Over the past eight months, I have been dealing with the loss of my little brother. And while I have amazing family and friends to offer their support, it has been a long creative rut I have been in. Rather than process my feelings with my creativity I tossed myself...

I believe that storytelling is central to humanity. From our earliest days, we have told stories. If you sit in a coffee shop and listen, all people are telling our stories–stories about family, friends, events, and work. At the core of a photograph is also a story. It is the driving element of a need to share something about how we see and understand the world. 

In this week’s podcast, I talk about how three key areas of a storytelling event are critical to the story. While not the only aspects of good storytelling, these three elements are what I think are central to helping photographers make better photographs. To really get to the heart of the process, you need to be observational, listen and find the connection to the emotions you are experiencing. 

These don’t have to be too earth-shattering notions. They can be as simple as the awe of a beautiful sunset over the beach. What drives a better experience of the photograph is your ability to use these three elements to make your photograph. By understanding your emotional reaction, observations and what you listen to (non-verbal or verbal) will go a long way into making your photographs more interesting–at least to you.

Have you ever taken a look at the names of some of your program and apps that you use to create photographs? Many of those names are all about speed-, insta-, snap- and a host of other quick action words. In Photoshop and Lightroom, we use fast presets and actions to speed up the workflow. Now while I am all for efficiency in workflow, I began to wonder if all the language around our creative tools impact how we view and see our images. 

What if Instagram was called meaningful photographs or important photographs? Would we spend more time looking at the work and engaging with the work? Would we think that our photographs are worth more to our own experiences or are they just insta swiped away? I believe that the creative act is sort of like a good wine. It takes time to develop, and once you create the wine, you should take time to enjoy the bottle. Great wine isn’t something that you drink as quickly as possible; it is something that you enjoy and notice all the subtle nuances created by the efforts the grape, barrel, and winemaker. Shouldn’t your photographs get the same appreciation?