Photographic essays are an increasingly popular medium among journalists, bloggers and advertisers. Whether you're trying to show the emotional impact of a current story or sharing your hobby with family and friends, images can portray that topic in a personal, exciting, and interesting way. To create a photo essay you just need to choose a topic, find the right images and order them.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Finding a Topic
Step 1. Consider current events
These are ideal topics for a photo essay. People usually know - at least by hearsay - what you're talking about and you'll likely find an audience interested in the work. You can choose something simple, like Christmas shopping, or more complex, like increasing the unemployment rate in your area. If you are interested in learning more about the subject of your essay, others will likely share your desire as well.
Step 2. Check the local events calendar
School activities, charity fundraisers, and the feast of the country's patron saint are interesting topics. If you describe your intentions to the organizers before the event, you may even find a medium on which to publish your essay, such as their website or a local newspaper.
Step 3. Consider taking pictures of your work or hobbies
These are topics you already know well, so creating a successful essay will be pretty easy. Take pictures of your workplace and of your colleagues. This will help you get to know your colleagues and your business better, as well as make the essay a possible promotional material for your company. Hobbies are another great topic. People who share your passion or intend to start following it will be interested and you can share the fruit of your hard work and the joy you derive from it with others.
- Offer a photo essay of your workplace as a training tool.
- Use a photo essay about your company as a promotional or social tool, posting it on your website or company pages on social media.
- Create an instructional photo essay that helps other people learn about your hobby so they can start following it.
Step 4. Choose an interesting subject
Once you have some ideas, think about how you can photograph them and present them to others. Consider which subjects are easier to capture and which are more interesting. Above all, choose subjects that inspire you. If you think something is interesting, other people will probably think like you too.
Step 5. Consider your audience
Ask yourself: "Who would want to see this photo essay?". This reflection is important in deciding what to photograph. If you know who the readers will be most interested in your essay, you can choose subjects and images that will appeal to them. If you don't already have an audience or publishing medium in mind, it's still important to consider which topics appeal to readers. Many photographers believe that it is necessary to choose profound topics, such as poverty or discrimination, but in many cases, the more personal a subject is, the more interesting it is for the next.
Step 6. Choose a thematic or narrative approach
Both of these types of essays can be impactful, but it's important to consider how to best address your chosen topic before you start taking pictures. This allows you to look for particular shots that are right for you. Themed essays consider a general idea and show specific examples, while the narrative ones tell a story, with a beginning, a middle and a conclusion. The former are often used to emphasize current news, but it's important to avoid creating random photo collections. Each image must add something new. The latter are often easier to design, but the hard part becomes finding the right photos.
- The subjects of thematic essays are often broad topics, such as animal rights, young people at risk and war.
- Narrative essays can include representations of a person's typical day, guides on how to do something, or publications documenting changes over time, such as the construction of a building.
- If you have been asked to make an essay on commission or for a specific publication, you should choose a topic suitable for a thematic or narrative approach, based on the instructions of the client. Make sure you know the guidelines you need to follow in advance.
Part 2 of 4: Planning the Photo Shoot
Step 1. Obtain permissions
If you intend to publish your work, you need to receive signed permits from all the subjects you will portray. Even if you don't want to publish the essay in a commercial medium, but want to use the images for your personal blog or website, it's polite to ask for permission in advance. If you plan to take pictures of children, always ask for parental permission. Make sure stakeholders can refuse to be immortalized easily and without feeling awkward.
- Consider how difficult it will be to obtain permission to photograph the subject you are interested in. If you already know people, everything will be easier. If not, consider taking the time to get the releases signed.
- Schools, day care centers and other environments where children are found often have more rules as to who can be photographed and for what purpose. Usually you will need to get parental permission, as well as that of the institution's leaders.
Step 2. Research the subjects
Before arriving at the site, do some research on the internet, read websites on the topic of your choice, make phone calls or send e-mails to find out more. The greater your understanding of the subject before shooting day, the better prepared you will be to take photos that truly capture the essence of what you want to represent.
