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Don’t Tell the Same Old Story

Lesson 17 from: Mastering Photographic Composition and Visual Storytelling

Chris Weston

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Lesson Info

17. Don’t Tell the Same Old Story

Next Lesson: Relevance

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Your 10,001st Photograph

03:24
2

Camera Gear

03:03
3

Piece of Gear We Always Forget

03:47
4

Be a Storyteller

03:09
5

Finding Ideas For Photography - Know Your Subject

06:59
6

Cae Study - Why Are Zebras Black and White Striped

01:30
7

Photograph What You Love

02:00
8

See the Extraordinary in Ordinary Things

01:31

Lesson Info

Don’t Tell the Same Old Story

Have you ever watched 24 hour news? If you have, you almost certainly never watched it for 24 hours straight because the one thing you learn by watching 24 hour news is interesting. New events don't happen every hour of the day. Instead, what you get is the same old story repeated over and over simply to fill air time. And it's boring. And the same applies to a photograph of the three elements every photograph should have. The first is it has to be interesting. That's to say it has to depict something completely new. Or it has to reveal a new angle on the familiar subject. Now, 100 years ago, when photography itself was new and people traveled rarely, there were lots of new things to photograph, so every picture was interesting. But in today's world, where over a 1,000,000,000 pictures are uploaded to the Internet every day, finding something new to photograph is much harder. Most of the time, you're left looking for a new perspective on subjects have been photographed many times befor...

e. This is Poland Bill, one of the most photographed light houses in the UK. Most of those pictures look much like this postcard shots, so I've set myself a challenge to tell a different story. The thing about light houses is most people see them during the day, but really they come into their own at night as navigational aids on a warning to shipping of hazardous stretches of coast. And it's these associations these stories I wanted to tell in the photographs. Now, when the sun's on the blink is a great time for silhouettes. But what I really wanted was a clear night sky because we associate navigation with stars one way to effectively tone my stories to create an image where the sky plays a key part in the composition, using either a long exposure to capture start trials or a blending technique that is combining two or more images to capture the Milky Way. The other thing I love about Portland Lighthouse is the way the light pulses through the night sky as it rotates on its Mercury base. For me, this tells the story of a lighthouse is a beacon reaching out to distant ships and weary sailors, and this image is a timely shot because Portland Bill will soon lose its fame lantern which is being replaced by modern led ease. So this is also an image for posterity, a reminder to future generations of how light houses used to be no.

Ratings and Reviews

Edmund Cheung
 

Perhaps the style of presentation and simple, short, and direct messaging does not "jive" with some; but others may really love this. Yes the production of each episode is stylized and perhaps a bit formal (like a TV Show?), but there is something to be said about it. Perhaps this is not meant for professional photographers? I think of myself as decent amateur / high level photographer. I found lots of great nuggets of wisdom and inspiration from this. Especially when I an in a rut for creativity. Yes I have heard all these concepts and ideas before. BUT it is always great to hear and see a different way of presentation and voice. Please do NOT take the naysayer reviews as the end all. You should judge for yourself and watch a few episodes. If the style and content click for you, I would highly recommend this course.

Abdullah Alahmari
 

Thanks a lot to mr. Chris Weston This course is great and It is a 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 course for me. Beside the other course ( mastering the art of photography ) both courses are Complementing to each other and highly recommended.

Kai Atherton
 

While I am perhaps more advanced in my photography then this course. It is always great to be able to go back to fundamentals and remind ourselves of the basic principles, and even camera function. I thoroughly enjoyed this course and Chris's other. It is a great motivational jumpstart when lacking fresh creative idea's.

Student Work

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