Improve YOUR Photographic Eye - Understand the difference between Looking & Seeing
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- čas přidán 30. 03. 2024
- Improving your photographic eye takes practice, but in our human world where we rely on our eyes for everything, practice can happen all the time. However, you need to realise you're practicing and really hone it.
I spent a couple of days at the Photography Show in Birmingham (England), and was amazed at how few people were taking photographs. The place was full of photographers but hardly any were actually practicing their craft and those that were acted like bees around the honeypot of stands that had "studio" setups designed to sell their lighting rigs.
For the Observational Photographer, these places are brimming with opportunities as shapes, patterns, lines, textures, colours and contrast abound, providing limitless opportunities for people who have a Photographic Eye to get some very interesting images.
It's not just exhibitions of course, it's any space whether indoor or outdoor and, often, the emptier the better.
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There's an entire photographic genre called "liminal" photography - images of places of transit, but without any people in the images. It produces some very interesting images that tend to leave the viewer feeling uneasy.
Indeed there is. I like a bit of urban exploration, though do hardly any. If I still lived in London, or close by, I would be in the Tube quite a lot very early or very late. I will visit some other local places before long to get such images.
You hit on a very good point , experience is very important , but mastering the technical skills needed to produce your desired image, frees your mind up to see potential things easier , quicker , without bogging your mind down trying to remember all the how to details.
Hi, Eric. Thanks for your thoughts. I am not sure I agree though. Technical skills are obviously important but they are different from visualisation skills and I didn't think there's much overlap. You can see and visualise images without a camera and that's what a lot of painters will do: they may improve this side of things as their technical skills improve but I am not sure that there's a direct correlation between the two. Technical skills can be learned from a book (experience will obviously help) but compositional and visualisation skills absolutely need to be practiced - lots.
This, again, comes down to knowing something inside out - like driving. For most experienced drivers, it's something we do with little thought: it's second nature because we have practised and practised. Driving is a multi-sensory discipline like photography. We need to be able to read the road and operate the tool. But, we can also stand at a roadside and read the road without having a car and this is as close an equivalent to photographic visualisation as I can get with this analogy. Think about it though, anyone with some life experience can stand and watch a road and see where the potential hazards are without ever learning to drive.
Observational photographer…kind of works for me and my style of photography. As usual you continue to inspire
You are too kind.
I look frward to your next presentation Andy, Brilliant stuff.
Cheers.
I really enjoyed this video Andrew, you're quickly becoming my go to you tube mentor.. Every video gives something valuable to learn and try. looking forward to the next couple of weeks .
That's so kind, Christopher. Thank you.
Hello, today I came across you for the first time on CZcams. I think the photos you took in this video are SUPER.. Thank you
That's very kind of you. Thank you. Hope you'll enjoy my other videos and maybe share some.
I do it all the time, I can't help myself. Top Tip "Be a Photographer, not a Genre". Sadly the big vlogs on you tube seem to be about equipment, i.e. that banal couple in the USA.
I guess you do what earns you the money in the case of the couple you mention. The main point is that gear is pointless without the skill to use it.
One nice thing about digital cameras is you can take pictures of anything and delete it later. With film you have to be more selective. For example, your picture of the legs from the knee down why did you shoot it? If you are taking a series of pictures of different styles of shoes then it works fine. If shot with film why waste the film? Your message is eye opening.
I will let you into a secret, James. I rarely delete anything. I shoot at least 35,000 frames a year and I delete less than 1%. The reason is that I have always a record of what I have done, how I may have progressed and, crucially, I will often miss the potential of an image in the few days and weeks after it was taken and find a stunning shot months later. As for the legs, I shot it because it's an interesting image. Perhaps you don't agree and that's fine; we can't all like the same things. Sean Tucker speaks a little about this in one of his recent videos about how certain types of images will always garner likes, yet his best work (best being subjective, obviously) gets largely ignored.
I have similar experiences. My most accomplished images submitted to Frames Magazine get the Editor's Applause moniker, yet next to no likes. My formulaic images get the likes but no Editor's Applause.
I think, also, comparing with film is not helpful. Film is constraining because of cost - nothing else. I have, in the past, had an almost limitless supply of film at little or no cost to me. I shot what I wanted, when I wanted because I was not having my bank account emptied by it. It allowed me to experiment, improve, shoot with little care for the success of the image - much like with digital. But I NEVER threw anything away. I have literally thousands of prints in many boxes and cases with the biggest problem being that I never catalogued them.
Going back to the legs and feet, I have got a selection of such images in this video. What attracted me to them was the relatively easy access I had to these graphic images under tables, benches and isolated in block colour. Whilst it's not part of a wider body of work currently, it certainly could be going forward and why not?
poem - 'all these shadows and light that grabs your eye, or the eyes, is really looking for beauty? no seeing it, even taking apart beauty is beauty in itself, yourself lol'
Impressive eye👍 - thanks for the inspiration
Thanks for watching!
