Janet Worne - Thoughtful Photography

How To Find Story Ideas

These ideas are not new and you probably have heard them before but sometimes we all reach a dry spell where we need a little nudge. Something to get the creative juices flowing again. This list will get you started and you can take it from there.

1.    Read—newspapers, want ads, phone books—everything and anything. Even the smallest item can trigger a big idea.

2.    Cruise—drive around town without agenda. Venture into unfamiliar areas and just look with an open mind and see what you see.

3.    Talk with people—take the time to chat everywhere you go, especially on routine assignments. You’ll be surprised what people will tell you if you take the time to listen.

4.    Eavesdrop—in restaurants, while standing in line, everywhere…

5.    Listen to the scanner—not everything will be exciting enough to run right out to immediately, but it may trigger an idea to follow up on later.

6.    Keep a notepad with you all the time—it’s a cliché, I know, but I get many great ideas in the middle of the night or when I’m driving.

7.    Get involved in the community—you hear of many things while at church or club meetings.

8.    Network—make friends with police, firefighters, jailers, doctors—anyone who will keep you plugged in to what is going on in their world. Hand out your card and encourage them to call you if they hear of anything photo or story worthy.

A police friend called me at home to tell me about this mentally ill woman. She had been arrested 3 times in the past month alone for wandering into neighbor's homes looking for milk. The police were frustrated by outdated laws that required them to arrest the mentally ill instead of taking them directly to a mental hospital. Here the officer was trying to find someone to help her before finally cuffing her and taking her to jail.

9.    Steal ideas from old contest and other papers—I'm not talking about plagiarism, academic style. Just peruse other papers and magazines for ideas that can be recycled and changed enough to make them your own.

10.    Localize a national news story—the obvious thing is to watch the national news but don’t overlook publications like the Wall Street Journal which is known for spotting upcoming trends.

11.    Check the calendar—you can find “on this day in history” calendars online. Look far enough ahead and find an idea to work on and have ready for publication at the appropriate time.

12.    Make a tree—by this I mean brainstorm. Start with a universal theme like Love as the trunk of the tree. One branch might be Romantic Love, another might be Parental Love, etc. Smaller branches would break it down further and further until you come up with a more specific, usable idea.

13.    Newsletters—get yourself on lots of mailing lists. The junk you have to wade through is a pain but worth it when you find a good idea.

14.    Piggyback—many stories you may be working on have another life or two or possibly more. Check in with past story subjects and see if there is anything worth following up on.

Self-Promotion

Self-promotion is the most difficult part of being a freelance photographer for me and for many other freelance photographers I know. If you are not careful to guard against it, your work becomes a part of who you are, your essence--your soul, which in an artistic sense is not always a bad thing. But in the commercial world of freelance photography we all know how hard it is to lay that part of yourself open to the dreaded REJECTION. I'm still struggling with that issue.

In an earlier post I mentioned John Kaplan's book on portfolios; now here is a book I found helpful along the same vein called "Successful Self-Promotion for Photographers" by Elyse Weissberg. It deals with putting together a portfolio but is a little heavier on marketing. John's book touches on marketing but is much heavier on the portfolio side of it. The two books complement each other very well.

How To Put Together A Portfolio

This post is for all those young photographers out there who write to me for advice on putting together a portfolio. Come to think of it, photographers at any stage of their careers may have reason to put together a new portfolio, so this is for you too. A good friend of mine, John Kaplan, wrote this book packed with great suggestions. And John would know. He is a Pulitzer winning photographer and is now a professor at the University of Florida and all around great guy. I call him a good friend even though we touch base very infrequently. He's just one of those people I think fondly of. I met him when he worked at the now-defunct Pittsburgh Press. We had both interned at the Wilmington News-Journal, although not at the same time.

If you're looking for good advice on the subject, get this book, you can't go wrong with John Kaplan.

