How this works

A Girl with a Story helps you:

Find the thing you’re most passionate about to photograph.

+

Find the unique language you’d like to use to tell its story.

(Examples at the bottom)

Part One: Finding Your Thing

Imagine if there was this one thing you always look for when you’re out with your camera. Imagine rushing towards it with your camera, image ideas already running through your mind. Imagine forgetting time and place because you’re so engrossed. Imagine the joy of getting to your computer, uploading all the photos you took, and getting really experimental with your editing, infusing your story into each of them.

Could you imagine that people would associate your photos with you? I bet you could. And isn’t that a photography style in itself? Even though it would develop effortlessly and without you thinking about it.

Could you imagine falling into a creative rut with so much passion and enthusiasm? I bet you can’t.

Part Two: Understanding what you’re good at (AND want and need to be good at).

There will be photography elements that come easily to you and others that will be more difficult to master. 

It’s important to become aware of your strengths because you intuitively focus on them to create the type of photos you’ve been taking up to now. 

It’s also important to know what you’re lacking. 

Part Three: Telling Your Story

In parts one and two, you’ll learn “what” your thing is and “how” you want to capture it. 

So now is the time to bring it all together by learning how to infuse the elements into your photography so they can tell your story. 

You’ll be guided through the different elements: perspective, composition, light, etc. and learn how each affects the story.

The Result: taking this approach has many advantages:

• You’ll master your subject and storytelling = you’ll create photos infused with character, automatically making them stand out in the crowd.

• Without knowing it you’ll be developing a photography style without over-thinking it.

• By focusing on this one thing, you’ll become so good at this type of photography that you’ll easily be able to master other photography genres, too (just because your heart beats faster when you see your favourite subjects, scenes, etc. doesn’t mean they’re the only thing you’ll ever capture with your camera).

Very soon, you’ll be mastering all kinds of photography in your own unique style, each of them telling their own unique story.

Here are some examples of how you can combine subjects and stories:

Portrait Photography combined with capturing certain emotions/breaking out into a smile/captured in a certain setting (through a window, in a café etc.).

People Photography: tiny people photography in busy streets/in the countryside.

Old Chairs + in unusual places (forest, meadow, garden, dangling off a balcony). This can be one favourite chair or different types of chairs. Or, with people sat on it in historical costumes.

Dogs + noses peeking through bushes / dressed up like Frida Kahlo. Can be the same dog in different settings or a different dog in similar settings.

Blurry People (as in ICB) + bland settings (minimalist), standing on top of something, running.

Painterly Look + tiny houses, small people, lonely churches on hilltops.

MORE ADVANTAGES…

Taking a focused approach

Even though the workshop wasn’t created distinctly to help one develop a creative style, the outcome is the same. It’s about recognising what you want to say with your photography and which feeling you want to give your photos.

In a world where there are so many photography opportunities, so many photogenic subjects, places and people, it’s hard to tell the difference between photos that we’ve created and decide we’re impressed with and ones that truly come from the soul.

This workshop will help you get to the core of your personal taste so that you’ll always know which elements you’re naturally drawn to and which ones are typically seen in good photos (and up to now, you believed they should belong in your photos). 

You will learn WHY you feel more drawn to certain scenes, faces and subjects than others AND how to create images that ooze with sincerity.

Develop a mindful practice

The photos you take that glow with YOUness are those you create when you’re totally absorbed in the process. You see the world in a way that no one else does, and A Girl with a Story will guide you through the process of becoming more mindful with your photography so that you're always focusing on the things you feel naturally drawn to.

Get out of the creative rut

I believe that one of the main reasons we lose interest in photography, a hobby that once exhilarated us is because we create too few fulfilling photos. Like I mentioned above, we tend to get distracted. Someone posts a stunning photo, and when we have access to a similar setting and subject, we try to create something similar. Doing this successfully will steer you off track. 

Both beginners and skilled photographers - both smartphone and camera photographers.