- Consider having interviews with the people concerned before the photo shoot. You can ask "What is the most interesting thing you do for this event?" or "How long have you been working for this organization?".
- Interviews are great opportunities to ask for permits and obtain releases.
- If you are going to a workplace, charity event, or other situation where many people are present, ask the managers to explain to everyone what you are doing before you arrive.
Step 3. Create the essay outline
Once you have established the topic and obtained the permissions, think for a few minutes about which photos you will need. Almost all essays need several images that show various aspects of the subject under consideration. Include at least one symbol photo, some that give an overview of the subject, many that portray details and one that "closes" the work at the end.
Step 4. Choose a symbol image
These are photos that must capture the spirit of the subject matter. Think of famous shots, like Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother", which immortalized a woman and her son during the Great Depression. In the United States, this photo has become a symbol of that historical period.
Step 5. Take photos presenting the general topic
It should be overviews of the whole story. If you are photographing a working day in an office, you can use an image of a line of employees entering the building early in the morning.
Step 6. Think about the detail pictures
These photos can include a variety of portraits, close-ups of specific actions and interactions. For example, you can include a portrait of the "main character" for an essay about a day at the office while typing on the computer. You can also add pictures of the relationships the character has with colleagues, for example in a meeting or coffee break. You can insert close-ups of the character's hands as he writes, or details of his computer screen.
Step 7. Include a closing photo
You may not immediately realize that you have found the right image, but most photographers say they recognize it when they see it. This is a photo that summarizes the essay for readers. It should say "Finish", call for action or show the end result of the work day.
Part 3 of 4: Taking Photographs
Step 1. Check the lighting
Take test photos to decide which ISO setting to use. This is the value that determines how much light enters the lens when shooting and how fast the shutter is released. You must use low ISO values in bright light and for still or slow moving subjects. Raise the ISO to take pictures in dim light or for fast-moving subjects.
- Many novice photographers avoid high ISO shots because they let more light through, so images are often "fuzzy". However, they are usually easier to edit later because they contain a lot more information.
- If there is a lot of light or if you have set up a set with artificial lighting, you can use low ISO values. If, on the other hand, the environments are darker, you need to increase the value.
- Most cameras have a base ISO of 200. This value is always doubled, so the next setting would be 400, then 800, and so on. The sensitivity of the lens is practically doubled, letting more light through and capturing the image more quickly.
- If it takes one second to capture an image with ISO 100, an eighth of a second with ISO 800 is enough.
Step 2. Consider the composition of the shot
If you are an experienced photographer, you probably use various image composition methods on a regular basis. If you are a beginner, start by learning basic techniques, such as the rule of thirds: each photo can be divided into nine areas, creating three vertical sections crossed with three more horizontal ones. You must try to position the main subject in one of the points where the imaginary lines of the photo meet.
- Even when you try to take spontaneous photos and therefore have little time for posing, think for a few moments about how to position the subjects in order to obtain the best result.
- Always think about how the environment surrounding the main subject affects the whole photograph and try to create various layers and points of interest.
- In some cases you have the option to change the composition while editing the image, so if you can't align the lens as you would like, don't let that lead you to not taking the photo you want.
Step 3. Take more photos than you need
If you're hoping to get 10-15 good essay shots, you may need hundreds of images to find exactly the ones you want. Portray each subject from many different angles. Climb high or put the camera on the ground to give readers various perspectives. Zoom in to show details and zoom out for panoramas. Repeat each photo several times, so you can be sure you have what you need and that you have plenty of options at your disposal.
Step 4. Let your project evolve
Even if you start your work with a draft in mind, don't make a plan so rigid that it leaves no room for improvisation. If you start the service thinking that you will take a series of images to show a working day in an office and you notice a particular employee doing something interesting, do not hesitate to follow him. Probably, if you find some very interesting scenes, readers will think like you too.