Creative Storytelling Tools

Here are a few storytelling suggestions for your photographs because as photojournalists that’s what we are—storytellers, right? But these are tools only. They are only valuable as a means to an end. The technique is not the point, the final result is the point. The viewer should notice the image and the message, not the technique.

1.    Vary the viewpoint—By using a worm’s eye or bird’s eye view you can emphasize different storytelling elements in your photo.
2.    Framing—Shooting through a window or branches on a tree will not only clean up a cluttered background, it will add visual interest and create a sense of isolation.
3.    Details—Zeroing in on small, poignant details can often say more about a subject than showing the whole scene. The detail above was taken in the Red River Gorge in a protected area. I thought it was ironic to find the word "Care" carved into the rock along with all the other graffiti.
4.    Symbolism—Try to find a detail or overall scene that evokes some powerful symbolism that can carry your message for you.
5.    Shadows—Shadows are a way of taking the subject and reducing it down to its basic black & white shape. No other extraneous details get in the way and we can concentrate on body language. Silhouettes fall into this category as well.
6.    Rule of Thirds Composition—You hear a lot about this and it sounds very Art School Stuffy. All it really means is don’t always put your subject in the very center of the frame and don’t always put the horizon line in the middle either. When you use that “Bull’s eye framing” it looks static and boring, so avoid it unless you are going for that look for effect. Putting the subject off-center tends to show a more dynamic personality.

These are just a few Photography 101 tips that can improve anybody’s pictures but what I’m really trying to emphasize here is that these are tools just like a fish-eye lens is a tool. You need to use them thoughtfully when the picture warrants it and not just because it would be “cool”. Remember, you are trying to say something with your image and you need to use the tools at your disposal much the way writers or anyone else uses their tools.

Visual Storytelling

As a mentor I am often asked about shooting stories. This is a skill that goes beyond just being able to shoot a great photograph. I have seen a collection of award-winning photographs that fall flat as a story. The key skill in storytelling is editing. I have jotted down a few thoughts about editing photo essays that may help you get started. These are not hard and fast rules, they are only meant to give you a place to start.

A good story should include:

VARIETY
--Visual variety. (close-up shots, wide shots, scene-setter shots, and telling details or very tight pictures)
--Story variety. (content should not be repetitive. Make sure each photo tells a different part of the story. If it doesn’t contribute something unique, throw it out.)

EMOTION
--Emotion elevates a story into one that people are drawn into and can relate to. (don't just show what something looks like, show what it feels like to be there)
--Try for interaction, little moments.

FOCUS
--Sometimes focusing on one person helps draw in readers and gives more of a feel for what is happening.
--Or you could focus on one theme or message.

STORYLINE
--A lead photo or one storytelling shot that introduces the topic.
--Several supporting photos that contribute to the story and move it along.
--A nice closer or ending. Sometimes it is a chronological thing, sometimes it's more of a mood shot.

BIG PICTURE
--Ask yourself what is the story really about? Go beyond your first answer. Is it about an Oysterman? Fine, ask again and keep asking until you get to the bigger issue. Is it about a job? A lifestyle? Passion? The disappearance of a way of life? In other words, each story is about something on a surface level but what is the underlying theme or struggle? This is a lot like writing fiction or screenplays because it IS a form of storytelling, although a photojournalist's stories should be truthful and accurate.

You can start with a shopping list of photos to look for but stay open to other things. When you get there, it may be totally different than you think it will be ahead of time. This list is only a starting point and should not stifle your spontaneous, on-the-spot creativity.

Pinhole Photography

Taking pictures with a pinhole camera is like peering through a small hole in a wall and finding yourself looking into the past. The resulting photos look as if they have been taken at least a hundred years ago, which makes sense considering Leonardo Da Vinci was the first to use the pinhole concept with his "Camera Obscura". The basic idea is that light travels through a tiny hole and casts an image, backwards and upside-down, onto the negative. Exposures range from 30 seconds to nearly 2 minutes depending on the size of the hole.

