Storytelling photography is about more than just taking pictures – it’s about noticing the quiet, in-between moments that make up our lives. The time spent waiting for the kettle to boil, the dog’s brief hesitation before stepping outside, the way the light shifts across the room throughout the day. Nothing particularly groundbreaking, but these moments – if you’re paying attention – are where the best stories live.
Photography isn’t just about catching the big, obvious moments. It’s about noticing the tiny, quiet ones too. The ones that go unseen unless someone chooses to look. And that’s our job: to look. To find the stories tucked between the cracks of everyday life and show the world why they matter.
Here are ten ways to start seeing the world with fresh eyes and find stories in the mundane through storytelling photography.
1) Look for Light
Light is everything. It sculpts, it defines, it transforms. A sliver of sunlight sneaking through a curtain, stretching across a bookshelf, suddenly turns an everyday corner of your home into something cinematic. Train yourself to notice light in all its forms—the golden hour glow, the harsh midday contrast, the way headlights slice through fog at night. Light tells a story all on its own in storytelling photography.
2) Find What’s Out of Place
Disorder catches the eye. A single red leaf on a sea of green. A lone shoe abandoned on the side of the road. A Give Way sign standing stark against speckled clouds. These moments of unexpected contrast are visual clues—breadcrumbs leading you toward a narrative. Ask yourself: How did this get here? What happened just before this moment? That’s your story, and storytelling photography helps you capture it.
3) Seek Out Colour Harmonies
Colours talk to each other. They create rhythm, balance, and sometimes tension. A blue coffee mug sitting on a blue table, a red dress against a brick wall—when colours align in everyday life, it’s like nature composing a frame for you. Storytelling photography thrives on these small but powerful details.
4) Shape-Hunting to create storytelling photography
Patterns, symmetry, and unusual shapes make for strong compositions. Look for triangles in the way a dog stretches, leading lines in a row of buildings, or curves in the way a river bends through an industrial landscape. Some of the most compelling images in storytelling photography come from simply recognising geometry in the everyday.
5) Subtract to Strengthen
Great storytelling photography isn’t always about what you include—it’s about what you leave out. Simplify. Remove distractions. Make your subject clear. A cluttered frame is like a conversation with too many side tangents; it loses focus. What’s the simplest way to tell the story? Start there.
6) Shine a Light on the Unnoticed
Some stories are hiding in plain sight. The garbage collector at the shopping centre, the overgrown fence at the end of your street, the abandoned couch under a tree that somehow looks exactly like broccoli. These things live in the periphery of daily life, but when you pay attention to them, they become something more. Storytelling photography gives the unnoticed a chance to be seen.
7) Objects Hold Histories
Everyday objects tell their own quiet stories. The collection of books left inside the ticket box at Olinda Oval. The worn-out shoes by the door. The cup of coffee with a lipstick stain on the rim. Photographing these things is like collecting evidence of a life lived, of moments that mattered enough to leave a trace. This is the essence of storytelling photography.
8) Take Your Camera for a Walk—Preferably with a Dog
Dogs don’t rush. They stop, sniff, investigate. They force you to slow down and see things. A routine walk can reveal new perspectives—reflections in puddles, the way the wind moves through trees, the hidden corners of your neighbourhood. It’s part of the reason why our photo walks are so popular. Slowing down unlocks creativity, and storytelling photography is about embracing that mindset.
9) Photograph the Mess, the Real, the Raw
Forget about perfectly styled, Instagram-ready spaces. Life is in the messy corners. The half-folded laundry, the breakfast dishes left on the counter, the way your dog reacts when the younger one barges into frame. These are the moments that make up real life, the ones that deserve remembering. Storytelling photography embraces imperfection because that’s where the truth is.
10) Pay Attention—That’s It, That’s the Secret
Everything comes back to this: paying attention. Storytelling photography isn’t just about seeing—it’s about noticing. The way a clothesline sways in the breeze. The first time you use a new camera and the moment etches itself into memory forever. The details, the fleeting instants, the ones that get lost unless someone stops to look.
Many of us don’t remember our lives in long narratives; we remember them in snapshots. The challenge isn’t to make life more interesting – it’s to realise that it already is. The stories are already there. You just have to notice them, and storytelling photography helps you do just that.
If you’ve ever felt the urge to slow down and see the world differently—to capture not just what something looks like, but what it feels like—this is your invitation. Our 4-week photography course is more than just learning settings and techniques. It’s about training your eye to find meaning in the everyday, turning fleeting moments into lasting images, and showing the world how you see it.
Curious? Let’s make something great together. Book your spot now or reach out—we’d love to chat.
As always you inspire me to pick up my camera and get out there. It’s been a very busy couple of weeks and my imagination is a bit flat…but looking at the broccoli tree and the wonderful photo of your dogs, makes me realise that some of the images I have taken are actually pretty good, lol.
Keep it coming, I love it.
Absolutely – we often critique our work far too much. And I know you take fantastic photographs. Go share some with the world.
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