BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

Photo series

Thomas M.

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February 28, 2007

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February 28, 2007

More than likely, you've got an editing problem, like how to make a series out of what you've got. So, keep in mind the shots don't have to be consecutive in number (unless that's the rules the teacher gave you.) All you need to do is find some kind of story in what you've already shot.

A photo story can be made from any subject or multiple subjects in the same story...say, a Day in the Life of Thomas K, or a buddy of yours, or your pet(s), or brother(s) or sisters or even one or both of your parents. What Chris offered you is good if you're in the pre-planning stages. It's always a good idea to do what we call "storyboarding" a planned shoot. But you can back into this assignment by storyboarding it after you shoot if your images are somewhat related.

Sooooooooo, if you have individual prints, like 3x5's, start by spreading them all out on a table and look at them to find a common person, a common thing, place, same building, same basketball game, technique, anything in common from one image to another and separate those out from the others. Doing that, you might even find multiple series in the same roll. See what I mean? You may not have a pivotal image as Chris suggested but you may have many images that still go together. If that's the case, you can use the images to tell a story in photos, with a little help from you, rather than just words.

Here's an example: Let's say you shoot a school basketball game. Instead of just shooting the game itself, or one team mainly over another, start at the beginning, like the parking lot the day of the game, then the stadium and empty bleachers. Then you want to photograph the guy making the hot dogs and filling up the concession stand, the game, the coaches, the people IN the stands, the teams playing, cheerleaders, and anything else you can think of, and then the scoreboard at the end of the game. Ideally, a photo series or essay should have a beginning, a middle and an end. That's about it other than as I said, you want to try to tell a story using the photos rather than just words.

See if this helps you out. I was a north side kid from Chicago and went to Senn in Rogers Park and later Lane Tech. [Long time ago]. When I got a similar assignment in high school, I did a photo essay on O'Hare Airport of all things and shot a lot of track and field events, high school plays from casting to dress rehearsal, and worked as a photographer for the Chicago Sun Times for 6 years after high school through college.

Drop me an e-mail if you want. Glad to help you out any time. And welcome btw too.

Take it light ;>)
Mark

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February 28, 2007

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February 28, 2007