Blog

03/22/2017

5 lessons in storytelling I learned in Antarctica

By Veronique Serruya

5 lessons in storytelling I learned in Antarctica

I just spent twelve incredible days in Antarctica, and it blew my mind.  The sheer beauty and untouched majesty of it took my breath away and made me want to capture it in more than my mind’s eye.  There was a professional photographer on the boat who gave a talk about composition, light, and good storytelling.

As she spoke about how to capture our perfect memory on film I thought about all the parallels between storytelling through photography and building strong social media content, or capturing attention with a campaign. Here are a few parameters I like to keep in mind:

1. Know what you want to say

Whether a picture, a post, or a website, it’s the same: diluted content is confusing and ultimately loses the audience.  This picture captured Antarctica in one flawless moment.

2. Don’t try to tell too many stories at once

Pick one story, it’s stronger than attempting to tell too many at once. One day we were in our kayaks, surrounded by 35 feeding humpbacks, which attracted Antarctic albatross as well as penguins to feast on left over krill.  With so much going on around us, it was difficult to hone in on a specific story for our picture–which for me happened to be, “Holy s#$@ that whale is so close it could capsize us all.”

3. Lead with the most interesting material

It’s hard to decide what is most interesting when surrounded by such beauty, but to make my story attractive, I had to choose my focal point. In this picture, I chose these two king penguins in a colony of Gentoo penguins.

4. Create content that sparks conversations or adds value

For every good picture, there was a story that went with it.

5. Be memorable

Good stories inspire people to action. Of all the pictures I took, I am not sure which one is the most inspiring, but I picked this one.

Maybe you will be motivated to witness this pristine wilderness for yourself, or donate to a charity that works to preserve it.