❤The gallery of captivating images. Inspiring and informative video. 👏
Thank you so much 😀
Yeah the Easter bunny delivered…..much better for my waistline. Great to see familiar objects in a study, as you say these things are all around but get ‘overlooked’ thanks for another fab video Andrew.
We simply don't have to travel to far-flung places to get great images. Familiarity should be our photographic friend.
I really love your photography work! 😊 and your perfectly right that like anything it takes practice in really “seeing”! Super excited to see the next videos!
It's really hard to keep this up you know! Love reading all the positive comments.
Hi! And thanks for cleverly thoughts as always. When you are talking about to see things not only with your eyes but also with your brain I spontaneously thinking that it is also to “see” things with your heart. I mean you got a feeling and a sense of something that attracts you. But not in an intellectual way.
Take care and happy eastern! Göran in Latvia
Yes, I guess you're right. In another comment from Antoine, he suggested that the photographer needs to be interested in something to get an image and that seems quite similar to your comment. I disagreed with Antoine as there's nothing stopping us being creative with things that have no interest to us. We may be able to put more "passion" into something we like, but that's more a choice. Professional product photographers, I can pretty much guarantee, have little interest in the latest tube of toothpaste, but they still make it look awesome.
Being able to make anything look awesome is a skill that needs to be learned whereas just shooting what we see with our heart might not get us far enough out of our comfort zone and into a "learning" zone.
All food for thought.
Thanks for your ongoing support, Göran.
You can see compositions where I would pass by without seeing anything ! Great ! 📸 Sorry for your Osmo 😢
You can find them too. It just takes practice.
Your most enjoyable video I have seen so far. As much as I like the location shooting stuff, I was more able to concentrate fully on what you were saying with this one. And you, quite understandably, have a more focused train of thoughts. Keep up the good work man 👍📸
Thank you. I don't much like doing these videos as I really need the photography to "keep me ON the streets".
I think you also have a good 'ear' for 'music' Andy - nice outro track for the photo gallery - I heartily approve ! - David
haha. Thanks. :-)
Excellent advice and inspirational pep talk, I needed this.
Thanks. Glad it was useful.
Observational photography sounds like a good term to describe where I'd like to focus going forward. Excellent topic and conversation! I find my myself at a bit of a crossroads these days, beginning to tire of a steady diet of following the rules to make realistic captures of eye-pleasing scenes. I recently read another article which boiled it all down to a desire to expand from simply 'capturing' to 'creating'. Sometimes, we get caught up in the details, but then a video like yours comes along to shake things up a bit, remind us that there is a bigger picture. Nice work! Also, Great Music with your final slide show! Had a kind of 'Simply Red' vibe to it! ;-)
Thank you, Walt. I think there's a trap that we can fall into these days. We have access to so much "inspiration" on line that we can lose sight of why we take photos. For everyone, the reason is likely to be subtly different, but our ability to share on social media is often a driver as we seek some kind of validation or recognition. Sadly, though, we often only get this from people who aren't necessarily creative themselves and/or don't have the ability to see the meaning of the image or offer their own interpretation in the split second of a scroll. Often, we simply don't find our real audience this way: well, not quickly anyway.
While we all know you'll never top the banana... a great selection of images on this one. [Booming Voice from the Void] 'WELL... DONE... BANNERRRR!' Cheers.
I must top the banana. The banana can't be my best work. It just can't
@@AndyBanner It's wasn't merely your best work... it was a bona fide contribution to the Civilization of Photography. I cannot begin to list what 'Banana' has likely inspired, inculcating a generation of photographers, prudish and otherwise, with habits they'll enjoy the fruits of for the rest of their lives. Try to 'top the banana'? My prediction is that such folly can only lead to your incarceration. As a friend, i have a duty to remind you: be warned, Banner - you are being watched. Cheers.
Wait for my "Watermellon" phase.
@@AndyBanner The 'How to accommodate a courgette' timelapse....
Hello Andy; I've seen others describe the empty but functional spaces you are speaking about as "liminal spaces" ( from the Latin ). If you look-up the term you may be in some agreement with others' descriptions of such transitory ( for their intended subjects ) but otherwise quite static and empty actual places. All the Best, David
Yes, indeed, David. @dangilmore9724 said much the same. I am familiar with this genre in passing - I rarely get much opportunity to do such things, but, with the mornings getting lighter, just getting out into city streets before anyone else will be a good start (if you can call getting up at 4am a good start).
@@AndyBanner 4am -I didn't knock clocks were able to show such an early time. 8 am for me.... !
