Storytellers A Photographer's Guide to Developing Themes and Creating Stories with Pictures

by Foster, Jerod

• ISBN13: 9780321803566
• ISBN10: 0321803566
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-11-23
• Publisher: New Riders

Summary

All images tell a story. Whether they're produced as works of art, on assignment for National Geographic, or as part of a family vacation, each image says more than just a shutter speed and aperture setting. We make images for a reason. There are plenty of books on lighting, Photoshop, composition, and vision, but what's easy to forget is the reason people use these tools to construct a story. This goes beyond just knowing how to change the aperture, or feather the light emitted from a soft box, but to really knowing why certain apertures or shadow characteristics work well within a given or created context of your story. This book focuses on storytelling, and how knowledge of our gear, our vision and attention, and our experiences and environments can be used for aid in that activity, ultimately creating more unique, stronger images. This close examination on storytelling connects the HOW-TO with the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY. It's the story that necessitates the use of certain lenses, apertures, or light modifiers. The story, in essence, that holds everything together. This guide will help photographers make sensible choices with these mechanical elements so that storytelling remains at the forefront of the work.

Author Biography

Jerod Foster is a Texas-based editorial and travel photographer with a focus on environmental portraiture and natural history for magazines, books, and commercial clients. He also leads photography workshops and is a photography instructor at Texas Tech University. Jerod is a partner in Badlands Design and Production, a specialty book design/publishing company that also produces HD video on cultural history and conservation projects in Mexico and Texas. Visit his website and read his popular photography “Field Lighting” tips and blog at jerodfoster.com.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: A Tradition Always In The Making

Chapter Two: The Photographic Storyteller

Chapter Three: Use Your Camera, Don't Let Your Camera Use You!

Chapter Four: A Storytelling Workflow

Chapter Five: What (and Who's) Story Are You Telling?

Chapter Six: Do The Research!

Chapter Seven: A Word From The Wise