To make this historic camera you can use an oatmeal box painted black, inside and out.  The lens is a piece of aluminum pie plate pierced with a needle and taped over a 1.5 square inch hole in the side of the box.  I use black and white photographic paper as a negative, which is placed inside the box (in total darkness) to fit the curve of the wall opposite the lens.  The emulsion side faces the hole. It is this curve that gives the extreme wide-angle look to the pictures.  Use a heavy piece of black paper secured with rubber bands over the lens as your lens cap.  After setting the camera in position for the picture, with a rock on top to keep it steady, remove the lens cap for 30 seconds or so. You will need to try a few times to find the correct exposure.

Back in the darkroom, develop the paper negative in the normal manner (there are many good books that describe this process in detail) using black and white chemistry.  Sandwich this negative with another piece of paper (emulsion to emulsion with the negative on top) and shine a light through it to produce the positive, which then must be developed like the negative.  If done correctly the result is a photograph similar to the ones you see here. 

There you have it, cheap and easy photographic thrills.  Amateur photographers quite often ask me what kind of camera I use and how much it costs.  They are impressed with expensive gear.  I tell them it doesn't matter what equipment you use, a photographer can make a good picture with an oatmeal box.

I admit I still have a few bugs to work out here.  With a little refinement and experimentation I could clean up some of the extra lines and strange flares of light in these pictures.  But I kind of like them.  It adds a little of the old world feel that these images have.  And who's to say that the smudges of light in the cemetery picture are flaws in my lens and not civil war ghosts?

Summer Storms

We are in the middle of the summer storm period where the sky puts on a light show for us nearly every night. In the past week we have had rainbows over the Sandia Mountains five times. And last night Mother Nature turned on the electricity.
To get pictures of lightning strikes over Albuquerque I used a tripod and a slow shutter speed. Specifically, my settings were: 250 ISO at f 10, with a shutter speed of 5 seconds. I kept the ISO low to keep the digital noise down and the aperture stopped down so that I could shoot at a slower speed. I wanted the shutter open for 5 seconds to make it easier to catch the random strikes. Unfortunately, the storm was over the city instead of the mountain. The city lights are nice but lightning over the mountain might be a bit more dramatic. I'm sure I'll get plenty of chances to try again.

Photographing Fireworks

The Fourth of July is almost a week away. In anticipation of that holiday I thought I would recycle a story I wrote for the Herald-Leader which includes ideas contributed by my co-workers.

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There are two classic images that have come to represent the Fourth of July: American flags and fireworks. Both stir up feelings of patriotism. Both are plentiful on the Fourth. Both figure prominently in our childhood memories. Only one is easy to photograph.

Flags are portable, can be photographed day or night and will hold still or wave at you, depending on the wind.

Fireworks are another matter. Even professional photographers have some trouble getting good fireworks pictures. It takes patience, perseverance and a little experimentation.

What follows here are a few guidelines to get you started. Remember, these are only starting points. Try a variety of exposures and angles and see what works best for your camera and situation. Many of the suggestions here will only make sense to photographers with a basic understanding of how a camera works. But I’ve tried to include a few suggestions for those with no background knowledge as well.

Camera
I would suggest an SLR 35 mm camera, digital or film, preferably one that you can operate manually. A wide-angle lens works best in most cases.

Point & Shoot
Cameras that only work in an automatic mode do not generally work well. But it can’t hurt to try. Some cameras may adjust the exposure without a problem. There are now several Point & Shoot cameras on the market that have a fireworks setting. My Point & Shoot has a Night Scene mode that will use a slower shutter speed. Read your manual and try several different modes. Turn off the flash if you can or cover it with tape. You may still end up with a blurry picture or no picture. But you could also be surprised with a good shot. Sometimes a blurry photo makes an artistic statement.

