Pixiq

The art of storytelling is not simply about shooting great images, it's the art of editing your great images in a way that compels the viewer to want to see more.  Editing is the process of selecting images, not the retoucing of those images.  Once you've shot and selected your images you need to put them in an order that makes sense and tells your story to the best of your ability. The art of editing I like to call the "Law of Opposites" and when used properly this law will always attract the viewer to your images.  

Imagine your images in a magazine of your choice  Open the magazine and now you have a spread, two pages side by side that show your images.  How you decide what to put on those two pages can make or break a story.  If you shoot incredible images and don't know how to show them its like your never shot those images at all.  Learning how to edit your images is crutical to working more.  Take a moment and look at your favorite magazines and notice how they tell their story. It doesn't matter if it is a fashion magazine, home and garden, or any of the other types of magazines available today.  The best magazines in the world all speak this language and once you learn to see this it will help you in telling better stories. 

What is the law of opposites?  It is the art of designing images for impact. It's placing an image that is big next to an image that is small.  An example of this would be a tight shot of the face of a farmer, next to a landscape image of a corn field. Big vs Small!

Color vs B&W - An example of this would be an image of a surfer sitting with his surf board in color next to an image of the ocean in black & white.  The law of opposites, can be direct and bold or subtle by showing "movement vs still.  An example of this could be a full body image of a girl running and laughing on a beach front lit by the sun, next to a tight shot of the girl hugging her lover and backlght by the sun.  All these images make for powerful spreads and make your images pop off the page and your website.  Those who know this language will shoot images in different ways because you know have a valuable tool that will pull the viewer to not only keep looking at your work, but it will keep your images in their mind long after they've left.

For more information on creativity, lighitng and more check out the series of instructional video's at www.Gallery.MatthewJordanSmith.com

Always Dream Big,

Matthew Jordan Smith