Rebecca Kowalsky YouTube video

[Bryan Conner]

Rebecca Kowalsky YouTube

I recently stumbled upon Rebecca's videos on YouTube. This video really gave me a lot to think about when it comes to what it means to properly expose an image. I hope it can also provide you with food for thought.

 

[StevenAunan]

For me, this video helps to address the "story" a photograph tries to tell. Most of the time I have NO idea what story I'm telling. I'm not even sure I WANT to tell a story. Besides that, the very idea of telling a story is usually too BIG for me to think about in the moment I'm pressing the shutter button.

On the other hand, her idea of the "heartbeat of the moment" is easier to digest. I CAN take more time to consider what I'm seeing and try to expose for what I think that scene requires.

Definitely food for thought. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Bryan Conner]

For me, this video helps to address the "story" a photograph tries to tell. Most of the time I have NO idea what story I'm telling. I'm not even sure I WANT to tell a story. Besides that, the very idea of telling a story is usually too BIG for me to think about in the moment I'm pressing the shutter button.

On the other hand, her idea of the "heartbeat of the moment" is easier to digest. I CAN take more time to consider what I'm seeing and try to expose for what I think that scene requires.

Definitely food for thought. Thanks for sharing!

I agree and I too don't normally stop and look and consider why I like what I see before pressing the shutter button. If I put more thought into what I am looking at before pressing the shutter button maybe I would also not need as much time in front of the computer for looking at an image and asking myself "why did I take this picture?".

I wish my R6 mark II had the Voice Memo feature. But, then again, if people around me saw me talking to myself while taking pictures they might think I had bats in my belfry....but they probably think that anyway.....

 

[SwampGrizz]

I am in agreement with Steven and Bryan.

I am at the point where I'm paying less attention to what the correct exposure should be, and more about how it looks to my eye. I liked her statement that "the exposure triangle isn't the be all/end all" authority. Sometimes you have to put your own juice into it. That's not to say that you go out to make purposely crappy images, but not every photo HAS to be perfectly exposed. I should mention that I'm referring to my own personal photos as opposed to somebody that gets payed to shoot something. You damn well better have it correctly exposed if the bride and groom are paying you. I think the "proper" exposure should be a starting point for the end result. You can goose it up or down as you wish.

With regards to the "heartbeat of the moment", I too need to just calm down and think about what I'm seeing before snapping away like a crazy man. I tend to react to something I see and then try to capture it. I suppose that's a valid strategy to keep serendipity in the equation, but it relies more on luck than introspection. Maybe do some meditation before I go out with my camera. Like Bryan, I've asked myself why I took those pictures. What was I thinking?

Steven says: "Most of the time I have NO idea what story I'm telling. I'm not even sure I WANT to tell a story. Besides that, the very idea of telling a story is usually too BIG for me to think about in the moment I'm pressing the shutter button." NAILED IT!!! I understand the concept and theory of storytelling with photography and admire those that can do it. It hasn't clicked for me yet, pun intended. Most of what I see doesn't have a story or even need a story, it's just something interesting I stumbled up on. I greatly appreciate those folks like photojournalists who can tell stories with their photography, but if somebody wants to make up a story about my picture of a tree, then have at it. It's still just a picture of a tree. It may be that if done artfully, my little tree picture can evoke a mood or feeling, but to me that isn't a story. There are folks on here that have posted spectacular photos that really convey a mood or feeling, but I don't get the story they are telling, if any. That's probably my lack of understanding.

This was a worthwhile exercise for me, watching the video (twice) and thinking about it. I appreciate Bryan bringing this to us, and it is indeed food for thought.

 

[Bryan Conner]

I am in agreement with Steven and Bryan.

I am at the point where I'm paying less attention to what the correct exposure should be, and more about how it looks to my eye. I liked her statement that "the exposure triangle isn't the be all/end all" authority. Sometimes you have to put your own juice into it. That's not to say that you go out to make purposely crappy images, but not every photo HAS to be perfectly exposed. I should mention that I'm referring to my own personal photos as opposed to somebody that gets payed to shoot something. You damn well better have it correctly exposed if the bride and groom are paying you. I think the "proper" exposure should be a starting point for the end result. You can goose it up or down as you wish.

With regards to the "heartbeat of the moment", I too need to just calm down and think about what I'm seeing before snapping away like a crazy man. I tend to react to something I see and then try to capture it. I suppose that's a valid strategy to keep serendipity in the equation, but it relies more on luck than introspection. Maybe do some meditation before I go out with my camera. Like Bryan, I've asked myself why I took those pictures. What was I thinking?

Steven says: "Most of the time I have NO idea what story I'm telling. I'm not even sure I WANT to tell a story. Besides that, the very idea of telling a story is usually too BIG for me to think about in the moment I'm pressing the shutter button." NAILED IT!!! I understand the concept and theory of storytelling with photography and admire those that can do it. It hasn't clicked for me yet, pun intended. Most of what I see doesn't have a story or even need a story, it's just something interesting I stumbled up on. I greatly appreciate those folks like photojournalists who can tell stories with their photography, but if somebody wants to make up a story about my picture of a tree, then have at it. It's still just a picture of a tree. It may be that if done artfully, my little tree picture can evoke a mood or feeling, but to me that isn't a story. There are folks on here that have posted spectacular photos that really convey a mood or feeling, but I don't get the story they are telling, if any. That's probably my lack of understanding.

