Telling stories through effective photography

It has been said many times in advertising that content is king. With so many messages being communicated to us, many important messages inevitably get drowned out. A quick look through your social media newsfeeds would either reveal photographs that try to sell too much, or just a bunch of boring selfies. With the relatively inexpensive availability of high-quality smartphones and cameras nowadays, everyone can be a photographer, but not everyone is a visual storyteller.

We are a very visual society, and marketers today realize that photography is the perfect way to communicate. Hence, learning the basics of photography is vital. Effective visual communication may be better and more effective than a full page of text, but people always look for the story—not just the visible elements, but the “why” of the story.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but did you know that photos can also communicate faster than words? Businesses that are able to wield the visual language by using effective techniques, are able to reach audiences that grasp—and retain—important messages faster. Photographs are universal as well, thus there is no language barrier between the messenger and the receiver.

Photographs are not only meant to delight your senses, but can also be a powerful medium to make your target audiences think, ponder and even take action. The most effective photographs demand action or invoke emotion. As it is in the world of advertising, the most effective photograph in the world of photojournalism creates social change in the long run.

Rem Zamora, a CPA-turned-award-winning photojournalist and head photo editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, says that a distinguishing characteristic of a good photographer is the ability to create and capture stories out of seemingly normal scenes.

He believes that the principles of photojournalism can be applied to impactful visual storytelling in order to promote brands, people, events and products, through various media, such as billboards, print advertisements, social media, and the like.

Zamora has proven to be a consummate storyteller through photographs, covering major national beats and emerging issues. He is also a faculty member of De La Salle University-Manila, who promotes the idea that everyone—and by extension, every brand or advocacy—has a story that can be captured and told through images.

Zamora will be running a workshop entitled “Effective Photography: Enhancing Your Multimedia Presence” on June 21-22 2016 at the Inquirer Academy, and will focus on getting to know the technical aspects of a camera and production, photography as a tool for visual storytelling, as well as the basics of shooting, selecting, and editing photographs.

This program is ideal for marketing or communications practitioners, social media or event managers, bloggers and photography hobbyists.

The Inquirer Academy is located at 4168 Don Chino Roces Ave. cor. Ponte St., Makati City. For more information about this or any future programs, you may e-mail [email protected], call  8341557 and look for Jaime Leogardo, or visit  www.inquireracademy.com.