8 ways to add WOW factor to your storytelling photos

Incorporate movement

If your image is feeling flat and lifeless there’s a fast fix - add movement! It’s important that you know how to both freeze movement and deliberately incorporate motion blur. Freezing a moving object requires a really fast shutter (for example I hardly ever drop below 1/500th when working with quick moving kids). While the shutter speed required to intentionally include motion blur will depend on just how quickly that subject is moving. Experiment and see how much you need to slow your shutter down to get the intentional look you’re after. That word, intentional, is key here. Motion blur as the result of camera shake will look like an accident. Camera shake occurs when you are hand holding your camera with too slow a shutter speed.

Frozen movement creates a snapshot of a precise moment in time. Like a visual time capsule. While intentional motion blur implies the passage of time with a visceral sense of the world rushing around us. Both techniques can be eye catching, adding definite wow factor to your storytelling.

Frozen at SS 1/2500th second

Underexpose to retain highlights, sky details and vibrant colours

Shoot with your edit in mind, especially where bright skies are concerned. If you want to retain cloud details, vibrant summer skies and warm sunny highlights you need to dramatically under expose your shot in camera. I will underexpose shots like this 1-2 stops depending on how bright the situation is and how much I want to retain the colours of the sky. In Lightroom you can use a combination of global exposure boost and graduated filters (burning the top half of the image) to bring back the correct exposure in your image whilst retaining those sky details and colours.

Think beyond “wide open”

We all love the buttery bokeh filled backgrounds you’ll get shooting at your widest apertures. But sometimes the drama only comes alive when you stop down. When you shoot at smaller, higher apertures (think above f/5.6) you get a greater depth of field. That results in more clarity and detail in your skies and landscapes. It’s also the only way to get crisp, defined starbursts.

Shooting at f/9 allowed the location and the skies to be a key part of the story.

This was a dark and overcast day, so I didn’t want to stop down too much, but f/7.1 allowed me to make the landscape the hero.

Use wider lenses for immersive fun

My 35mm is my go to lens, but every so often I feel like I just need to get a whole lot wider to get the fun and immersive scene I’m after. Shooting with a super wide angle lens allows you to get in the thick of the action and draw your viewer in with you. It’s impossible not to get involved! Wide angle lenses also create some awesome colourful lens flare and allow you to embrace leading lines and shapes like nothing else. Be mindful that the wider your lens the more susceptible it will be to lens distortion. Some of that distortion can be corrected using the Lens Corrections panel of Lightroom, alternatively you might want to embrace the quirky curvature.

I love shooting on a GoPro (3mm) for a super wide immersive angle that gets the viewer right amongst the action.

29mm was just wide enough to make the most of the converging lines of this bridge and add a quirky off beat feel.

Maximise your edit

Learn to fully optimise the capabilities of your editing software. If that means taking a Lightroom or Photoshop course, do it. Your finished product is about so much more than whacking a preset on it and calling it done. Understand contrast. Get to know the tone curve. Learn what adjustments in the HSL panel can do to balance your image and put colour theory to work.

Personally I love the power of a good black and white conversion. It can isolate your subject, add depth and eliminate distractions. But not all images are created equal when it comes to black and white. Look for tonal variety across the image - too many mid tones will result in a lack lustre black and white conversion.

Embrace the shadows as well as the light

So often we’re focused on what the light is doing. We overlook its counterpart, the shadows. The shadows in your image enhance depth, add mystery and create shapes. You can make the shadows the focus of your image by placing your subjects to make the most of those lines and shapes.

Alternatively use the Inverse Square Law to turn shadows into a way to minimise clutter and make your subject stand out.

When you’re exposing your image think about how you want to use your shadows. To make the most of them you want to ensure that there is still texture and colour details in those shadow areas.

The shadows are an integral part of this image. They create the juxtaposition between the rigid lines of the structure and the fluid lines of her dress.

Here the inverse square law works to hide the background clutter and provide a minimalist canvas for the movement and colour in the foreground.

Be unexpected and break the rules

Take the weird shot. Ask yourself what you can do differently. Where else can you take the shot from? What angle can you shoot from? Is there something different you or your subject could do to make this image more intriguing and cause the viewer to linger longer? Aim to intrigue and surprise.

I’m sure you will have heard this adage before: you need to know the rules before you can successfully break them. But once you do know them, you should start to flex your creative muscles. What happens when you intentionally abandon the rule of thirds? What happens if you embrace a centre composition with deliberate intent? Be intentional in your choices so that your rule breaking is obviously not a mistake.

This image was shot with my head and camera inside a giant bubble! I loved the way the bubble mixture created rainbows that looked like film light leaks.

This quirky sight was crying out for a rule breaking composition.

Harness the power of colour

You’ve no doubt seen a colour wheel before. I’m sure you have an understanding of primary, secondary and complimentary colours. But do you understand which colours advance and which recede? Do you know that your choices around hue, saturation and luminance affect more than just whether your greens look fluro or muted?

Colour has the power to affect the mood of your image and to convey important information about your story and subjects.

Red is a powerful colour that advances and grabs the viewer by the throat.

Here we move through advancing warm colours in the foreground to cooler recessive tones in the background. This bolsters the story of playful, loud childhood fun against a peaceful, wintery landscape.

Just because your photography revolves around “everyday scenes” doesn’t mean it has to be boring or unexpressive. There is so much room to play, explore and bring a little WOW to your everyday storytelling.

This blog post was written by Aimee Glucina, whose workshop “The Authentic Storyteller” is a 4-week deep dive on all things storytelling. Covering light, composition, mood, movement and colour. If you’d like to know more be sure to check it out here!