If I told you to pick up your camera, head to your favourite location, sit down and not take any photos, you would probably think that I am crazy. However, hear me out, there is a method to my madness.
As new photographers, we tend to be so enthralled with our new hobby that we tend to shoot anything and everything. That’s natural, and it’s a good thing. Every time we press that shutter, we are learning something new.
However, there comes a point in your photographic learning curve when you realise that something is not progressing quite the way you had hoped. Often that is the creative element to your images. Sure they look good, great exposure and colour. They may be well composed but they are lacking that creative hook that many of your more experienced photographers are demonstrating. In short, you are taking photos not seeing them.
Observing – The Key To Great Photos.
At the beginning, your photography is likely to be instinctive. You see a great shot, you take it. However, one great shot is often accompanied by many others. The elements that go to make up that shot, light, colour, texture, form et al are going to be present in and around the image that you just took.
This is when and why observation becomes key. Sure you can continue to spray gun shots in the hope you will get another banger. However that becomes much more likely if you do one simple thing, lower the camera and look.
When you lower the camera and simply start to look, you will see so many different variations on the scene in front of you. You will see how the light and shade interacts with your subject, you will see new, perhaps better compositional elements that will make your image better. You may see textures and form, expressions changes of a subject, reflections and subtle colour differences. You will see things going on in your peripheral vision that you may never have picked up on whilst looking through a viewfinder.
A Case Study In Observing
One of the best hour’s of photography I ever had was in Antarctica in 2009. Those that have read my articles here on Light Stalking may know the story but for those that don’t, here’s the short version.
Whilst working on a cruise ship in Antarctica, we had to transfer luggage to another cruise ship. As that part of the world is notoriously stormy, the ship we were transferring to, had to use a massive iceberg to shield it from the wind. Over the next 60 minutes an incredible scene unfolded in front of us. It would have been easy to keep the camera to my eye and keep shooting, but I didn’t. I lowered the camera, looking for different elements making up the scene.
Wind blowing snow from the top of the iceberg, the juxtaposition of the blue ship against the white/blue iceberg, the stormy skies, the tiny inflatable that transferred the luggage. Because I lowered the camera and looked, I saw so much more than if I had just rattled off thousands of shots non stop. In the end, I took less than 100 images but of them 4 were portfolio good.
The Creative Boost
There is another advantage of lowering the camera though, it actually boosts our creativity. By slowing down and being more mindful of what we take, we are removing ourselves from the dopamine hit cycle of constantly chasing good images.
Taking photos can be a little like doom scrolling on social media. One shot hit after another. We keep pressing that shutter button in the hope that the next image will be a little bit better than the last. That’s not a good way to shoot.
When we lower the camera we break that cycle. We start to relax and we naturally start to observe the scenes around us. The longer we keep the camera lowered the more we start to see.
We are hard wired to see patterns, shapes, form and symmetry and the more time we spend simply looking, without intention, the more we will start to see them appear in front of us.
The more we practice the art of observation the more we will start to reach the ultimate goal, being able to compose a shot without the camera. The very best photographers can observe a scene, weigh up all the elements and create a composition in their minds, long before they lift the camera to their eye.
Developing Your Photographer’s Eye
As photographers, we are visual people. When we are out with our cameras, we are constantly looking for the next great shot. However, by learning the art of observation we can train our minds to compose images even when we don’t have a camera with us.
Whilst that might seem frustrating to some, not being able to capture a visually striking scene, it all aids your photographic development. The more you observe without a camera, the more you will be able to see when you do go out with it. Those images you have created with your mind’s eye will be locked into your memory, stored away for the times that you do have a camera with you.
This is where observation comes full circle. Because you are now seeing images everywhere you go, when you are on location, with your camera lowered, you will see fantastic photographic opportunities all around you. This time however, you do have that camera with you.
Learning to see like a photographer is not an overnight process, it could and probably will take years. However there is a clear path to achieving it and that starts simply with lowering the camera for a few seconds or even minutes and just looking.
Do this regularly and frequently and you will soon start to see compositions form well before you have even raised your camera.