This was a worthwhile exercise for me, watching the video (twice) and thinking about it. I appreciate Bryan bringing this to us, and it is indeed food for thought.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us Dale. Your post got me to thinkin'....I know...that can be dangerous. I think I tend to take pictures and then try to tell a story from them via post processing or cropping etc., when I should be looking for the story and then taking the picture. But, I am like you, that doesn't seem to be easy for me. Maybe I haven't worked at it enough.

 

[MikeZ]

"Telling a story" is something that I hear at nearly every photo contest I've entered, and if I knew what it meant I'd be more successful with these contests. Clearly, to me, I'm missing something. For example, would an image of the Lincoln Memorial with sunrise/sunset light gracing Lincoln's face constitute a "story"? It's the same question for any static image I suppose, so how does a static image tell a story? What story does any landscape photo tell? For a story to exist does the image require motion, or people, or animals that we can relate to? If so, then I suppose that sunlight image of Lincoln does not tell a story though I don't think so, but I can look at a simple rock and see a story.


I'm confused and am looking for help.

 

[SwampGrizz]

MikeZ,
Join the crowd. I'm glad I'm not the only one that doesn't understand the storytelling aspect of it. My best guess is that some stories are self-evident. Some people see it, and some don't. I look at, for example, National Geographic, and see the stories they run about a tribe of people in the Sahara that are having a tough time. I get that, but the photos are actually an accessory to the written text of the article. Just looking at the photos themselves, it's just a series of folks that may be down on their luck for whatever reason, but there really isn't a story without the text. You can make up a story, or try to interpolate from the photos, but is that the real truth of why they are down and out?

If somebody has a photo that tells a story, please post it, and explain what story it's telling. I sincerely want to understand how it's done.

 

[Grumps]

If somebody has a photo that tells a story, please post it, and explain what story it's telling. I sincerely want to understand how it's done.

Some of the other youtube vids reference leaving questions for the viewer. So sometimes there isn't a complete story? Aspects are left to the imagination of the viewer.

To me prime examples of some "story telling" (although unpleasant ones) would be the photos of Thích Quảng Đức, Phan Thị Kim Phúc, Sharbat Gula and https://www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy/gallery/2011-still-life-in-oil

 

[SwampGrizz]

I don’t want to mislead anybody by my comments above. I think there ARE photos that tell a story, and the tragic photo of the Napalm Girl is proof of that. You’re right that some photos leave questions for the viewer, but is that storytelling? I think that maybe what I’m getting hung up on is semantics. When I hear the word storytelling, I am making the assumption that the photo gives you the information necessary to convey the story, which the Napalm Girl photo surely does. Steve McCurry’s photo of the Afghan Girl evokes a strong feeling, and is a compelling photo, but it leaves us with questions like you mentioned above. That may well be a definition of storytelling with photography, but I don’t know. I just know that it’s hard for me to see a story in my photographs, and how to get there from where I am now.

All of my photos leave viewers with questions, mostly, “what is this idiot doing with a camera?”

 

[MikeZ]

All of my photos leave viewers with questions, mostly, “what is this idiot doing with a camera?”

You are not alone!

Regarding the photos that Grumps mentioned, I think that those are the exception rather than the rule. They're photo journalism at its height, and are accompanied by a news story to further enhance the effect of the photo. Take a look at Galen Rowan's work, or even Ansel Adams, and you'll see perfectly composed, perfectly exposed static images of some amazing place. Do these tell a story, and if so what is that story? If there is a story associated to these images, then I posit that any photo can tell a a story and all of this (the stuff that we are all having problems to understand) is put upon us by "some pro" and is proverbial BS. And in that case the "story" really is "I like it and can't explain why", or "it reminds me of something else that I like", or "this one is just 'better' than the rest', so that's the story".

Forgive me my ramblings and my vehemence, but I'm beginning to think that the photo story is like jazz - some of us can see and appreciate the work but can't explain it, while most are bewildered, don't understand and confused. Put me in the confused corner.

 

[Bryan Conner]

In my opinion, images don't necessarily tell the same story to each viewer. Some do of course, but I think many don't. For me, the "story" in an image is the feelings the image evokes in me. I know that everyone is different, and that is evidenced by anytime I visit an art museum. Some people, probably more cultured and refined than I am, can look at a painting by one of the masters and be captivated for several minutes. I am sure that they are experiencing something that I don't, or can't.

For me, I think my problem is that I don't stop and discover how the scene in front of me makes me feel before I press the shutter. I only think "this looks nice" or something similar. Maybe if I slowed down and smelled the roses instead of just saying "they look cool", and then pressing the shutter with a definite purpose in mind, I might become a better photographer. The trick would be to remember what my purpose was....lol. Maybe should take notes for my future self.

 

[SwampGrizz]

Bryan and MikeZ,
Very well said! I completely agree with you both.

I believe that there is also a fair amount of snobbery involved with this the same way there is in the art world. Some photographers (none on this site, fortunately), have the opinion that they have told this compelling story with their picture, and if you don’t “get it” then you’re not one of the cool kids.