SPEEDLIGHTER.CA

The "Go-To" Instructional Photography Blog, by Michael Willems

Detail, detail

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Michael Willems

This season, whether you photograph your family get togethers, or vacation trips, or any other story: make it a story. And you do that in large part by adding detail pictures.

Like this, for example:

On a trip to Jerusalem, you would of course photograph the “big” things. But the small details, interspersed with the big things, tell the story much more clearly. A hebrew Coke bottle, and menu with shoarma, kebab,ash tray, and so on. Or signs at the entrance to the western wall site:

Look for anything that helps tell the story with detail. Anything you notice. And then you can shoot the “big things”.

But that “B-roll” of supporting detail pictures makes it come alive.

Look for my upcoming Impactful Travel Photography e-book, out soon. Details here as soon as it is ready to go – I am aiming for December 24.

Tell the story

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Michael Willems

Here’s an image from a 2007 trip to Jerusalem:

A typical “B-roll” picture – a picture that helps…

…set the scene – where we are;
Tell something about the environment;
Make the viewer “work it out”;
Provide a visually interesting image.

In this case, elements are: the blurred scene in the background (people eating and drinking, the waiter, the umbrellas); the Hebrew on the coke bottle; the menu including shoarma; the sunny background; and the three-dimensional feeling created by the “close-far” technique.

When you next travel, try to take lots of images like this. You’ll be amazed how much easier it is to tell the story.