Part 4 of 4: Giving Structure to the Sage
Step 1. Delete the photos you don't need
The first step in composing your essay is to get rid of unnecessary images. Erase blurry, blurry, or exposure-impaired shots. Also delete photos that don't capture parts of the story you want to tell. If you prefer, you can keep a copy of these images, as they may come in handy in the future or you may change your mind. Your goal is to limit the number of photos you work with, considering only those that best tell your story.
Step 2. Choose a symbol image
Find the shot that best sums up your story. Consider it like the cover of a book: it does not tell everything that will happen, but it must give a clear idea of the topic covered by the volume. The symbolic image must convey the purpose that led to the creation of the essay. Choose a shot that catches the eye of potential readers and creates interest in your story.
- If you're making a photo essay about a stressed-out office worker, an image of that person struggling to open the front door for the wind could be a great symbol photo.
- If your essay is about building a house, the symbol photo can be a shot of an architect and a bricklayer looking at a floor plan with the house under construction in the background.
- If the essay is about a family reunion, the landmark photo can be a fun shot of the whole family making funny faces, pretending to have a fight, or a more serious picture posing. Choose a natural scene for the family.
Step 3. Sort the remaining photos into categories
Once you have ruled out the unusable or useless images and chosen the symbol photo, order the others so that you can use them easily. Many photographers divide them by type (close-ups, interactions, portraits, etc.) and others do so based on the structure of the essay. The purpose of this step is to be able to find specific images easily, so use the categories of your choice.
Step 4. Prepare test designs
Once the photos are sorted, choose an image that fits all parts of the essay. You can choose many different structures for your artwork. Some of the more common narrative solutions include a typical day, guides, and representations of progress over time. For thematic essays you have many more options available. However, almost all of these projects start with a photo representing a general idea, followed by specific examples of the theme, and return to a broader view of the topic in the final photo.
- Regardless of the type of essay, you need to choose an attention-grabbing symbol photo.
- Use a panoramic photo to give context to the essay. Where and when does it take place, who are the people involved, what happens and why is it an interesting topic? The five "Ws" of journalism are the ideal tool for deciding what to portray with the panoramic photo.
- Find the final image. It should be a provocative shot, asking readers to think about the topic under consideration.
- Between the iconic, panoramic and final photos, include a series of images that accompany the reader from the preliminary shots to their results. Choose photos that increase in intensity or that make those who see them feel more involved in the essay.
Step 5. Ask for a comment
Once you've sorted the images you like so they tell the story, ask a friend or fellow photographer to take a look at your work. Do not tell him what the purpose of the essay is and hide the text, if any. Let him look at the photos and their sequence and give you his opinion on what he sees.
- If the images don't tell the story, ask your friend to browse the other photos and ask him, "I included this image for this reason. You have another idea. Which of these photos would convey the message most clearly?".
- If your choice of images is approved, still ask your friend to look at the other shots and suggest if some should be included. You may notice details that you missed.
Step 6. Add the text
This is the final step. Dealing with the end of this part helps you avoid explaining the essay in words instead of relying on pictures. There are three main methods of using text within a photo essay. You can add images to complete a written essay, you can write captions for the photos or you can limit yourself to inserting a title and a short introductory or concluding paragraph. Whichever choice you make, it is important that the images tell the same story as a written essay.
- If you have been asked to add photos to an essay, you need to make sure that the images reflect the text, but also add emotion and context that cannot be expressed in words. For example, an essay on poverty may include a shot of a mother and child living on the street to better express the emotional drama.
- Captions should contain only information that the reader cannot glean from the photo itself. For example, you can include the date, subject name, or a statistic relevant to the topic.
- If you decide not to include text, or just write a title and an introductory or concluding paragraph, be sure to communicate all the necessary information concisely.
Advice
- Choose creative topics. You can start with a simple idea like "The things I like best" as long as the final result is original.
- Make sure you know your camera well. Creating the images will become much easier.
- Don't be discouraged. It can take a lot of trying to get the shot you have in mind.
