How to "see"....

[ChristopherCoy]

I'm reading this book titled "Tao of Photography" by Tom Ang, and I was just struck by one of the first paragraphs in the beginning chapter. Steve states that photographers learn to see in two different ways. One way is "unencumbered, free and effortless," and the other is "cumbersome, slow and inefficient." He goes on to state that photographers often suffer great frustration from getting stuck between the two ways of seeing.

And after contemplating that a minute, I realize this is true for me. For instance, if I'm out for a walk and I see - lets say a flower - I can compose a shot in my head that looks nice. However, instead of relying on my knowledge to compose the shot, I rely on the technology. I use the cameras light meter, or rely on an exposure mode to make the photograph. Usually, about the only thing that I have any say so in, is whether I'm going to have a shallow, or deep depth of field. I never tell the camera that I want this shot slightly overexposed, or slightly underexposed. I just rely on the camera to meter the shot from one side of the viewfinder to the other, and do what it does.

And as it often happens, I always end up frustrated because the bright flower that I envisioned, ends up being slightly dimmer than I wanted, or blown out because I was too concerned with the background, or making sure other areas of the image were exposed properly. Whether in the darkroom, or in the editing software, I usually end up becoming further defeated because I have to spend so much time "fixing" things that didn't turn out like I wanted, simply because I broke them to begin with. So it's a non-stop cycle that, over time, becomes extremely exhausting.

I've got an unofficial NY's resolution to take elevate my photography this year, and I think I'm going to start by devising some "seeing" exercises.

ETA: After a few responses, I see that my original intent is less about "seeing" and more about realizing and image that has been "seen."

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Switch to manual mode or start shooting film with no automatic focusing or exposure control. I find that when I shoot my film cameras, I slow down, I walk around the spot looking for the best angle. I think about the shot a lot even before opening up my tripod. Oh, that's another thing. Shoot with a tripod. That will also slow you down and force you to compose better.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Switch to manual mode or start shooting film with no automatic focusing or exposure control. I find that when I shoot my film cameras, I slow down, I walk around the spot looking for the best angle. I think about the shot a lot even before opening up my tripod. Oh, that's another thing. Shoot with a tripod. That will also slow you down and force you to compose better.

I usually always shoot manual, but I still rely on the internal meter to "nail" the exposure. Flicking the control wheels with my thumb and forefinger on my Nikon's to get the little meter in the viewfinder right in the middle is nearly second nature. My fingers just automatically do it.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Well if you nail the exposure, you ought to have enough play afterwards to change the brightness, contrast, etc. to your liking. Just make sure you don't clip.

 

[Horatio]

Subscribed. “Seeing better” is on my list as well. My biggest enemy is being in a rush. I too plan things in my head and then forget all about them while photographing.

 

[BGriffin23]

Note that using the meter to "nail" exposure will tend to bring everything as close as possible to middle grey, which is probably not very interesting.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Note that using the meter to "nail" exposure will tend to bring everything as close as possible to middle grey, which is probably not very interesting.

...and thus begins the cycle.

 

[Deleted member 88956]

Seeing has nothing to do with technology, metering, auto or manual. And how one sees changes with age and life experience. It is purely aesthetic valuation, whether of own image or somebody else's. And I have no idea what Mr. Steve means. I'm not sure if he does either. Especially since as quoted, he appears to generalize, and that is surely wrong.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I walk around and think "unencumbered, free and effortless". When I "see" a subject, I get in a mode to wander around picking locations for compositions. I select one or many. Setting up the composition including the lens. If I am using 35mm I will use auto exposure and auto focus or manual exposure and almost always auto focus, if I am using the Hasselblad exposure and focus are manual. All of this is on the verge of being automatic, except for exposure and focus. The only time I carefully think in any depth is when I am composing and even that is largely automatic. I have been doing this for over sixty years so I just trust my instincts. YMMV

 

[voceumana]

I find it much easier to make a photograph with silver based cameras than with electronic based cameras. To me, the technology of the digital camera gets in the way of my using it--I press the "shutter release" and nothing happens because the camera isn't happy something. So I have to stop to figure out what it doesn't like--and figure out what the designer meant by some indecipherable icon. With a manual, film based camera, the shutter releases when I press it. I've already dealt with exposure and focus--the process is simpler and easier.

