Shooting Your Own Storyboard

PHOTO CHALLENGE | Determine three describing words for your work, then using those as guides for selecting past and present photos to create a storyboard for yourself. Post 10-15 images that show exactly what you would want to be hired for/exclusively shooting.

photographing your own storyboard/vision board

Do you remember the day when you had to make a physical story board to get your ideas out and visually see your ideas before bringing them to life? Artists of all sorts were famous for making vision boards to see where through lines were, what themes were emerging, patterns, and essentially creating a road map for their project.

In photography, storyboarding is a tool. Use it when you want to shoot a series of images that need to fit together cohesively and tell a story visually. What if we did that with our own photos? What if we pulled our favorite images from past and present that represent what we love, what to shoot, and even show our goals?

The first step in storyboarding is to have an idea of what story you want to tell. If you’re on Pinterest, this might be a worthy starting point to see the images you’ve saved that inspire you. Or maybe even your saved inspirations on Instagram. If you haven’t used either option, consider one or the other to gain insight into photos that inspire you. An image can convey so much information at a glance. Gathering together photographs that contain elements that align with your vision is a great first step. Keep in mind that the elements you find in your saved inspiration don’t have to appear in your final story. They can give you some direction or help you tie things together. Another helpful tool in this is word association. Think of three or so words that support your vision. Bright, colorful, playful, somber, moody, natural, posed, artistic, etc…

Now, with those images and words saved and in mind, how will that affect what you seek to photograph this month? What sort of things can you plan for that will support your portfolio and the work you want to continue doing? I want you to be intentional and thoughtful as you go out to photograph. While not everything you take will fit, it’s likely that one or more might work. Each week share the photos you’ve selected that best show your vision and what you love the most. While you may not be able to shoot 100% the work you ultimately want, do the best you can with where you are and what you can shoot.

The goal is to shoot new content for this month, but consider looking through photos past that might support this project as well. Feel free to share them within your selections this week, and if they support your vision, they should fit right in (consider a fresh edit, if needed).