How to do Photographic Story Telling

How to do Photographic Story Telling page samples

The book How to do Photographic Story Telling: Including composition and posing ideas is out now. There are three versions, in order of our personal favourites

The book covers our philosophy about photography, including how to get great photos that tell a story. Add value, meaning, and depth to your photos.

The purpose of this book is to give a different perspective on creating amazing photographs. Travel photographer Andrew Blyth (B.Sc, M.A) presents his two decades of learning in psychology and photography in this simple, concise, and easy to digest book. He reveals his secrets of how to create authentic-looking scenes, how to direct models (and clients), and how to make even ‘boring’ scenery ‘aesthetic’ (beautiful). He demonstrates his ideas with myriad of examples photographed in Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea, and Australia. This book includes inspirational quotes from some of the greatest photographers which will help guide your thinkings.

The eBook edition makes for great portability and easy referral. The print edition makes for a great in-studio or on-site reference. Many sample images are included to help show models and clients little details like hand placement, how to pose, and a lot more. Topics include:

  • The Three Elements
  • Photographing Movement
  • Visual Stories: Operation Bilby
  • Photographing Boring Things
  • Visual Stories: Events in Japan
  • Posing People
  • Composition and Posing Ideas

Some proceeds from this book will support environmental charities and photographic project Operation Bilby.

eBook: ISBN 978-0-9954040-2-1 | Print:  ISBN 978-0-9954040-5-2

5 Reasons not to Photograph it Yourself

There are many more reasons to get a professional photog’ to do the job for you. Here are some. We hope you enjoy the last one.

It’s a Service; not just “a Photo”

Occasionally we get clients who are shocked that “a photo” costs more than $20, and say they can do it themselves for less. Ok, that’s fine. Remember, you’re hiring a service, not buying an artistic mass-produced framed photo from Kmart.

Sample of the editing and post-processing done at Travel Photos
Sample of the editing and post-processing done at Travel Photos

We have invested tens of thousands of dollars in equipment, software, training, practising, and more. Yes, you can use your iPhone or ask your colleague to do it for you. However, compare an amateur photo with a professional. Which is going to bring you value?

That is why our company Director Andrew prefers to take his car to a mechanic rather than do it himself – even though he has his own hammer. We save you time, effort, energy, and investment costs.

A photo of Travel Photos poster with other street ads in a Melbourne laneway
A photo of Travel Photos poster with other street ads in a Melbourne laneway

There are legal risks

Travel Photos PtyLtd has public liability insurance. We are also educated in photo licencing, model employment, and other legalities required when using photos of people and things. There are many stories of how a photo in an ad has either gone sideways or backfired.

In 2007, an Asian American young lady sued Virgin Mobile Australia for their racist and insulting bus stop ad used in Adelaide. The ad makers did not have permission from the photographer, and did not have permission from the young lady to commercially use her likeness. What did the ad say? “Dump your pen friend” (CBS News). Needless to say, it probably cost Virgin Mobile more than what they gained.

Travel Photos PtyLtd ensures all the legal basics are covered before supplying our clients with images.

We have Skills and Talents you Don’t Have

Sorry to be so bold in saying it, but it’s true. The owners of the Lotus, Mercedes, Ferrari and other such Formula One race teams don’t drive the cars themselves – they hire highly skilled professionals to do it for them. In the image below we bet only the most talented of photographers (and this model) will know how we achieved this remarkable photo (btw, no torches were used).

Art Project: Operation Bilby, Supper Time. Female soldier eating at sunset.
Art Project: Operation Bilby, Supper Time.

Full Service

For busy people, understaffed offices, and those who don’t know all the ins and outs, we take care of all the details for you. We can do the following:

  • Image research
  • Production planning
  • Model/talent auditions and hiring
  • Location scouting
  • Travel to the required locations
  • Organise specialised equipment
  • Provide specialised services (like makeup artists, local fixers, security, etc)
  • Do the photo shoot
  • Manage staff
  • Image management and long term storage
  • Editing and post-processing
  • Image delivery
  • Legal document management
  • and more

    In short, tell us what you need, and we’ll make it happen.

    A makeup artist preparing a model for a shoot in Yokohama Japan
    Our makeup artist preparing a model for a shoot in Yokohama Japan

    No Copy Cats Allowed

    As a standard, Travel Photos PtyLtd retains the ownership of the photographs. Additionally, the licence we issue to our clients includes an “exclusive use” clause. That means, your photos won’t be used by your competitors. Additionally, we are proactive in protecting the copyrights of our photos.