Simpler tools make seeing easier.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

If I am using 35mm I will use auto exposure and auto focus or manual exposure and almost always auto focus, if I am using the Hasselblad exposure and focus are manual. All of this is on the verge of being automatic, except for exposure and focus.

Don't take any offense to this, but I think your statement clearly illustrates what the author meant when he said that some photographers learn to see "cumbersome, slow, and inefficient." Now I'm not saying YOU are cumbersome, slow, and inefficient, but what I am saying is that conversations about which format we're going to use, whether we'll use auto exposure, or if we use auto or manual focus is what incapacitates some photographers. I know that I personally suffer from the paralysis that comes from internal arguments that are usually based on gear and equipment. Which body will I'll take, or will I take all three? Which focal length to use? What aperture to set my lens to? And after the shot is made, what saturation setting to I move the slider to? Vignette or no vignette? Should I adjust the curves? Tone the paper, or not?

This is what I think he means when he says "cumbersome, slow, and inefficient."

 

[Auer]

Doesnt matter what gear and technique you use, anything forced and/or OCD based will result in a unpleaseant experience.

Grab a point and shoot for a while, and let go of any expectations.

 

[Noisegate]

I've read Mr. Ang's book and enjoyed it. Sadly, it was a while ago and I don't remember much detail. I do recall reading somewhere (maybe in his book?) that it takes the brain several hours, and sometimes days, to truly shift from "thinking" brain to "creative" brain. In other words, "unencumbered, free and effortless," can only be achieved if the brain is in that state of mind. Because we are generally consumed with day to day stresses, our minds are mostly in "survival" mode. Accordingly, creative thinking becomes "cumbersome, slow and inefficient." I have found this to be true for me. I tend to "see" things better after clearing my head for a day or two.

Still, being in the moment has never been unencumbered for me. "Seeing" is one thing but getting past the technical challenges have always been "cumbersome" for me. I suppose there is a bit of Yin and Yang in everything.

 

[wyofilm]

A book I heartily recommend is How to see, by George Nelson (Long time director of design at Herman Miller)

It could be said that this book relates directly to the man-made world, but I think it describes a way to see the world in general. To me 'seeing' is the first step, how to 'put down' that image to print is relying on a practiced, technological skillset (which for me is the weakest step in the process). How many images to I create in my head while driving around town, but never take the camera out? Bunches.

https://www.amazon.com/How-See-Visu...=1611421400&sprefix=how+to+see,aps,526&sr=8-3

 

[Sirius Glass]

Don't take any offense to this, but I think your statement clearly illustrates what the author meant when he said that some photographers learn to see "cumbersome, slow, and inefficient." Now I'm not saying YOU are cumbersome, slow, and inefficient, but what I am saying is that conversations about which format we're going to use, whether we'll use auto exposure, or if we use auto or manual focus is what incapacitates some photographers. I know that I personally suffer from the paralysis that comes from internal arguments that are usually based on gear and equipment. Which body will I'll take, or will I take all three? Which focal length to use? What aperture to set my lens to? And after the shot is made, what saturation setting to I move the slider to? Vignette or no vignette? Should I adjust the curves? Tone the paper, or not?

This is what I think he means when he says "cumbersome, slow, and inefficient."

I agree with your definition of "cumbersome, slow, and inefficient".

My point is that for me, it is semiautonomus. That is where I am. I would think that most others are not as autonomous as I am. We each do what we can.

