally arriving to the scene from the sky or outer space in some sort of ship or aircraft). For my sessions, especially when there is an oppotunity to capture a loving relationship of some sort, this is a beautiful way to communicate intimacy. From parents with children to couples in love, this angle is a favorite of mine to draw the viewer down to a single point of focus.
Just like with low angle and worm’s eye views, there is a difference between the two of these as well. A high angle is more straight and usually a little farther away. Easiest way to think of this is a security camera. It can evoke a sense of being a little like a voyeur, like catching a glimpse of something private. In that way, it can really be an evocative angle to showcase intimacy. Bird’s eye view, like worm’s eye, is closer and focused down on the subject, like a bird looking right down at you from just overhead.
Try it along with creative composition
These are just a few, but if you sprinkle storytelling in with your other styles, it can really add a dynamic edge to your work. Storytelling doesn’t just work for photojournalism (like weddings), either! You can add these into your engagement or family sessions along with traditional portraits to make your albums, slideshows, and your own marketing much more magnetic. Try it and let me know what you think!