Tripod
Most important is to use a tripod or set the camera on a steady surface such as a wall. The exposure will be a long one so avoid all motion. (Unless of course, you want to deliberately move the camera or zoom the lens for a special effect.) This means that even with the camera on a tripod, you’ll need to use a radio remote or shutter release cable to fire the camera. You can get away with pressing the button yourself if you’re careful to squeeze gently without jostling the camera. You could also try setting the self-timer. The only problem with that is that it’s harder to coordinate with the firework bursts. Another trick you could try is to set the camera on an extra long shutter speed and cover the lens with black mat board while you press the button. The main thing to remember is, no motion. That also means no shooting pictures from a rocking boat.

Focus
Pre-focusing on infinity works best unless you have people in the foreground that you want to light. With a Point & Shoot camera, the Landscape Mode (typically it’s the icon with the mountains) will give you an infinity focus.

Location
Where you shoot from is an important consideration. You don’t want crowds clustered around jostling your camera. You’ll want to avoid bright streetlights. You need to decide if you want close, tight shots of just fireworks or if you want a wider view showing some of the surroundings.

Drive around at least 2 hours early to scout for optimum shooting locations. Avoid distracting elements such as telephone poles, electric lines, and trees that might blur during long time exposures (although that can be used for an artistic effect if you so choose). It's nice to frame up the fireworks with people, a building or a statue to give the fireworks a sense of location. Look for elevated shooting positions. Roofs of parking garages can provide an excellent vantage point.

Foreground
Including something in the foreground can add to the picture. It could be spectators, an interesting building or landmark or even a body of water with reflections. If you include people, you have the choice of letting them go dark as in a silhouette or lighting them. A nearby street lamp might add just the right amount of light or you might choose to use a flash.

Flash
Those who have more advanced cameras and strobes might try "dialing down" their strobe output while shooting fireworks with a crowd scene in the foreground. This will reveal some detail in the people, but won't over expose them. Look in your strobe manual for instructions on exposure compensation. On a tripod, you can still allow several seconds for fireworks while shooting with strobe fill. Also, many strobes allow a manual reduction in full power. Try experimenting with 1/8th power on the strobe using 400 ISO. But don't forget that turning the strobe off and thus allowing a silhouette of foreground objects, trees, and people can also be quite effective.

Exposure
Getting the exposure right is the experimental part. It will take many tries to get a good shot. Even if you come up with the perfect exposure, each burst will have a different intensity. Digital cameras make it easier because you can view the results immediately and make adjustments on the spot. The key is to “Bracket”, which means take shots at different settings so that you get at least one at the correct exposure. Here are some basic rules of thumb to get you started.

On a digital camera you can start with an ISO of anywhere from 100 to 400. Your aperture should be on f/8 or f/11. Your shutter speed should be anywhere from 1 to 3 seconds, although I’ve seen good pictures taken as fast as a 15th of a second. The longer exposures will give you more light trails from each burst. You can even leave the shutter open on a “bulb” setting and get several bursts in one picture.

This is just a starting point. Look at the results and adjust accordingly. The ISO needs to be low because at higher settings a digital picture will show a lot of “noise” or static, especially with a longer exposure. The small aperture setting is because of the intensity of the fireworks. The longer shutter speed will allow you to capture the whole blast.

A film camera is similar but you need to bracket more since you can’t see the results until later.

Many of these suggestions may not work for you. Use what works and ignore the rest. Since firework photography is largely experimental and unpredictable, don’t be afraid to try different things. You could end up with a “lucky accident”.

Two Cents from a Mentor

I am a National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) mentor. Young photographers contact me looking for advice and inspiration. I actually get only a few questions over and over again.