 

[foc]

The mechanics of taking a photo are fairly easy. They can be learned and with practice they become automatic.
Seeing and composing a photo is, IMO, different. I think you need to train your eye to see a photo before you even pick up your camera.
Reading about your favorite photographers is good. Looking at their work is even better.
Look, absorb, digest.
Also handy is to study the works of the great masters, it can help with composition.
Next time you are watching Nexflix, look at how some of the scenes are composed and see how the lighting is used.
All this will help you see and appreciate how light affects a scene/photo.
It's not something that happens quickly. Some people can train their eye easier than others. Just like some people can dance and others have two left feet.

 

[grahamp]

You don't need a camera to see. The hardest part of seeing is to relax enough (put aside all the stresses you can) to let things come to you. I find there are two things that capture my attention - things that remind me of a successful image I have seen before, and things that hit my personal feedback loop. Then it is a case of good/bad, works/doesn't work to decide what it is that I want. This is the back brain stuff. Then there is the fore brain stuff that asks if I can do it with the equipment, do I need to move, or just enjoy it and accept I can't do the subject justice at that time.

Balancing the back brain subjective input with the fore brain analytical refinement is the art. Once one has some competency in the technical side, it does not even factor into the analytical process very much.

This is how it works for me. We are all individuals, and need to find our own approach.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

I guess I should amend my title, since it's less about seeing, and more about realizing.

 

[MattKing]

For photographers, it really helps to pay attention to the light.
Not the amount of light, but instead the quality, direction and colour of the light.
And following that, how the light is interacting with the elements in the scene.
Then you have to work on "seeing" something else - how a photograph may end up looking.
Getting from the first to the second, is a matter of technique, knowledge and, to a lesser extent, materials and equipment. This part can be learned.

 

[MattKing]

I guess I should amend my title, since it's less about seeing, and more about realizing.

Actually, it is mostly about seeing. The realization part is something you can get from learning and practice.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

For photographers, it really helps to pay attention to the light.
Not the amount of light, but instead the quality, direction and colour of the light.
And following that, how the light is interacting with the elements in the scene.
Then you have to work on "seeing" something else - how a photograph may end up looking.
Getting from the first to the second, is a matter of technique, knowledge and, to a lesser extent, materials and equipment. This part can be learned.

I think you touched on what my intent was. I can "see" an image in my head, but knowing how to record it intuitively WITHOUT the materials and equipment is where my skills are lacking. These are the exercises that I want to create. Something that will help me instinctively know where to set my camera to obtain the look I want, without any input from the camera itself.

 

[MattKing]

I think you touched on what my intent was. I can "see" an image in my head, but knowing how to record it intuitively WITHOUT the materials and equipment is where my skills are lacking. These are the exercises that I want to create. Something that will help me instinctively know where to set my camera to obtain the look I want, without any input from the camera itself.

The solutions are:
1) play;
2) practice;
3) study; and
4) have fun.
Not necessarily in that order.
And sometimes you will get lucky:

 

[Sirius Glass]

The solutions are:
1) play;
2) practice;
3) study; and
4) have fun.
Not necessarily in that order.
And sometimes you will get lucky:

Wonderful. What does not come naturally to me is to look at what is close to me when I am doing landscapes. I have to tell myself to look around my feet.

 

[removed account4]

I guess I should amend my title, since it's less about seeing, and more about realizing.

It’s more about observing / noticing the he things that interest you and figuring out how to make them "look good". comes by practice and noticing how painter and sculptors and architect / artists of the ages made stuff look good ( how they built what they made ) and translating their knowledge and knowhow that you have somehow absorbed through immersion into what you noticed / observed... I’m sure as a policeman you are trained in noticing things.. it’s the same sort of thing. You do something enough it becomes second nature.. and if it looks good to you that’s all that matters.

if you have't read it, the zen and the art of archery is a pretty good book about photography

have fun !

 

[awty]

Excepting looking up how to formula's, I never read books only look at the pictures.
Pictures tell me everything I need to know.
As far as cumbersome goes, 35mm point and shoot is the least cumbersome and in the field large format wet plate is the most cumbersome.
Everything becomes less cumbersome once you are familiar with the process you have chosen.
I see the composition and process as a whole testing my ability to make it work, the struggle lies within.