Hi Andy, some great advice and tips mate and the images were fantastic, I think the white chair cutting into the two different coloured carpets was my favourite, great spot. I don't practice this type of photorgraphy enough, yet we all have the perfect tool in our pockets to practice daily, our mobile phones. So, this is now going to be something I'm going to do, while at work or just doing day to day stuff. Maybe you could do a video out and about in a town or anywhere, with just your mobile phone showcasing how easy it is to practice this 'creative eye'. Take care Andy, Steve.
Cheers, Steve.
I utterly hate doing photography with my phone. It's almost as unfriendly as a camera as an old 110 format brick. I.age quality is insane, but the user experience is simply horrible. I might have to suffer though as it is a solid idea
I see shots every minute of the day but I can’t always take them even though I always have a camera in my bag…✌️
Time constraints and such are always an issue. I no longer carry a camera everywhere as it has a tendency to make me late....
You need to take the camera out of the bag.
Hello, Andrew.
An interesting video.
The subject is something that a photographer must like.
I don't think you can just go out and photograph these things.
It is obviously up to the photographer's alley, but if you are not interested in it, you will not see such things.
I hope you understand what I mean.
You look at a landscape differently than I do.
You look at the whole picture and bring the parts together so that you have a beautiful whole.
I am not blessed with this gift, I look at small, simple things as a whole and photograph them.
This is not about what is right or wrong, but where the photographer's interest lies.
Photographing things in the way you are talking about has been done for a long time.
Just look at the work of William Eggleston.
And he only took one shot of a subject.
He saw it, put his camera to his eye, and snapped the photo.
And he is very famous, whatever that may be, with his way of photographing.
But he also left home intending to photograph these things.
He had no interest in a landscape at all.
By this, I mean to say that you cannot just do this spontaneously.
I think you should know what you are looking for before you go out.
This is of course purely personal, it may be that if you go out without a special purpose you come across these things and you notice them.
In the beginning, you once made a video about going out in your own city or village and just photographing what interested you.
I've tried this but I can't get it to work.
This is the same as ICM when I see what you produce and then look at what I produce. There is a big difference.
And because my interest is not stimulated enough, I will not continue with it.
This can be stupid because you don't learn to do anything all at once, you have to do it more often to become good at it.
Sorry for the long response, but that's what and who I am.
I hope things are going well for you, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, friend.
a warm greeting from the Dutch.
Antoine.
Hello, Antoine. Hope you are well. I am not sure I agree that a photographer has to like what they are shooting. Afterall, I am suggesting that this is a process of learning and when learning anything, we inevitably have to learn and do things we might not like or enjoy. It doesn't mean that the process itself isn't enlightening .
In landscape, I am more commonly shooting with a long lens to pick out parts of the landscape rather than shooting a vista (which is actually very hard to do a good job of). I really enjoy Eggleston's photographs and, yes, he went out with the aim of shooting these things. But I disagree with the notion that it can't be spontaneous.. Let me give you an example. The two recent videos from Cromer Beach (the ICM one and the abstract one with the steel bars exposed in the sea wall) were shot on the same afternoon with probably no more than 30 minutes between them. I had no intention of making two videos that day until I stumbled upon those metal bars which I did not know were there. The second video was entirely spontaneous as a result of finding the subject and immediately seeing some potential in it.
Perhaps the challenge is more that we put ourselves in pigeon holes (I am a Landscape Photographer - I am a Still Life Photographer - I am a Product Photographer) rather than saying "I AM A PHOTOGRAPHER".
You mention shooting the things local to you and actually, one of the images at the start of this video is from the video that you reference (bizarrely). I think you may be stuck with the idea that you can't do it rather than open to the suggestion that you can. ICM is another thing again. There's a lot of luck involved but also muscle memory and these things simply need practice and I guess you need to enjoy the practice to continue. I can't play the guitar for toffee because I don't have the patience to practice and thus I only enjoy it when it's going well. Perhaps you have the same issue with photography subjects that are more alien to you?
Don't ever apologise for lengthy comments. Your words are thought provoking.
Be well.
Andy
@@AndyBanner Thank you for this response. And I have to say that this is food for thought for me. And maybe, just maybe, I'll have to prove you right after all, buddy. 😂 😂 😂.
I hope you will get your camera back, or at least the data.
I am sure both are long gone. There aren't nearly enough decent honest people in this world.
@@AndyBanner True.
Each RAW file from my camera is about 55MB and the camera can do about 30fps. I'd fill 8GB within minutes
Are you seriously suggesting you are firing in 30 fps bursts all the time when shooting in the kind of environments I am talking about in this video?
@@AndyBanner No not at all. Just that I also do bird photography which I'll put my camera on high speed for. I need more than 8GB.