“I don’t expect you to retain all of this.  I expect you to pick up the concepts, which you can then work on on your own.  Other students have an entire semester to learn this stuff.  I’m giving you ten hours.”

John dedicated part of the lesson to visual storytelling since so many students are preparing to hand in slideshows.

For inspiration,  and examples of ways to give photo stories narrative structure:

• The Lourdes of Twang  NYTimes.com (an example of the process piece)
• Gun Nation  by Zed Nelson  (an example of the story that seeks to illustrate causal relationships)
• Recreating Himself, One Album at a Time  NYTimes.com  (a simple day-in-the-life chronology)

In a slideshow, try to include:

• Beginning, middle and end
• Detail shots
• Transition shots
• And remember:  Don’t run in there, take 15 photos, and run back out.  Take a lot of photographs.  And then take some more.

“You can do it.  It might not quite be ready for prime time, but you’re a student, and you learn as you go.”

“Don’t take on projects that are too big.  Better small bites well-chewed.”

Tags: John Smock, narrative structure, photography workshops, slideshows