Storytelling is a performance, so the useful photographs show the storyteller and the audience reacting. Plan for gestures, expressions and the listening room, agree what is comfortable for young performers, and let the school or organiser decide how families receive images. A short, clear brief usually produces a better record than a long shot list.
A storytelling competition is one voice and one room at a time. The photograph that matters is often small: a hand lifted mid-gesture, a student looking at the audience, or the children on the floor laughing at the right moment.
This page belongs to our wider guide on youth-programme and student-competition photography, and it focuses on the performance and its audience rather than the awards.
What makes a good storytelling record?
Good coverage pairs the storyteller with the listeners. A tight image of a speaker shows expression, but a wider image with the audience shows why the performance worked. Ask for both.
Typical moments to plan for:
- Arrivals and the quiet minutes before a performance, if the organiser allows it.
- Each storyteller on stage, with gestures and expression.
- Props, costumes or puppets, where they are used.
- The audience reacting, handled according to the organiser's rules.
- The panel, the host and the awards.
How does the performance change the photography?
Storytelling is often performed in a classroom, a hall or a library corner, sometimes with no stage lighting at all. Dim rooms, moving performers and quiet audiences make photographs harder, and flash may be unwelcome. Our guide to low-light ballrooms and dim indoor venues explains how photographers work in those conditions.
The performer's movement also matters. A storyteller who walks around the room needs a photographer who can follow without stepping into the audience's line of sight. Ask the organiser where the storyteller is expected to move.
Keeping young performers comfortable
Many storytellers are children, and some find a camera more intimidating than the audience. The calmest events let them perform first and receive any special photographs later. Our guide on when a child does not want to be photographed covers what the organiser and the photographer can do.
Practical approaches include:
- Telling storytellers in advance that a photographer will be present.
- Keeping the photographer at a consistent, predictable position.
- Offering post-performance portraits only to those who want them.
- Letting a teacher or parent stay near the child when that is the child's preference.
Costumes, props and music
Some storytellers bring props, costumes or a recorded soundtrack. These make lively photographs, but they add practical questions. Ask whether a prop can be handled by a photographer, whether a costume change happens backstage, and whether music is licensed for any recording that might be shared. Tell us what to expect so we do not miss the moment the story turns.
Family distribution arrangements
The institution usually holds the right to say who sees the photographs. Some schools share images with parents through a closed channel, others only publish a small selection in a newsletter. Our guide to permission to photograph and permission to publish explains why these are separate decisions.
Write down the arrangement before the event: who receives the full set, who may forward individual images, and whether any image appears publicly. Use our photo sharing and privacy plan as a checklist. Delivery details are confirmed in your written quotation.
A hypothetical example
For example, imagine a regional storytelling competition with 16 students, two judges and an audience of classmates and parents in a school hall. The organiser agrees that the photographer may stand to one side, shoot without flash and avoid the front row of younger children.
The plan covers arrivals, each storyteller once, the judges' table, a few wide images of the audience, and the awards. After each performance, the host announces that students who want a portrait may come to a quiet corner. Those images are delivered to the school, which shares them with families.
What to tell the photographer
- The age group, so the team can adjust their approach.
- The running order and approximate length of each performance.
- The room layout, stage position and lighting.
- Rules on flash, movement and audience photography.
- Contact details for the organiser who handles opt-outs.
- How photographs will be shared with families and the public.
A school event photography worksheet can help you gather these answers into one brief for our team.
Checklist
- Confirm the age groups, number of storytellers and performance order.
- Ask whether performers use costumes, props, music or a screen.
- Check the lighting in the performance area and whether it changes between acts.
- Agree where the photographer may stand without blocking the audience.
- Collect opt-outs from the school or organiser before the day.
- Decide which photographs go to families and which to the organiser only.
Tell us the age group, the room and how the organiser wants photographs shared, and we will outline where our photographer would stand and which moments we would prioritise.
Brief us on our storytelling eventCommon questions
Should the photographer be visible to the storytellers?
Young storytellers often perform better when the room feels ordinary, so a photographer who stays low and moves little helps. Ask the organiser whether storytellers should be told in advance that photographs are being taken. Telling them calmly beforehand usually reduces distraction more than trying to hide the camera.
Can we photograph the audience as well?
The audience gives the performance its context, but it may include parents, siblings and other schools' students. Ask the organiser whether audience photographs are appropriate and whether the invitation or entry notice mentioned photography. If not, we can focus on the stage and keep the audience as a soft background.
How do families get their child's photographs?
That is decided by the school or organiser, not by the photographer. A common approach is delivery to a named contact, who shares images with the relevant families. Ask us what delivery options are available and have it written in your quotation.
What if a storyteller wants no photographs?
Their wish is respected. Ask the organiser to tell us before the event who has opted out, and agree a quiet signal for last-minute changes. We then skip that performance without making it obvious to the audience or the child.
Brief us on our storytelling event
Tell us the age group, the room and how the organiser wants photographs shared, and we will outline where our photographer would stand and which moments we would prioritise.
What happens next: You send your event details on WhatsApp. Our team reads the brief, asks what is missing, then confirms in writing whether the date, venue and coverage can be booked, with a quotation. Opening WhatsApp does not send anything, and a message is not a booking until both sides confirm.
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