It’s All in the Photos

5 Ways to Tell Your Story Through Photography

Story Telling Through Images

1. Color Palette

1. What are the colors you adore? Are they warm and rich, or cool and moody? Do they radiate energy and vibrancy? I love cool, tranquil, soft colors with pops here and there.

   Take a minute to look through some of your photos, your wardrobe, and home accessories. What is the color thread and how do these colors present themselves? Do you wear mostly black and grey and then add bold colorful scarves or does your wardrobe look like a beautiful 64-pack of crayons?

   We usually wrap ourselves in a color that encompasses some emotion as well. Cool blues that bring needed calm to our daily lives or bright florescent pinks to add energy.

   Keep a written trail of the colors that make you look twice.

Color Palette 

2. Set A Mood

I am a curios wanderer. I like to turn things over, look underneath, and excavate. Such curiosity usually leads to asking more, getting in touch with emotions, and digging deeper.

1. Take a look at your surroundings, what do you see? Do you love plants, fabrics, and textiles, softness, or hard lines? Write a few of these realizations down and then start pulling on the threads.

2. Why do you enjoy a hard line vs a soft curve? Or darks vs lights?

3. What are the feelings that bubble up when you look at the things in your world?

I find I experience a visceral response to both the things I am drawn to and recoil from. Then begins the fun part of why. That is where the juicy bits are. Why don’t I like the color purple?

Once we begin the process of learning about likes and dislikes we can begin to understand how we can draw the viewer in with our internal storyline.

Setting a Mood

3. Books and Words

Reading and learning are at the core of my being. I have been a curious question-asker my entire life. I believe it adds even more richness and understanding to our lives and probably makes us better human beings.

1. What are the stories you remember from your childhood? The stories that stayed with you.

2. Are there words you gravitate to? eg: truth, love, longing, peace, stillness, discovery. Words can evoke powerful feelings. Begin to take note of words you might use over and over again, because of the way they feel in your mouth when you say them.

3. Do words have colors? If they do, what are they and how can you incorporate the color and word into your photography?

4. Do you have a message that a bold word can draw attention to?

Words and Titles

4. Design Elements

I love texture. I can look at something and feel it at the same time. Or at least I can perceive how it might feel. I create photolays with the thought of how a visual texture can draw the viewer in. How your photo can have perceived richness just by adding a swatch of velvet or linen.

1. Do you love texture and fibers? This can be shredded paper or pieces of raffia. I encourage you to spend time touching things.

2. Are you drawn to hard textures, such as metal pieces, rocks, or sticks? Or is it soft plush fabrics, such as velvet or worn cotton?

3. Blurred out or fuzzy images?

4. Negative space or space filled with lots of movement?

5. What are some of the design elements in your home or wardrobe?

We are our own best study guides. We leave ourselves clues. The difficult part is following the clues. We tend to overlook our own value and look to others to give value to ourselves.

Adding Texture and Layers

5. Your Collection of Specimens

I recently realized that the treasures we keep are specimens from a life lived. We keep ticket stubs from our favorite concert, a flower from a first date, notes from loved ones, and on and on.

These specimens speak volumes about the places, people, and things we have experienced. They tell stories of who we are and where we have been.

I encourage you to look through your specimens

1. Clear a space, table, floor, whatever you have.

2. Cover it with a piece of kraft paper, tablecloth, scrap fabric, or whatever appeals to you.

3. Gather a few of your treasures. The pieces you have forgotten about or remember fondly.

4. Place them on your surface.

5. Stack some books or boxes on the surface for height and depth.

6. Add rocks, sticks, flowers, or greenery if you love nature, or machine parts and bones.

7. Begin moving things around and think about your journey thus far. What are you saying to yourself? What makes you light up?

8. Take a photo to get a feel of how it looks.

9. What do you want to bring to the front or place in the background?

10. Play, Play, and more Play. This is an experiment of self-discovery and storytelling. It is rich and worth exploring and sharing.

A Treasured Life