The most pressing topic on young photographer’s minds is getting a job and since we are talking about NPPA members—that means a job at a newspaper. Lately, I cringe when asked about that because I know how hard newspapers are struggling to stay afloat and how scarce staff photographer jobs are now. But I also remember when I was in their shoes and there was nothing anyone could say to me to change my mind about what I wanted to do. So if they are just starting out, this is what I tell them:

    1. Don't get caught up in wanting to only work for a large paper. It has its own drawbacks, aside from being difficult to get. Small papers can give you more variety, freedom, and you will be competing with fewer photographers for the good jobs. Sometimes the bigger papers have specialties and you might get stuck in a slot you don't like and never get to do certain things. If you can get into a large paper right away, by all means go for it—that would be great. But don't turn up your nose at the smaller ones. They can be a great training ground. I worked for two smaller papers before I went to the Herald-Leader. Those papers mostly used grip and grins. But I took initiative (VERY important to do anywhere you go) and came up with story ideas that interested me. I wrote them, shot them, even laid them out on the page. I ended up with a lot of good clips for my portfolio. I worked on them between other assignments and after work. A large paper would not have let me do all that.
    2. Develop web skills. Learn multimedia and video—VERY IMPORTANT. Those are the skills that will help in the future. The newspaper world is changing and going more to the internet. In fact, have as many skills as you can. Writing, page design, editing, learn foreign languages.
    3. Keep working to build your portfolio. Find a long-term story idea to work on. Try gathering natural sound with it and put it together with an audio slide show. Shoot video with it. Go to sporting events, including unusual sports. Get a scanner and follow news stories. There are many books and on-line essays on the subject of building a portfolio.
    4. Go to your local paper and ask about internships or if you can shadow one of their staff photographers, or if they need freelancers.
    5. When you do get a staff job, try to attend budget meetings or sit in on photo-editing sessions. Those editing skills and knowledge of what is going on in editor's heads can make you a better shooter and help you with timing and news judgment.

Sam Abell on Signature Style, Part 2

(If you have not already read part 1, go back now and read yesterday's post.)

So how does a photographer go about finding their signature style?

Sam's answer: “My advice to people who are trying to discover this within themselves and within their work is get out your favorite photographs--and earnestly confine yourself to those photographs that you love--and study them. I then urge people to think about their early life, particularly the geometry or the graphics of their home, their hometown, the landscape that they first knew and also the values that were represented to them in their early life.”

I went back through my work, concentrating on those photographs that felt good to me on a gut level. I looked for common themes and frequently repeated compositions. I saw three things.

The first thing I noticed was my tendency to shoot people from behind. Actually, I had always known about that since a co-worker often teased me about my obligatory “butt shots”. I don’t think I shy away from face shots, I wouldn’t be much of a photojournalist if I did. I take the butt shots because when the subject turns away from the camera they relax and become themselves and their body language reveals something that was hidden from me a moment ago. Sam said he felt the same way about photographs where the subject’s face is hidden. “As artists and as thoughtful people, we long for something else than the over familiar face image.”

So, that couldn’t be it. Body language is a powerful tool for revealing inner emotions and many photographers use it.

The second thing I noticed was a composition involving two converging lines. Much like a road leading into the distance. Sometimes these lines had a human figure between them. The effect was a feeling of motion, of something moving away, a path in life. But again, this was a compositional tool for creating dynamic images.

There had to be something else, something more basic and personal.

“There’s more to a photograph than graphics,” Sam told me. “There’s content—spiritual content, psychological, emotional and even editorial content, All of these things come from somewhere and the place they come from is probably long buried—bedrock.”

The third thing I saw was my preference for placing the subject in one corner or along one edge of the frame with a vast space around it so that the subject was dwarfed by the surroundings. Sometimes the subject looked lost, sometimes small against a much larger world, and sometimes contemplative. That felt right. It was an intuitive conclusion, as Sam said it would be.

The next challenge was to search my childhood for the source of this compositional tendency. I thought back to my home in Delaware, the things I loved and the way I saw my world. I know I was a very quiet child. My father used to say that I was a watcher. Most of the time, they didn’t know I was in the room because I would be sitting in a corner silently watching.

Was this my signature style? Was I inserting myself—The Watcher—into my photographs? This time I felt I was onto something. The next logical question was why. But my psychological skills weren’t advanced enough to figure that out. For now, I am content to have learned a little more about who I am and how I approach my work.

And as Sam Abell told me, “Who we are is the most important thing about photography.”