The photo essay is tough. It is a project that requires not only creativity and an eye for storytelling, but one that involves a lot of work and most importantly, careful planning. This is one reason why I recommend going into a photo essay with a shot list or a checklist of things you want to make sure that you take away once the session is over.
The problem with this is that if you build yourself a list of shots prior to the day that you’ll be taking the photos, it leads to the idea that a photo essay is sort of a formulaic thing. So, my best piece of advice is to keep that thought in the forefront of your mind, the idea that even though you’ve written out a formula, the formula does not necessarily need to be followed in the end.
In other words, make yourself a list of shots so that you don’t forget anything that you may want as you wrap up the project. Don’t make the list with the thought that these are the shots that absolutely must be present in the final essay.
With all of that said, let’s take a look at how to go about building a shot list for a photo essay.
Because this art form is documentary in nature, it sometimes helps to approach it from the perspective of videography. Think about your favorite documentaries and how the videos are shot, how the stories are told. Use that as your guide to creating a similar kind of story but in still images. To help guide you, I’ve prepared a quick list of shots that I like to make sure I take whenever I work on photo essays...
