“Not every great wildlife image is about story telling”.

Yes, absolutely. Storytelling is only one aspect. Many more ways to have impact.

Thanks for sharing this, Kim. Storytelling isn't the only way for a photo to be compelling--even the much-maligned "bird on a stick" can be impactful in the right scenario. Steve Perry provided some nice examples of how an "action-less" (perhaps "story-less") photo can still grab your attention.

Totally agree - not everything has to have a “story”. Sometimes just the beauty or rareness of what one is shooting is enough. Birds on a stick are, to me, lovely since i am not a birder and don’t know that much about birds.

I tried to get a story with my Giraffe image by trying to get him to sit in a stick - but he just wouldn’t do it.

Thanks for the post.

Linda--thanks for the laugh! If you can ever get a giraffe to sit on a stick for you, PLEASE get a photo of that!!!

Praises be to Steve Perry for saying all that needs to be said about the "storytelling" meme. As he points out, the telling of some sort of "story" is what some photos are all about (much of street photography, for example), but it's obviously meaningless for many others. (What kind of story does an awe-inspiring landscape or face of a baby have to tell?)

I was disappointed that our most recent judge was so enamored of storytelling, to the point that he was often blind to other attributes. It seems that the Photographic Society of America (PSA) is hung up on storytelling, and some disciples of PSA (our judge included) follow their lead unthinkingly.

Agree completely, including Larry's fixation on storytelling. Some images are just beautiful, or exciting, or calming, etc. without a story. A lot of us are on the same page here. I always want to evoke an emotional response, story or no, and many of the fine images submitted last week succeeded well in doing that for me, even when there was no "story."

Aaron, our CCC third Judging Criteria is "Storytelling OR Mood Creation". Your comment about evoking an emotional response fits very well with Mood Creation in my opinion. Bruce

Yes, and simply bringing joy or wonder or just plain old appreciation, for reasons one may or may not be able to articulate, is sufficient "mood" creation for me! 

I hadn't intended to mention this, but I bailed from the call after the first few photos last week. I haven't entered any photos yet, but all of the earlier competitions were useful for me to attend as a beginner. I like hearing the judges talk about the photos and how they could be improved. I've learned a lot. Previous judges have been kind in giving feedback, and especially in cases where it was a beginner's shot. We all have off days, and maybe that's what happened with the most recent competition, but it wasn't a good use of my time, and I won't be submitting photos to that judge.