Test Your Photo Essay Skills - Photo Essay Ideas

Test Your Photo Essay Skills - Photo Essay Ideas
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One Last Photo Essay Idea

You’ve documented an event, taken photos of every park in the area, and sequenced so much time you’re starting to wonder what you haven’t taken a photo of. Still, you’re yearning for more ways to test your skills. One last idea is quite simple. Take photos of as many of the same object as you can. Make a list of things, anything at all, and then go photograph them. Take photos of different styles of mailboxes, different types of cars, or different foods. The possibilities are endless! This is also a great way to test different perspectives. Take a photo of a tree while looking up at it, rather than looking at it head-on. Set your camera’s ISO higher or lower and check the results. Challenge your mind and think of taking a photo that isn’t “the norm” for that type of photo. You may surprise yourself!

When trying out different settings, bring a pad of paper and a pen with you and write down what you did for each photo. When you look at them later, you may want to try that technique in the future. Without having any notes, you may not have any idea what you did to make the photo look that way!

Go Out and Have Fun!

Have fun! There is no “right way” to take a photograph. March to the beat of a different drum, you may find a new way to do things, or even spark more ideas for future photo projects. Photo essays are one of the few photographic ideas that don’t require set rules. Forget about the rule of thirds, looking for simplicity, and framing your view.

If it helps, pretend you know nothing about photography. You just got your first camera and you want to take photos. It doesn’t matter that the horizon is crooked or that the woman’s foot was cut out of the shot. What matters is that your photos tell a story, coincide with one another, and you’re enjoying taking the pictures.

Shoot from your heart when doing photo essays, rather than from your mind.

This post is part of the series: What Is A Photo Essay and How Do I Create One?

This article series explains what a photo essay is. It will explain the different types of photo essays, as well as give you ideas on how to create one yourself.

  1. What Is A Photo Essay?
  2. Time Sequence Photo Essays
  3. Location Photo Essays
  4. Idea Photo Essays
  5. Event Photo Essays
  6. One More Way to Test Your Photo Essay Skills