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Visual story telling while traveling

Many times while traveling, people have an opportunity to do something special. This could be anything from a great restaurant to a sail on a schooner. I had the opportunity to do the latter this past week and it was a great experience!

Right away I decided to shoot it as a story for this article.

The rules are pretty simple.

  1. Wide, medium, and tight images
  2. Don’t forget the details
  3. Have a beginning and end

With these rules guiding me I made about 250 images while on a community sail aboard the schooner Adventure out of the port of Gloucester, MA. It’s a great time and the passengers get to help raise the sails!

schooner adventure
Passengers climb aboard the Adventure.
Schooner Adventure
The dinghy tender is hauled aboard by the crew.
Schooner Adventure
Passengers and crew pull the mainsail up.

The action onboard started right away as we left the dock. The crew was busy pulling the dinghy tender aboard and as we got further out the passengers and crew pulled the mainsail up together. Then we put the U.S. flag up and we were off and running without the engine on. With a slight heel to starboard and a good breeze of about 10kts we flew along at 6.5 miles an hour.

Schooner Adventure
A crew member works on the flag attachment.
Schooner Adventure
With the flag up we were about to get under sail.
Schooner Adventure
A couple sits on the leeward side enjoying the view while under sail.
Schooner Adventure
Late afternoon light was nice and warm.
Schooner Adventure
Coiled rope was everywhere.
Schooner Adventure
The line used for the halyards needs to be coiled so it does not get kinked up.
Schooner Adventure
Even the passengers got to take a turn at the wheel.
Schooner Adventure
The ships bell waits to be used.
Schooner Adventure
The views of the sail canvas were spectacular in the late afternoon sun.
Schooner Adventure
A crewman looks up at the headsails while underway as we head back to Gloucester Harbor.
Schooner Adventure
The moon rose as we entered the harbor which made for some nice images.
Schooner Adventure
Then it was time to douse the sails which meant the whole crew got involved.
Schooner Adventure
Properly flaking the sails is important for storing them for the next sailing on Adventure.
Schooner Adventure
Then as the light dropped over Gloucester Harbor the passengers disembarked.

So you see by adding a few simple rules to your visual story telling you can make your travel stories more interesting for your viewers!

Gussy – A Photo Story

A couple of weeks ago a student of mine from New Jersey discovered something she did not know she had. A talent for capturing personality. The student, Lisa Olsen, was up in Gloucester for a three day Cape Ann Photo Tours experience. On our first day after a beautiful sunrise we headed over to Rockport for the morning ritual of lobstermen leaving the harbor. As it happens quite often when traveling we stopped to talk with one of them, “Gussy”. He is quite a character and  talked with us for a few minutes about his bait and what the herring gulls dislike. As I talked with Gussy, Lisa was busy making shots of his many animated expressions.

gussy-1
Gussy – Photo and © Lisa Olsen

As you can see the name of Gussy’s boat is “Gussy’s Girls”. The light was beautiful in the early morning and Lisa came up with some great shots. What she did not know was that she was telling a story with each image.

gussy-2
Gussy – Photo and © Lisa Olsen

As Gussy got ready to climb down the ladder to his dinghy he motioned to the gulls as they flew by saying “not today, I have salted herring” because you see herring gulls hate anything salted.

gussy-3
Gussy – Photo and © Lisa Olsen

Gussy was still talking and laughing with us as he sculled out to his boat using an oar that was held together with duck tape. You have to love his self made work dinghy, no oar locks and only a notch in the back to scull with.

gussy-4
Gussy – Photo and © Lisa Olsen

As he got farther out to his boat we moved to an area where we could watch him go out for his day of lobstering.

gussy-5
Gussy – Photo and © Lisa Olsen

The perfect shot to end this little story as he heads out for a day on Sandy Bay. Travel story telling photography does not have to be extensive it just needs to have the small pieces that pull it together. A beginning, (character intro), a middle (anchor images that pull your story together), and an end (an image that pulls it all together). Lisa has done that with five images. Short stories like this are perfect for adding to your travel book at the end of a photography trip.

 

Check out my krwilliamson blog about using the Sony 20mm pancake lens here