My Photo Editor Mind – Photo Story/Projects Pt. 7 Captions
I believe captions are as important as the images themselves. Yes, you need captions, and you need to include more of what the image is already telling the viewer. Last year, I was fortunate enough to judge CPOY, when we got to the stories category, and they reduced the category to roughly 10 selections, the captions were read. OMG, it’s amazing what captions can do. In one case, it made the story better; in another instance, it hurt the story. Captions are an additional layer of information that creates a better relationship to the image for the viewer.
Tell me who, what, when, where, and why there is a reason these photos exist. Give me a context to the picture. Tell me why this moment is important for me to see. Don’t duplicate what the picture is already saying. Let’s say, for example, a boy is sitting in a chair crying. Obviously a bad caption is Boy sits in chair crying. A good caption would be John Doe, after fighting with his brother over a shared toy, cries after being spanked. Explain the reason behind the action that is in your image.
And always, always, always get names; get in the habit of asking for them now. Quotes can also be a great element to add.
One more little note why this is important. No matter where you are publishing…the majority of people who will see your images are word people. At the Los Angeles Times where I worked, when I was trying to persuade an editor to use certain images, I would present them with a photo; before they even looked at the picture, they read the caption. Based upon the caption, they would decide whether the image was good or not.
Think of captions this way – as a journalist, it’s part of your job. If you want respect, then do your job.
My Photo Editor Mind - Photo Story/Projects Pt. 6 Video Questions
A little side note since I seem to be talking about stills: the previous advice can be applied to both stills and video. With a still picture story, the narrative can be what you shot; sequence your images and you can create a storyline, provided you have followed previous direction. With video, usually the interview sets the tone for the narrative, so if you don’t have the right questions, you won’t have the right answers, and it will leave you without a narrative. Let’s take the family whose parents lost their jobs and they are moving out of their home because they lost that too. You can ask, “How did it feel to lose your home,” and the answer is, “Bad, I felt bad, I never thought this would happen.” That is a pretty boring/expected response because the question is boring/expected. Now consider asking a question like, “When you lost your home, how do you think that affected your children?” or “When you received notice you were defaulting on your mortgage, did you ever think you would actually lose your home? Can you give me your thoughts when you first received word the bank was foreclosing on your home? Did you tell your children?”
I suggest writing down questions with possible questions asked in various ways. Rephrase the question multiple times to ensure the answers are what you need. Thinking about (and crafting) the best possible answer will help you create a great narrative.
My Photo Editor Mind – Pt. 5 Let’s Edit
If you thought the shooting was hard, this can be the toughest part because you have to take a critical eye to your images and delete, sorry….but yes delete some of your favorite images.
To begin, gather all of your images and start going through them, obviously removing some of the ones that aren’t so spectacular. Think about what you wanted to say when you began and think of the ways the story has changed since. Keep going through the images, slowly removing them, comparing similar pictures, identical images of the same person, doing the same thing. That’s easy enough, right?
Next we need to sequence the images.
I always think an opening shot is the grabber; I want to know more about whatever it is I’m looking at; this image also has to introduce me to the story; it can be a glimpse of the story. It has to be something that peaks my interest and makes me want to click onto the next photo. I don’t think when you sequence the images they have to be in chronological order, so keep that in mind when you pick your opening image.
Sometimes after I have picked my opening image, I might look for the closing image that sums up the story. So now I have my opening and closing images.
I want a sense of place, who the subjects are, their struggles, their emotions. I want visual variety, details, tight faces. A sense of time if there is one. Think of the transitional images; sometimes peeking in a window can take you inside. Another trick is similar images, one inside one outside. You are telling a story, so think of the words to describe each photo from one to the next, say them out loud, do they make sense in the order you have them?
Once I have a rough outline of the images I want to use and in order, I use Slide Show to run through the images. I don’t have to click through photos, so I can take a step back. It’s amazing how much it helps when you are not actually touching the images but just watching them, seeing how they relate to each other, if the order feels good. Sometimes, I don’t get past 4 frames before I stop it and change it.
