Tell the whole story of a place or scene

… or as much of it as you can.

Sports stadiums are generally quite huge and make for an interesting photographic subject. The Olympic Stadium at Olympiapark in Munich is certainly no different. You’re there for a short period of time, as in 20 minutes, how can you tell as much of the story as possible?

Overall story

First, what catches your eye as you try to take it all in? You want to show your viewers what you see when you walk in. How can you best show them how you felt in this huge, historic space? There are a couple of things you can do to try to capture the wide view. 

1. Grab your wide-angle lens. If you’re traveling light and don’t have that particular option for your camera, use your phone. Yes, I said it, use your phone. Most phone cameras have a decent wide-angle option. 
2. Create a panorama. Shoot vertical compositions all across the scene. Merge them together later in whatever you use to process your images. Or, once again, use the pano function on your phone. 

Medium-sized bits

Don’t forget the medium views. Capture the everyday parts of the stadium. Ticket offices, signs and entrances. They may seem boring but they are part of the overall experience for those who are looking at your images. Consider photographing ‘slices’ of the view. They can turn out to be really interesting photos.

The story details

This is one of my favorite ways to photograph a story, the details. Sometimes you may not realize what story they belong to but when you write a blog post or post on social media, the details matter. Get your telephoto zoom lens and get right up in on objects. Look for shapes and colors, light and shadows that make interesting compositions. 

Take your macro lens and get even closer. Seat numbers? Nuts and bolts on the structure? Find the items that may be unique to where you are and add them to your story.

By capturing all parts of the scene or space you’re in, your viewers will gain a much better understanding of what you saw. The story will be much easier to show and tell.