Documentary by Karyn Novakowski
When I first started taking pictures, I took all of my images from 2-3 feet away from my subject. My thought process was: I see my subject doing something. I must get close to show their face. I need to see their eyes. What they were doing was secondary. The environment was not a priority.
SCOPE OF THE FRAME
In recent years, I’ve expanded my thinking. Now I often start with the environment and think of it as one of the subjects in the image.
D750 24mm ISO1250 f2.2 1/400 (wide)
Because I consider myself to be a storytelling photographer who uses a documentary approach to tell my family’s story, this means that I don’t manipulate the scene, light, or moment to capture my images. Karen Osdieck shared more about the documentary approach in her post.
When I approach a scene, I might not be able to control the subjects or the light but I can control where I stand and what I include in the frame. I do this by MOVING MY BODY! I mainly use a Nikon D750 with prime lenses, either a 24mm 1.8 or a 50mm 1.4, so I rely on my feet to zoom in and out. As I move my body, I think about how changing the scope of the frame will alter the story. Throughout this post I’ll use the following shot size labels to describe the scope of my image or the size of the frame.
SHOT SIZE DESCRIPTIONS:
Extreme Wide - emphasizes location, subjects are small
Wide - balances subject and location, gives environmental context
Medium - the subject is more prominent than the environment
Closeup - focuses on the face or other details in a scene
Extreme Closeup - fills the frame with even more detail than the closeup
D750 50mm ISO5000 f3.2 1/125 (extreme closeup)
THE LESSON
Camille Camacho said in her post, when “You’re telling a story...Setting up your shots, being mindful of different perspectives, & trying different compositions are all key factors.” I’m going to dig deeper into that advice.
As a storyteller, my goal is to use light, composition, and moment to tell an authentic story. In this lesson, I’ll provide a few examples of how I approach a scene.
First, I’ll give you a brief account of what was actually happening at the time I took the photo. These aren’t going to be huge, momentous stories. They will be simple, straightforward, ordinary activities.
Second, I’ll share three example photos from the scene and analyze them. I’ll label the scope of the frame and describe what I see in the image. If it’s relevant, I’ll include notes about composition, light, and moment.
Finally, I’ll compare each image to the original story and decide which photo tells the story the best and why.
Example #1: Flying kites
The story:
My kids wanted to fly a kite but there wasn’t much wind which means my husband ended up doing most of the work while my kids lazed about. (Note: I realize that not everyone has a kite. This example can apply to most other physical activities, sports, and dance.)
The photos:
The extreme wide shot allowed me to include the beautiful sky and our neighborhood as a backdrop for my family. I love the shape of the kite tail and how my kids are chasing after my husband while he flies the kite. I love this image but question whether it tells the story accurately.
In the wide shot, my daughter is trying to fly the kite. There isn’t much wind so she has to run really fast to get the kite in the air. I don’t even mind the tilt in this one, it helps to show how off kilter my daughter is. At this frame size I am still able to include the environment but, by excluding my husband and son, I’ve altered the story slightly.
For the medium shot I chose to exclude most of the environment. The juxtaposition of my husband ready to fly the kite again and my daughter lying on the ground with no interest acts as the moment in this photo. This shot tells the story most authentically. It’s effective because it removes distracting elements like the houses and sky and highlights the subjects’ body language.
Example #2: By the window
The story: In this example, my daughter was lying by a window playing with the blinds. Summer had just started but she was already BORED! For this image, I was trying to convey my daughter’s ennui.
The photos:
Initially, I sat down next to my daughter, hoping to get her feet playing with the blinds and profile silhouetted against the sky, but I was too close from this angle, the sky was blocked by the house next door, and the light was very harsh. This was not a successful photo.
As she started playing with the blinds, I stepped back a little for the medium shot. I really liked the way the light fell on her and the way she played with the blinds, but I was still too close and the light was too bright.
The only way to block out the house, use the light in a positive way, and get my daughter playing with the blinds was to stand up and take a wide shot. The third photo tells the story authentically. It’s effective because I was able to block out a large amount of the harsh light and use it to enhance the mood of the photo. Instead of detracting from the scene, the environment adds to the quality of the image.
Example #3:
The story:
This is a real ordinary moments story: three year old sets the table.
The photos:
I love this medium shot. That’s my grandmother with her great grandson folding napkins in her kitchen. I am so happy that I have this photo. Look at those little hands working so hard on the napkins. But there are a lot of distracting elements in the background and because the light is behind them, the subjects are mostly in shadow.
I also love this wide shot. Look at that tiny person at the end of the long table, placing a fork on next to the plate. I love the light in this photo and I purposely squatted down so that the table and window would look extra large next to that small person. Emily Ockwig discusses creative compositions and perspectives in her post.
For the extreme closeup, I wanted to isolate the objects. The napkin and forks at odd angles to the plate certainly work to tell the original story. In my opinion, this is the best image of the three.
Let’s take a look at a few more examples. As you look through the following images, answer these 5 questions:
What story does this photo tell?
What is the shot size (extreme wide, wide, medium, closeup, extreme closeup)?
What does the light contribute to the story?
What does the composition or perspective add to the frame?
Is this the best moment to tell the story?
D750 50mm ISO2000 f5.6 1/250 (extreme closeup)
D750 24mm ISO50 f4.5 1/2 (wide)
D750 24mm ISO1000 f10 1/40 (closeup)
D750 24mm ISO50 f5.6 1/400 (extreme wide)
D750 24mm ISO400 f5 1/125 (medium)
YOU DO IT!
Now find 5-10 images of your own and answer these questions.
What story does this photo tell?
What is the shot size (extreme wide, wide, medium, closeup, extreme closeup)?
What does the light contribute to the story?
What does the composition or perspective add to the frame?
Is this the best moment to tell the story?
Take it further:
Photograph 5 new scenes using the thought process described above. While culling, answer the five questions. Share an example in the P52 Clicks group.