Best advice, when you feel frustrated walk away. I find even though I might not be sitting in front of my computer, my mind will continue to think about an image, wondering if I really need it, am I using it because I think it works for a transitional image, but it’s not that strong. I might come back hours later or sometimes the next day.
Now go through all of the outtakes; seriously, all of them. I’ve been so close to trashing photos and then pulled them back into the edit. Maybe at the time it wasn’t what I thought was going to work with my initial idea, maybe I didn’t look closely enough at it. Seriously, everything. I always, always, always do this. Always.
Be patient with the process; you’ve spent an awful lot of time to get these images, now take as much care in editing them.
And if you need help, you know I’m here to help.
My Photo Editor Mind – Pt. 5 Halfway Point Review
Let’s say you have decided this is a 6-month project; the halfway point (3 months into shooting) is a great time to assess where you are. Let’s suppose you have been shooting this family who, due to the recession, has lost jobs and their home. Take a hard look at what you have shot. Maybe you have great shots of the mom and dad, but do you have the family together? Is there enough emotion to truly capture their struggles? Is there enough visual variety? Have you truly captured their essence? Is everything shot from the same distance? Have you captured relationships?
Do a rough photo edit to see where you stand. Do you have an opening shot? A sense of place? A closing shot? Is the arc in your story working? Take a critical look at your images now; this will truly help your storytelling in the long run.
For previous post go to maryvignoles.com
My Photo Editor Mind - Pt. 4 Start Shooting
So you have your story, subjects, story arc, and shot list. Now you need patience. This isn’t a daily, you don’t have to get an image today; patience is the key. Wait for those moments of depth and intimacy. Get to know your subjects and have an understanding of who they are and then capture their essence, not just what they look like.
Also, I want to be surprised; I want to see something I’ve never seen, or something I’ve seen before, but in a way I’ve never seen it. I want emotion; I want to feel something when I look at the pictures. Take chances, experiment with different angles and lenses, make mistakes! I think my best lessons learned were from my mistakes.
For previous post go to maryvignoles.com
My Photo Editor Mind - Pt. 3 Story Planning
I’m going to explain this in simple terms to get my point across about planning. Imagine you are shooting a wedding; whether or not you realize it, you’re probably thinking of the various shots that will complete this story. You need the bride getting ready, the groom walking down the aisle, etc. You might also be thinking about how you can make that walking down the aisle pic look different…hmm, is there a high vantage point? You also might to shoot details of the ring, get a portrait of the bride, and on and on. You know the narrative (we all know the narrative of a typical wedding), so you can think about the different ways and angles to complete the story. Put this all together and you have the makings of a thoughtful collection of images – opening shot, closing shot, details, sense of place, etc.
A long time ago when I was young and foolish, I spent six months covering a story with the idea that if I shot enough rolls of film, I would have a story…automatically! Wrong! I had to learn this the hard way, so learn from my mistakes, don’t be me.
I would suggest you do this when planning your story.
Going back to the recession family mentioned in Part 2, the parents lost their jobs and because of this they have to leave their home. Think of all the ways you need to tell this story. First, we need a family shot; so begins the shot list. Think of different ways you can shoot this; no I’m not talking about the family portraits framed on the wall; that’s not enough, but maybe they have dinner together, go to church together, or go to the daughter’s softball game together. If you can’t think of different possibilities, then maybe this is a great question to ask them. Now you do this with everything: Where are they moving? Are they apartment hunting, looking online? Are the parents (or older children) looking for work? What are the parts that will tell this story? Once that is done, come up with ten variations on each theme. The point of all of this is to start thinking about your narrative; this is the first step. If you don’t think about your narrative until after you are finished shooting, you might miss some great shots. Of course, there will be surprises and unplanned events you can’t anticipate, but figuring out the narrative beforehand will give you a roadmap to success.
Next week, starting to shoot your story.
For previous parts go to maryvignoles.com