Taking Better Photos – Developing Your Eye
Good, even excellent, photographs can be taken with simple point-and-shoot cameras because the most important facet of photography is developing your eye – learning to see (not just look at but really see) the world around you and what’s interesting.
Most of us want to take pretty pictures, especially when we’re traveling. Pretty can be exciting or boring – it all depends on how you see. (And for Harry Potter fans, I’m not talking about Professor Trelawny.) So first, start looking at pictures in the newspaper, magazines, books – and when you see something that catches your eye, look at it carefully. Why do you like it? Consider color, texture, contrast, perspective, movement and placement of the main subject as you look. And always consider light. Ask yourself why that photo was good enough to put in the newspaper or magazine. What kind of story did it tell and why was it good at telling that story?
After you have a pretty good idea of what you like and why, go out and take lots of pictures – photograph your kids at play, walk around the neighborhood, walk around your downtown, take a drive. Don’t worry about “is it good enough to take a picture of?” – just take it. Remember – using digital you can take as many photos as you want. Then, look at your photos carefully. When you start realizing why you are attracted to a certain picture, it’ll make it easier to line up your shots that way.
Don’t automatically reject shots that aren’t what you thought you were taking, or that seem “not pretty.” Look carefully for the unexpected. In a photo I took of the Temple of Heaven in China, I was interested in symmetry and didn’t notice that there was a person in the lower right corner. I didn’t used to like pictures of people in photos when my objective was something else. However, in my opinion, it’s a much better photo for having him in it. For one thing, it gives scale to the building. It’s always interesting to have something identifiable in a photo to judge the size of the main focus. As you work on developing your eye, consider scale.
Always look around you – don’t just look forward. When you are walking look to the sides and turn around and look back. I have a wonderful photo of a road in China. On the left edge of the frame is part of a big bus. On the right, pointed toward the middle, is a white bus. And in the middle is an orange car that is like a Matchbox car compared to the busses. It looks like it’s a goner for sure. I wouldn’t have seen this vehicular drama if I wasn’t looking around me constantly and then ready to snap a photo out of the bus window. And what a fabulous photo I got – what contrast! The photo tells a story. I could have just taken a snap of a small car to show what people drove, but that would have been static. My photo is anything but static – and has some drama, besides. You’ll develop your eye more easily if you remain alert.
Walking on the beach in Cambria, I saw a starfish and took a quick photo because I’m always interested in pattern. I didn’t realize until I uploaded it to the computer that the texture and pattern of the water showed on the starfish also. Plus, I hadn’t noticed that the starfish had “attitude!” The five legs were arranged as if it were a person – arms, legs and a head. The lesson here is again to really scrutinize the photos you have taken – don’t delete the first time through. After several viewings, if you don’t see anything particularly interesting, DO delete! You can take 100 photos and be lucky to have five good ones. Don’t clog up your computer with mediocrity.
Also critical to developing your eye is to realize that your subject does not have to be dead center. I have a shot of two pelicans that are in the upper left part of the frame. One is just close enough to the center to draw your eye from slightly off center to the upper edge of the photo. That means you are actively viewing the photo. Compose so your subject draws the viewer’s eye into the image.
Already, this is a great deal to consider when learning how to “see” a good photo opportunity. But then there is light. Talking about light fills volumes alone. Sometimes you have no choice about lighting: you can only be present at a particular time, the light is yucky, but it’s the only light you have. So you do the best you can. Other times, you can decide when to take a photo – the early morning or early evening when the sun is not so harsh, perhaps. When I was in Lugano, Switzerland, I took dozens (well, maybe hundreds) of photos of swans. Why the swans were endlessly fascinating to me I don’t know. But I took one particular photo because I was interested in the way the swan was holding its feathers. It was midday – bad light for photos usually – but I was on a boat and that was my chance. I had no idea that the light would be such that the feathers would be almost transparent. I suspect that almost any photographer would tell you even if you think you know why you are taking a photo of a particular subject, you’ll get more than you bargained for.
There are many other considerations in developing a good eye for photos, but just starting to think about scale, color, texture, contrast, perspective, movement and placement of the main subject will give you a great start. And of course, the light.
Author: Susan Reep
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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