    True story. At the start of the Stock Photo era at around 2005, two advertising agencies bought the same $2 stock photo for their print material. People in the north east of the US wondered if two competing banks were now merging because the look and style of the print materials appeared the same. Avoid confusing your customers, avoid diluting your message, or worse – be unintentionally promoting your competitor. Unique exclusive photos is what we specialise in.

    Confusion occurs when you use the same cheap stock photos as your competitors
    Confusion occurs when you use cheap stock images

    Don’t let your business get lost in the crowd. Stay unique. Stay fresh.

    Aircraft Portrait Shoot

    Male model preferred for about 1 to 2 hours work. Pose next to an aircraft to create a small set of portraits for advertising/editorial use in print and online campaigns within Australia. Details:

    • This is a low-budget shoot, so please do own MUA and clothing.
    • Clothing: Preference for neutral coloured chino trousers, long-sleeve white button-up shirt
    • When: The shoot will be close to sunset, most likely on a late Saturday afternoon (7th Jan) or the Friday before or Sunday after
    • Where: A regional airfield that is within 60kms of Melbourne CBD (transport by photographer can be provided). Contact us to learn more
    • Remuneration: Contact us to learn more
    • Style: The aircraft will be static (on ground – parked). Editorial style of portraits around the aircraft.
    Flying with the Gliding Federation of Australia and the Melbourne Gliding Club

    The Final Days of Twitter?

    The general feeling of Twitter users is that Elon Musk has gone into it like a wrecking ball. Within a fortnight he turned a smoothly running machine into utter chaos. Before firing the human rights department, you’d want to find out what they do, why they do it, and what would happen if they didn’t do their jobs – before firing the whole team – only to realise later you need them. It’s simple management strategy to gather information before taking action.

    Sunset on heroes. Art Project: Operation Bilby

    Every tweet now feels like the last. With all the depth of knowledge gutted out of the company, any new staff will have a rough ride learning what/how to do things. With so much confidence in the platform lost, where should we go? Exclusively on Instagram? Blog here more? Swallow our pride and use FaceBook. Note, we are not fans of FB because of the privacy violations built into the platform. What are your thoughts?

    Collaboration Call

    Lockdowns are over and many industries need to reinvigorate and recreate or create new connections. We are wanting to work with makeup artists, models, and costume designers to make a project go forward that can be used for our own self-promotion efforts. The long term plan is to get financial support for this project, and for it to be profitable for all involved (participants and financial supporters).

    Theme: Women outdoors, in nature, in the sun, doing adventurous activities. More specific details will be given to serious potential collaborators and funding supporters.

    Aim: To be at least shortlisted in any state or national art, photography, or other awards and competitions.

    Opportunities for sponsors: Exposure with product placement and multiple @ mentions in social media, and on-going placement in social media posts, videos, and in professional creatives’ portfolios.

    International Women’s Day 2021

    Our ethos is equity, respect, dignity, freedom, and travel. To honour these, we’ll offer 30% off commercial photo shoots for female small business owners. This can be for products, show of experiences and services, professional portraits, whatever.

    Terms and conditions: small businesses (less than 10 employees), the company director be female, be situated in Victoria Australia. Certain expenses like travel costs cannot be discounted.

    Contact us now. Valid for anytime before Easter 2021

    Free Portrait Sesh Sat 13th Feb

    A FREE PORTRAIT SESSION!!!! Sounds awesome right?!

    Perfect for Lunar New Year & Valentines Day!

    It’s our first public event since lockdowns, so we’re a little shy and nervous, but it’s a great chance to step out and do something different. We have professional experience in travel photography, but – like you – we can’t go anywhere. So, instead of stewing at home, we wanna get out and do pseudo-travel photography (pretend travel portraiture). So…

    Let’s have some fun. Wear your best fashion, wear a top hat. Put that kimono on. Dust off that frock. Polish those boots. Do whatever you need to blast the lockdown lethargy and cobwebs off.

    Why free? We really, really, really, wanna do portraiture again! We really wanna do stuff with the camera. We really wanna meet people again.

    What does it cost? The shoot will be free. You’ll get two photos that will be small (not printable), but socially shareable. These will be AirDropped or emailed to you on the spot.

    What can be paid for? More photos, professionally post-processed, printed on high quality art paper, framed, and delivered. Usually, a photoshoot costs money because it requires time to do properly. So, if you want something different and unique, let’s arrange that shoot.

    Where? On the steps of the Old Treasury Building, Melbourne CBD.

    When? Please book a time with us, which will be on Saturday the 13th Feb. Will we do this again? Probably not… for a very long time.

    How long will it take? It’s free, so it will be a very short photoshoot, just 20mins or so, plus a bit of on-the-spot photo selection and post-processing.

    FAQ continues… What if it rains? Great!