Photography is a fascinating narrative medium because it lacks a key ingredient that feels essential to storytelling: time.
In fact, improving as a Narrative Photographer is often about learning to bring the illusion of time into your images.
This free course explores how telling a story with photos won’t just change the way people engage with your work, it will fundamentally change the way you create. Well, I certainly hope it will anyway!
EP1 – Telling a Story with Photos
Storytelling is powerful. It’s also confusing. How can one photo tell a whole story? In Episode 1, we look at how to adapt a story for photography. We then discuss how that story can help you pose your models and create an engaging composition that will draw a viewer into your photo.
Telling stories with photos is more fun in person. Check out my workshops.
EP2 – Advanced Composition Techniques
Telling a story with photos can be a powerful skill. But it’s not an easy one to learn. How does composition even affect how we interpret a photo? In Episode 2, we dig into advanced composition techniques. We look at how you can create a composition that helps further your narrative.
EP3 – Lighting for Emotional Impact
Lighting plays a huge part in getting the emotions of a story across to your viewer. In Episode 3 of Telling a story with photos, we dig into the emotional impact of lighting.
EP4 – The Big Problem with Telling a Story with Photos
Storytelling in photography has a fairly big limitation. A story occurs through time, but a photo is just this small slice of time. So, can a photo actually tell a story? And if not, then what is Narrative Photography?
EP5 – How to Create Photos that Tell a Story
I have been exploring the exciting world of storytelling photography for the past 7 years! It all started when I photographed a group of Mexica dancers and became fascinated with the stories and traditions that they were passing down. This guide is part of my storytelling photography series, where I share my experiences and insights on how to incorporate the art of storytelling in photography.
Join One of my Narrative Photography Workshops
Take a step back in time with this 2 day private photoshoot. Create amazing photos of one of the icons of Mexican history: the Charro.
Learn how to work with light and models on-location before taking your favorite photos into a day of Post-Processing magic.
I’ve put together a photography workshop that showcases the amazing traditions, costumes and people of Oaxaca.
ABOUT JP STONES
“My interest in telling stories with photos started when I moved to Mexico and started working with traditional communities. Candid photos are fine, but I wanted my portraits to show the personality and history of the people I was photographing.”
“A great portrait is a blend of multiple factors: the model, the environment, the lighting, and the composition. But as a tourist you can’t control many of these factors. I wanted to change that, bringing tourists and local communities together, in a harmonious way. The more we learn about someone else’s culture, the more we’re likely to embrace and respect it. As a foreigner in Mexico, that idea means a lot to me.”
