Every trip you make creates its own story. It has a beginning that involves preparation, a middle where the main activities happen, and an end covering the last days and your return home. Your job is to document this timeline in a way that tells a coherent story for you to share.
A double-page spread from a photo book covering a climate action demonstration. This gives an idea of how sequences of photos can be combined to tell a story of an event by recording the actions of the people involved and the weather conditions they encountered.
Recording sequences
Most stories involve a sequence of shots that capture a period during which something interesting occurs. Your entire trip will create its own story without you having to look any further; but that story will be enhanced if you can find smaller, shorter stories within the overall context. Here are a few suggestions of things to look for:
– Cultural events such as street theatre, community festivals, art and craft shows or local markets;
– Sports of all kinds, where you aim to show changing patterns of action and different participants;
Sports action can be covered by recording it in video, as shown here. Alternatively, you could use the camera’s fastest burst shooting mode – particularly if you need higher resolution and/or a different aspect ratio. Action cameras also work well in these situations.
– Different views of a single subject, photographed from changing angles and/or at different times of the day;
– Local people going about their everyday lives;
– Animals (including birds and fish) in action – anywhere.
These six pictures are part of a much longer sequence, selected to illustrate the value of taking plenty of shots. The lioness is seen emerging from the long grass followed by three cubs. As she approaches at a steady pace, some of the cubs run up to walk alongside her and even run ahead before they begin to tire and fall back. All the photos were taken with a 24-200mm zoom lens from a stationary vehicle in the Kalahari area of South Africa.
Interestingly, it’s also possible to tell a story with just one picture. It’s directly associated with the context in which the subject was recorded. Some examples are provided on these pages.
The composition draws your eyes into this picture, making you wonder why there are so many people there. (Location: Kiyomisu-dera temple in Kyoto on an afternoon in late winter.)
The environment and people in this photo suggest it was taken somewhere in Africa. What are the subjects doing? Why is the cart so dilapidated when the people are neatly dressed? What’s in the plastic bottle? (Location: south of the Spitzkoppe mountains in Namibia.)
Sometimes the story is best told with a series of shots that present different angles of view of a well-known subject or cover a period when the light is changing or a sequence of events occurs. Collections of stills shots like this can be assembled into slideshows or provide the content for photo books of your trip.
The sequence of shots shown here provides different views of a set of Moai statues on Easter Island, from different angles and at different times of the day.
Recording sequences is usually very easy when you’re shooting movies, which are among the best story-telling tools. They’re especially good when you want to record subjects in motion or document events or cultural activities. Shooting a video is also a useful way to encompass very large subjects since you can pan the camera across the scene as well as up or down to reveal its full extent.
Some stills cameras can automatically capture a few seconds of video before each photo is taken and then compile them into a short video overview of what you’ve done that day. This is a useful reference tool for cataloguing your photos and video recordings and can be handy when you want a quick way to share a trip on your TV screen.
Things to look for
Storytelling works best when it has a distinct theme with a specific aesthetic, style or composition. If you’re planning to produce a book of your trip, you’ll need to consider possible page layout options, including which shots will be the ‘hero’ images and which work better as subsidiaries.
Your aesthetic choices can centre on a specific aspect ratio, which will probably be dictated by your camera’s sensor. You may also decide to use only horizontal or vertical shots instead of mixing them to introduce variety.
Another tactic is to stick with a certain colour palette. Weather conditions will likely play a key role in your choices if this is your main approach, but you could also opt for bright, saturated colours or classical black and white.
Three different styles of storytelling, each based on a specific colour and tonal palette: left shows bright, saturated colours, top right shows subtle pastels, and below right is black and white. Each palette has a different emotional impact on viewers so each suits different types of subjects.
If you’re shooting movies it’s best to have a plan that outlines the sequence of scenes you want to record and the order in which they will be played back. (There’s no real need to shoot them in order as you can usually cut-and-paste during post-production.) Pay attention to what will tie your clips together to create a compelling story.
Keep an eye out for things that will engage people’s attention. Vary the angles of view and shooting positions you use to ensure you cover several different viewpoints. This will give you the option to choose the one(s) that best represent your intentions.
If possible, take shots at different times of day to include times that have the most attractive lighting. Include close-up shots of interesting foods you’ve eaten and quirky things that caught your attention; few travellers think of doing this, yet they can result in intriguing and memorable images.
Three snapshots taken with a smartphone camera capture the essence of this little Japanese restaurant.
Questions to answer
Most of the factors you need to consider will have been decided when you were planning your trip. These include:
– When and where you are going and how much you already know about the subject or location.
– How much time you have to record the main elements of the story.
– The equipment you’ll use.
For individual segments within the total story, you also need to answer these questions: What is your goal when documenting this sequence/ subject/event? What lighting and weather should you expect?
Timing is critical for shots like this. You’ll only see rainbows when the sun is correctly angled to the waterfall – and they seldom last very long.
How much access do you have to the site and people? If people are involved, who are they and how can you gain their trust? Or can you record them unobserved? Candid photography can let you record quirky memories of a particular time or place that will enrich the documentation of your trip.
Sometimes a rear view can say as much about a human subject as a view from the front. It also allows you to shoot unobserved.
You need some idea of what you’ll be able to capture from the beginning and middle through to the end of your shoot in order to complete the story. During the shoot, always bear in mind how you will share your story since this can influence the equipment and settings you use for each shot or clip you capture.
Keep an eye out for unexpected ‘bonus’ events that add to the story you’re telling – and watch out also for unwanted clutter and items in the background that might distract your viewers. These can often be avoided or suppressed through the choice of a wider lens aperture – or more careful framing.
Useful links
Travel story photos of animals
This article by Margaret Brown is an excerpt from Travel Photography 4th Edition pocket guide.
