everybody this is Ty Swartz with snap lens - educational and photography training so
today we are again we're still driving out here back country in the hill country of
Texas.
And I think it's really cool - one of the things I do like about a podcast is as I'm
discovering - you can pretty much be anywhere come up with an idea.
And just start talking about it - so as we're driving along - I'm here with - my
cousin - Serenity and -
talking about photography and she's going to go on this beautiful hike with me.
I don't know she'll like me after the hike because she'll realize how far we're
actually walking.
It's like a mile and a half to go in and a mile and a half to get back out.
We're carrying in time about thirty five forty pounds of camera equipment.
I got her carrying the water in the trail mix.
So she's gonna have a great time.
But for this episode of -
For this episode, I'd like to talk a little bit about storytelling and the
importance of it.
Well, with the 12 elements of an image, one of the biggest things that I learned
over the years is what's the story behind the image?
Now, when people look at your image, I always, kind of when I teach students that
I have in high school, there's always two people.
That's your audience.
The internal audience is you.
So that audience is really, why did you create this?
How did you tell this story?
What did you see that made you interested in creating something like this?
So that to me is what is your internal story.
As I've entered photo contests over the years, I used to get really upset because
I would create these images.
I would go out of my way.
I would just make it super complicated.
and it would be really tough.
And then I realized that the actual audience, my audience that I have for
this, they don't care how hard a photograph was that you created.
What they care about is what does that image mean to them?
What story are they getting from that image?
So...
I used to get really my my feelings really hurt when somebody didn't understand that
I was in water up to five feet taking a picture where my camera was almost surface
level of a high school kid on a surfboard.
I mean oh my gosh that was such a an awesome photo because I did all this work
as a photographer only to hear a judge tell me nobody cares nobody cares.
how hard that photograph was that you took.
And it really hurt my feelings because as a photojournalist, my brain always tells
me, I gotta get a different angle.
I gotta get this, I gotta do this, I gotta do this.
But as a photographer, that's our internal struggle.
What are we doing that is challenging to us but also authentic to ourselves?
I don't like, I mean, I love,
looking at images and I have so many inspiring photographers in my life.
I mean, I think the colors that Ted Grote had, the greens and the deep greens and
earth tones that he shot with.
I love the way Joel Grimes photographs and it's gritty and it's grungy and I love the
fact on how he edits and produces things.
I think that Kelly and Kalina Schneider,
amazing storytelling - visual stories in their images - I love their fine art
technique - but also I think the way Doug Gordon poses people is amazing - one of
the my biggest fans - are I'm the biggest fan of Jeannie Hobbs in Chesapeake
Virginia - her ability to communicate and connect with her client.
Is.
just fabulous.
I mean, she can just wow and get a client to get into a pose that feels natural and
they're comfortable with, even though most people have never actually been posed and
most photographers tend to just say, hey, I need you to pose.
And they don't really give good direction to their clients.
And so sometimes you look at some photographs and they feel.
kind of tense or awkward.
And one of the things that I like about how Jeannie Hobbs communicates to people
is how she communicates and how she gets people to get into poses and situations
that really are nice.
So, and that's part of the storytelling aspect is as a portrait photographer,
we're trying to get somebody to get into a pose.
or create an expression or an emotion that goes with our, what I call pre
-visualization of what we want that image to look like.
And that's something that you work out with the client prior to creating the
image.
You don't just walk out and say, okay, here's a tree, stand next to it.
And there are, there's plenty of photographers that just, hey, there's a
tree, let's take a picture of it.
But you have to think about,
What does the average person want to see in a photograph hanging on their wall?
Well, I don't want to see the tree.
I really don't care about the tree.
I don't care about a building.
I don't care that you're standing in front of the Grand Canyon.
What I care about is that person.
Who is that person?
How do I describe that person?
How does that person impact my life?
What are they doing?
How are they doing it?
Can I sit down and look at that image and can I easily write out a story about that
person from what I know of that person or what I understand of that person or maybe
even what are they doing in the photograph?
What are their hands doing?
What are their eyes doing?
What are their smile doing?
Are their lips pursed?
Are they smiling?
Are they concentrating?
Are their eyes looking at me?
Are they looking away?
So every detail that happens, I'm looking at and I'm trying to create an impactful
story that somebody, when somebody sees that, it's a memory of that person.
It's this person is that memory and it's captured forever.
You know, I used to, I used to joke around when I was younger, I'll never be that
old.
Well, now I've hit 52 and I'm like, wait a second, where did all those years go?
And so I do show my kids my high school portrait that Ted took when I had a
vision.
And I tell them, I said, look, when I told Ted, hey, I want to have a tie on Umbrose
shorts and I want to wear a dress shirt, he thought I was crazy.
That's not, I mean, in the, in the 19, you know, I graduated high school in 1991.
You didn't do that kind of stuff.
You didn't create.
scenes and things like that you basically stood in front of something they took your
picture and that was that was the depth of what your high school portrait was - so.
That's no what I'm telling is is when I show that picture to people - that's what
I'm trying to explain a lot of times when I'm telling stories is what is that person
telling us in this image and this person is.
the same person, you know, 30, 40 years later, but their life experiences changed.
And when I create high school senior portraits, I'm thinking, okay, you know
what?
You are fabulous at this age.
You are amazing at this age.
Imagine how you're going to feel when you look at this portrait, when your child,
when your son, your daughter is now graduating high school.
How have you changed?
How has your...
portrait changed how does your kids see you differently than when you were in high
school how I mean so so there's a whole bunch of different things happening -
within that image so I just think I think - thoughts like that and - I really do
want my kids to see my experiences when I was in high school but also I want them to
know who I am today.
And always remember that it will be.
I made a lot of bad decisions and I had my whole future ahead of me now You have your
future ahead of you and I want you to have the same opportunities and I want you to
do Amazing things and those are the stories that I love to tell When it comes
to shooting portraits of somebody is I'm capturing a moment in time I'm capturing
that person's essence that's going to be there frozen
for their kids and it's going to be generational and there's going to be
stories.
And that's what is amazing about portrait photography.
All right, I am Ty Schmertz with Snap Lens.
I want to thank you for taking the time to listen and hear my thoughts about portrait
photography and storytelling and why I find it a very interesting topic.
If you do like what we're doing, we are on YouTube.
You can check out Snap Lens.
YouTube.
We also have SnapLens .com where we have educational programs, both video and
written content.
So it'll help you increase your knowledge and level of photography.
And it's just a fun world.
Not everybody has to be a professional photographer, but definitely everybody can
learn how to take great pictures with their cell phones using a simple couple of
techniques.
You have a great day and thank you for listening.