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everybody this is Ty Swartz with snap lens
- educational and photography training so

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today we are again we're still driving out
here back country in the hill country of

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Texas.

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And I think it's really cool - one of the
things I do like about a podcast is as I'm

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discovering - you can pretty much be
anywhere come up with an idea.

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And just start talking about it - so as
we're driving along - I'm here with - my

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cousin - Serenity and -

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talking about photography and she's going
to go on this beautiful hike with me.

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I don't know she'll like me after the hike
because she'll realize how far we're

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actually walking.

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It's like a mile and a half to go in and a
mile and a half to get back out.

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We're carrying in time about thirty five
forty pounds of camera equipment.

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I got her carrying the water in the trail
mix.

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So she's gonna have a great time.

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But for this episode of -

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For this episode, I'd like to talk a
little bit about storytelling and the

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importance of it.

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Well, with the 12 elements of an image,
one of the biggest things that I learned

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over the years is what's the story behind
the image?

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Now, when people look at your image, I
always, kind of when I teach students that

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I have in high school, there's always two
people.

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That's your audience.

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The internal audience is you.

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So that audience is really, why did you
create this?

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How did you tell this story?

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What did you see that made you interested
in creating something like this?

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So that to me is what is your internal
story.

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As I've entered photo contests over the
years, I used to get really upset because

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I would create these images.

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I would go out of my way.

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I would just make it super complicated.

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and it would be really tough.

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And then I realized that the actual
audience, my audience that I have for

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this, they don't care how hard a
photograph was that you created.

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What they care about is what does that
image mean to them?

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What story are they getting from that
image?

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So...

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I used to get really my my feelings really
hurt when somebody didn't understand that

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I was in water up to five feet taking a
picture where my camera was almost surface

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level of a high school kid on a surfboard.

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I mean oh my gosh that was such a an
awesome photo because I did all this work

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as a photographer only to hear a judge
tell me nobody cares nobody cares.

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how hard that photograph was that you
took.

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And it really hurt my feelings because as
a photojournalist, my brain always tells

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me, I gotta get a different angle.

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I gotta get this, I gotta do this, I gotta
do this.

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But as a photographer, that's our internal
struggle.

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What are we doing that is challenging to
us but also authentic to ourselves?

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I don't like, I mean, I love,

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looking at images and I have so many
inspiring photographers in my life.

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I mean, I think the colors that Ted Grote
had, the greens and the deep greens and

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earth tones that he shot with.

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I love the way Joel Grimes photographs and
it's gritty and it's grungy and I love the

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fact on how he edits and produces things.

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I think that Kelly and Kalina Schneider,

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amazing storytelling - visual stories in
their images - I love their fine art

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technique - but also I think the way Doug
Gordon poses people is amazing - one of

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the my biggest fans - are I'm the biggest
fan of Jeannie Hobbs in Chesapeake

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Virginia - her ability to communicate and
connect with her client.

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Is.

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just fabulous.

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I mean, she can just wow and get a client
to get into a pose that feels natural and

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they're comfortable with, even though most
people have never actually been posed and

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most photographers tend to just say, hey,
I need you to pose.

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And they don't really give good direction
to their clients.

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And so sometimes you look at some
photographs and they feel.

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kind of tense or awkward.

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And one of the things that I like about
how Jeannie Hobbs communicates to people

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is how she communicates and how she gets
people to get into poses and situations

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that really are nice.

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So, and that's part of the storytelling
aspect is as a portrait photographer,

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we're trying to get somebody to get into a
pose.

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or create an expression or an emotion that
goes with our, what I call pre

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-visualization of what we want that image
to look like.

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And that's something that you work out
with the client prior to creating the

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image.

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You don't just walk out and say, okay,
here's a tree, stand next to it.

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And there are, there's plenty of
photographers that just, hey, there's a

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tree, let's take a picture of it.

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But you have to think about,

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What does the average person want to see
in a photograph hanging on their wall?

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Well, I don't want to see the tree.

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I really don't care about the tree.

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I don't care about a building.

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I don't care that you're standing in front
of the Grand Canyon.

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What I care about is that person.

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Who is that person?

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How do I describe that person?

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How does that person impact my life?

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What are they doing?

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How are they doing it?

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Can I sit down and look at that image and
can I easily write out a story about that

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person from what I know of that person or
what I understand of that person or maybe

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even what are they doing in the
photograph?

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What are their hands doing?

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What are their eyes doing?

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What are their smile doing?

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Are their lips pursed?

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Are they smiling?

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Are they concentrating?

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Are their eyes looking at me?

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Are they looking away?

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So every detail that happens, I'm looking
at and I'm trying to create an impactful

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story that somebody, when somebody sees
that, it's a memory of that person.

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It's this person is that memory and it's
captured forever.

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You know, I used to, I used to joke around
when I was younger, I'll never be that

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old.

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Well, now I've hit 52 and I'm like, wait a
second, where did all those years go?

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And so I do show my kids my high school
portrait that Ted took when I had a

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vision.

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And I tell them, I said, look, when I told
Ted, hey, I want to have a tie on Umbrose

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shorts and I want to wear a dress shirt,
he thought I was crazy.

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That's not, I mean, in the, in the 19, you
know, I graduated high school in 1991.

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You didn't do that kind of stuff.

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You didn't create.

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scenes and things like that you basically
stood in front of something they took your

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picture and that was that was the depth of
what your high school portrait was - so.

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That's no what I'm telling is is when I
show that picture to people - that's what

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I'm trying to explain a lot of times when
I'm telling stories is what is that person

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telling us in this image and this person
is.

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the same person, you know, 30, 40 years
later, but their life experiences changed.

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And when I create high school senior
portraits, I'm thinking, okay, you know

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what?

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You are fabulous at this age.

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You are amazing at this age.

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Imagine how you're going to feel when you
look at this portrait, when your child,

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when your son, your daughter is now
graduating high school.

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How have you changed?

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How has your...

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portrait changed how does your kids see
you differently than when you were in high

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school how I mean so so there's a whole
bunch of different things happening -

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within that image so I just think I think
- thoughts like that and - I really do

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want my kids to see my experiences when I
was in high school but also I want them to

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know who I am today.

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And always remember that it will be.

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I made a lot of bad decisions and I had my
whole future ahead of me now You have your

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future ahead of you and I want you to have
the same opportunities and I want you to

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do Amazing things and those are the
stories that I love to tell When it comes

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to shooting portraits of somebody is I'm
capturing a moment in time I'm capturing

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that person's essence that's going to be
there frozen

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for their kids and it's going to be
generational and there's going to be

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stories.

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And that's what is amazing about portrait
photography.

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All right, I am Ty Schmertz with Snap
Lens.

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I want to thank you for taking the time to
listen and hear my thoughts about portrait

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photography and storytelling and why I
find it a very interesting topic.

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If you do like what we're doing, we are on
YouTube.

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You can check out Snap Lens.

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YouTube.

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We also have SnapLens .com where we have
educational programs, both video and

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written content.

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So it'll help you increase your knowledge
and level of photography.

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And it's just a fun world.

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Not everybody has to be a professional
photographer, but definitely everybody can

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learn how to take great pictures with
their cell phones using a simple couple of

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techniques.

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You have a great day and thank you for
listening.