a self portrait
Hey! I’m so excited to share with you how I create images that tell a story. I’m Linsey Davis @linseydavis05, a ClickPro with a serious love for documentary photography. I also have a serious love for pancakes & road trips but that’s another discussion for another day! I’m a homeschooling mom to 5 kids.
Olivia
Why storytelling? Our history has been passed down through generations by the telling of stories, either verbally or visually. We are doing the same with our images. You are leaving a footprint for all that follows to see.
My family is my primary audience although I share my images with others. I want my family to know that they belong and that I love them just as they are. Take some time to consider your primary audience and what you would like your photos say to that audience.
Eclipse: Aunt Faye repeatedly warned, "Y'all are going to burn your retinas!"
The Motorhome Chronicles
What about light? I’m going to be honest, golden hour is dinner time around my house. It is rare for me to outside with my camera during golden hour. But I don’t let that stop me from telling my familiy’s story. I would have missed a lot of great moments if I only shot in gorgeous light. If you are anything like me, you are living life in spaces with less than ideal light. You have stories that deserve to be told in those “less than ideal” lighting situations. Embrace whatever light you have.
Environment Your environment is a subject in your frame and is an important part of your story. Show the viewer where this is happening. It can help create a strong composition & invite your viewer to stay a bit longer. Bokeh is beautiful, but for my storytelling images, I like to get as much in focus as I can. You may have to push your ISO higher than what you would normally. That’s okay. You may have noise. That’s okay also! Tell a good story and no one will notice or if they do notice they won’t care.
Look for leading lines, ways to frame your subject, or create layers within your frame. I generally shoot with a depth of field of: Indoors 4.0 Outdoors 8.0- 11.0
Team work: putting up our annual Christmas light display
I use my GoPro with a dome attachment to capture these over under shots in the pool.
Details: Does it all have to be shooting wide? Of course not. There can definitely be a story in the details. With or without people. Still life documentary shots are so much fun to search for. Kids do weird stuff and just leave it there for you to pick up. Don’t forget the mess your spouse leaves behind.
Save Barbie
Friday night
Telling stories through a personal project: Another way to tell stories is through a personal project or photo essay.
I reached out to Katie Jett Walls, the editor of Confluence Magazine, to help explain personal projects. Here is what Katie had to say, "A personal project, whether it's a 365 within your own life, or a project that takes you out to tell someone else's story with your camera, is essentially storytelling with a series of images instead of just one. It can be a short term story like "Baking a Pie with a Five Year Old"; or it can be a long term story like "A Year of Beekeeping on an Organic Farm". It can be a literal story like pie-making and beekeeping or a more conceptual story like "how it feels to be depressed". I believe that women photographers have a vital role to play in creating visual stories and putting them out into the world. Photographic storytelling has long been dominated by the perspective of male photographers, meaning that the kinds of stories we see and shoot as women are lost to the generations to come. Imagine if Jane Austen or Toni Morrison never wrote the stories of women from the point of view of women! It's the same with photographic storytelling and personal projects - the whole world needs our point of view and those stories are of lasting value to humanity."
Beaches
I have a couple of ongoing personal projects. Beaches is the ariel view of the different beaches that have a special place in my heart. Beaches was published in Confluence Magazine.
Olivia is my series on my youngest daughter. I see so much of myself in Olivia. I believe that nostalgia is what led me to this project.
Day Break on the Road
Our Granny
My hope for you (and myself) this week is that we tell our stories. Unapologetically. Whatever and however we choose. What do you want your 80 year old self to remember? Take that photo this week.
Joy
Share with me what you capture Instagram (@linseydavis05). I would like to share some in my IG stories.
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