Activity: the five picture story

A ‘five picture story’ is the idea that you can tell a story in five photographs.

Elements of a five picture story include:

• Establishing Image

• Action Shot 1

• Action Shot 2

• Portrait

• Detail

The establishing image must introduce you to the story. It could be a landscape describing the location the story is taking place, or the person the story is about. But whatever it is, it should entice the viewer to see more of the story, making it the most important of the five images.

The two action shots must show your subject doing something that helps tell your story. For example, if the story is about fishing for salmon, your action shots might be of your subject catching a fish and casting a line.

The portrait, unlike an action shot, is usually more focused on the subject’s features. The portrait should give more of a sense of what the person is about. They don’t necessarily need to be looking at the camera, but the portrait should capture a moment of the subject where it’s about them, not about the thing that they’re doing.

A detail image should show an object at close range, that helps tell your story. For example, if the story is about fishing for salmon, the detail might be a close-up of the lure or of hands reeling in the line. The detail image is always about getting up close to something.

Then, each photograph will need a caption…

A caption should describe what is happening in your set of five pictures, by answering the who/what/when/why/where of your story.

Here’s an example:

Caption:

Emma Atkinson works at Salmon Coast Field Station as a biologist leading the sea-lice monitoring program. Each day she wakes up at 5am to start field work out on the water. Emma and her team deploy seine nets to catch juvenile salmon. The team count how many sea-lice is on each salmon, before releasing them back into the ocean. The data is then recorded back at the Salmon Coast laboratory, where there is a sign that reads, “Salmon Are Scared”.

Now create your own five picture story and captions based on one of the following themes:

• The story of a trip to the river or beach

• The story of a fisher person

• The story of a salmon hatchery
  

You can use any camera, including a phone camera, to complete this activity.

Tag @amy.romer and use the hashtag #thelastsalmonrun on Instagram to receive personal feedback on your pictures.

Tips:

• The only image that must be placed in a particular spot, is the establishing image, which must be placed at the start of the story. It must both introduce your story and entice the reader to see more.

• Try to capture quotes from your subject for more authentic, in-depth captions.