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Anyone can relate the facts of an event, just like anyone can hold a camera up to a scene and document it. But bare facts and badly composed images make for poor communication. It takes skill and talent to write a good story, one that will inform and entertain. The same is true for photography. Images have always been storytellers. A good image can relay large amounts of data in a format that is pleasing and quickly absorbed by the viewer. That makes photos potentially more influential than a massive amount of words.

What's it worth to you?
The concept that images are better storytellers than words predates the invention of photography. Everyone has heard the cliché, "A picture is worth a thousand words," which refers to the photo's ability to relate complex stories in a single image. Napoleon Bonaparte said it this way: "A good sketch is better than a long speech." And some argue that the origin of this saying is an ancient Chinese proverb, attributed to Confucius: "One look is worth 10,000 words." Somewhere along the course of history, however, images were devalued by 9,000 words! In fact, it would take more than 10,000 words to truly express all the facts and emotions conveyed in a single good image. That's great news for communicators wanting to maximize their storytelling power in a limited space.

But that doesn't mean just any photo will be a good storyteller. The image must be well conceived and well executed. The subject must be carefully chosen to instantly reveal the key story message. The background must give the proper context and emotional impact. And the overall composition must be designed to lead the viewer's eye through the image story.

Composition know-how
People approach an image like they do a book. At first they are skeptical and even defensive about engaging. They must be drawn into the characters and plot. If the story or photo is not interesting, they won't take the time to examine it in detail. Like any story, a photo needs a subject or hero—in other words, a focal point around which you compose the image. This could be a person, an object or even an abstract form. Since the subject is key, it is usually large in the frame and placed in the foreground of the shot. The background and surrounding elements supply context, meaning and relevance, much like the setting and plot of a novel. The relationship between the subject and the other elements in a photo is what tells the story. The background gives the subject a relevant location and often implies the appropriate action.

"Read" the photo
The human eye will first notice the lightest and brightest areas in the photo. Generally your subject should be located in that area. Alternately, the light should lead or point directly to the subject. Next, the viewer will look for people to relate to. They will first ask, "Do I know this person? Am I like this person?" Then they'll ask, "What is this person doing, thinking, feeling?" The background and props should instantly provide this "plot" information. If the subject is not a person (but a building, product, etc.), the questions asked are: Do I recognize it? Do I know what it is and where it is? How big is it? Again, the background should contain this information by providing a sense of location and scale. Scale is determined by comparing a known object, such as a person or even a part of a person, to another element in the image.

The next tier of observation concerns the atmosphere and mood of the image or story. Once the viewer has taken in the brightest area and any human element, the next thing they will notice is color and contrast. Yellows and reds are siren colors and should be used carefully. They can easily draw focus and attention away from your subject. Their fiery nature can add warmth to a subject or setting just as blues can calm or soothe. Greens add a natural feeling, while black can be ominous or mysterious, but when mixed with various hues is vital in providing contrast and shape. Without contrast there is little or no shape or dimension. Objects appear flat, like in a coloring book. Shading and shadows provide interesting, realistic shape and form. Varying the color tone between cool and warm and layering the contrast between light and dark provides depth to the image, as much as minor characters and multiple locations add interest to a novel.

Just as important as what to include in the photo is what to exclude. Any clutter or objects that don't relate to the story should be excluded. Graphics such as billboards or anything with written words on it will be a distraction to your message. They will pull attention from your subject and should be eliminated. Many times just moving in closer to the subject either physically or optically will solve the problem.

Last and most important is the overall composition of the image. As with all artistic projects, there are no absolute rules. The placement of the subject and the other elements in the frame will usually determine their importance in the story. The proportions of the objects in the layout generally establish their status as a focal point. Just as the hero of a story plays a bigger role in the narrative, the focal point of an image usually takes up more space in the frame. But rules were made to be broken. Experiment!