Putting a story in your photos.

[SwissJon]

One of the most challenging aspects of photography for me is putting a purpose to the photographs I take.

I've found that I'm now able to take reasonable acceptable photos much of the time, but without purpose, those photos seem to lack purpose, and people go "oh those are nice" then move on..

So I'm looking to inject a bit of artistic interest into some portraits I intend to take over the Xmas/New year break.. Has anyone got any ideas on how to jazz these up from just being ordinary shots to something "a bit different"? They need to be affordable and possible, but that's about it.. I know I'm not giving you much to go on, really all I'm after is a little spark that I can build into something..

Thanks in advance.

[metallion58]

I suggest you checkout David DuChemin and Chris Orwig for inspiration. Also, if you're thinking portrait, see if you can build on some of the great ones like Yussuf Karsh.
Another option is to go out and aim for something that you don't usually do. You may find it interesting and discover another aspect to integrate in your photo.

[NathanFranke]

All I have is "tell a story." That seems a bit less abstract than "find a purpose." My early photographs lacked a story--they often lacked an obvious subject--and did nothing visually. They were nice. Somehow along the way, I apparently got the ability to tell a story with my photographs. Not sure how it happened, but my images are better for it.

[karen_s]

Flickr taught me this: it's about connecting. You can do all the whiz bang great techniques you can find, but in the end you have to connect your story to the viewer to keep their interest. Everything you do from lighting to taking the shot to post processing to sharing online or in print should be an attempt to connect. For portraits, you really have to dig in and understand your subject then find a way to bring out their essence for the camera. YOU have to connect before you can really hope your photo will. (And why I don't do portraits of people, I seem to connect better to dogs )

[Jonbar18]

Originally Posted by SwissJon

but without purpose, those photos seem to lack purpose

I nominate this for most redundant phrase of the year

[sk66]

It's pretty simple really (well the concept is anyways)...Just figure out "why" you are taking the picture....What makes you *want* to take the picture? What do you want to convey specifically? Figure that out and then do everything focused on that aspect.

[Niresangwa]

Interesting topic.

I think first of all you need to distinguish between 'telling a story' (which to me belongs to the realm of photojournalism by definition, and tend to be candid in nature, the exception being the hybrid genre of editorial portraits), and just being interesting.

However, the majority of photography that we do doesn't fall into that category. Here you need to make the distinction that a shot can still be interesting without telling a story, which may be inappropriate for the genre you're shooting under as there may be no context which is the essential qualifier.

This was something I wrestled with for a long time when trying to establish the style of photography I would forge my business around, and have written off and on when providing critiques here on DPS.

Often times, it's a combination of a few technical factors that make the image interesting. However, you need to think about what causes that in the first place, which brought me to my own Aha! moment.

My opinion was that in order for something to be interesting, it needed to be different from what the viewer expects to see. I feel like we have a mental checklist we go through when viewing a shot - if everything is where you expect it to be, you simply move on...

...if, however, something is different from what you expect, it disrupts your list-checking and makes you pause, and suddenly, it's interesting.

Whether the viewer ultimately feels the difference detected is better or worse than they expected is immaterial, simply that that it made them think about it. For me that's enough.

Whether it's the lighting, the composition, the focus, the framing and crop, and even the expression, use of colour these are all tools I manipulate regularly to trigger this phenomenon, and humbly, I feel I do it rather well... I mean that inasmuch as I trigger a moment of pause or a question, not necessarily that what I do is great..

in other words, I'm less interested in gaining a positive subjective grade than I am in achieving the disruption to the normal expectations.

[Jim Bryant]

Every picture should tell a story in one way of another. Instead of pressing the shutter button, grabbing a few snaps and moving onto the next subject. Just it and observe for a while and then take pictures.

[SwissJon]

Thank you all..

I think Steve's reiterated the question I was trying to ask, I've really looking for some inspiration to give myself a purpose for taking a photo. When I'm taking landscape photos, I know what I'm after, it's difficult to find, but when it presents itself, I know it. Taking city photos, I'm looking at the architecture, to use that in interesting ways, street photos need some kind of story to tell you about what is in the photo.. But all of those are largely non-interactive scenes. The thing is there, I just need to find the right angle. I can't tell a mountain to move a little to the left for example. Even macro photos, where you have to set up the scene are a one way street. The thing is there, it's just about what

But then there's work with people. I'm comfortable working with my equipment. I've started playing with lighting set ups to get used to how light works, and I don't mind chatting to models, but when they ask me "What do you want me to do?" "What's the purpose of these shots" I can't answer.

I agree with you Niresangwa, I've had a few "Ooooooh... I seeee.." moments, and I can feel another one creeping up on me, but really I'm after a seedling to grow into this.. A purpose for the photo, a theme.. I don't know.. Just a reason to take the photo..

I guess this is all part of the journey, but I'm looking for some help from those that have been on this journey before me, to give me a little guidance on where to take this.

Edit: Sitting and taking it in seems like a good idea, thanks Jim..

[Skoropada]

I'm with you on this Jon.
Many times I have asked myself how can I make better pictures, that convey some kind of message and elicit a reaction in the viewer.

I believe that I have mastered many technical aspects of photography and that I'm growing in regards of my compositional eye and intuition but anyhow, I don't seem to get the response I would like. I only the "oh, nice..." comment from time to time.

I believe that much of that situation is related to the people looking at the picture and by the fact that I shoot a lot of pictures with only aesthetics in mind. Most, if not all, of the physical people I interact with are not involved in anything related to art, and I believe that many of the members of the online forums look at images more from a technical point of view than with an artistic POV.

I'm thinking about setting up staged photos, with scenery, models, lighting and so on, but I have yet to find the time and the means to do it.
There will be a time when I will be able to do this and I will know if my idea was right...