Stories Instead of Snapshots
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Written by Heather Kuchma
In March 2016, Peter delighted the membership with an absolutely stunning slideshow featuring images from his two-week adventure to New Zealand in Spring 2015. His goal for the trip was to be open to any opportunity and to experience the joy of photography to the fullest. For anyone who missed his presentation or would like to see it again, Peter has posted a copy of the slideshow on the Peter Carroll Photography Facebook page, March 11, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/PeterCarrollPhoto/. Well worth checking out!
From the first time I encountered Peter’s work, I have been inclined to refer to him as an artist first and photographer second. He shared how telling a story through an image includes the same elements as a successfully written story—the 5 Ws (who, what, where, when and why). In other words, each work requires elements, such as a character, plot, setting, emotions, conflict and theme. Creators can determine what it is that they want to say by the type of story they chose to create. For example:
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For Peter research is key and observation is also essential.
Once you have decided on the plan to tell your story, then focus on the technical elements, such as point of view, lens choice, f-stop, shutter speed, ISO, filters, direction and composition. He also mentioned some of the best stories are open ended; they leave it up to the viewer to ask the questions. Peter mentioned his preference is to follow the KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle. Post-processing effects should not be the reason for the image, but they should rather be used as a support piece. This was illustrated by a George Lucas quote, “A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing.” Peter concluded his presentation by suggesting that a personal project is a great way to grow one’s skills as a photographer. A must read is Photography and the Art of Seeing by Freeman Patterson. Guy Tal and Joe McNally are his ‘go to’ photographers for inspiration; and LensWork Podcasts have been a constant wealth of information (http://daily.lenswork.com/podcast/). |