The aspect of visualisation I am going to pursue in this Intel is the ability to see the elements of composition within the image ... to know the ideal placement of subject matter within the image before the shutter button is pressed. It is easy enough to look at a picture, whether a photo, sketch or painting, and know that it is well composed. It is a small step from their to be able to analyse the image and see how the artist has arranged the different elements within the borders of the picture, to achieve the mood, or other qualities you might admire in their picture. It is a larger step to apply that analysis to a live scene, or even a still life, to achieve the results you want.
The first step along the journey from visualisation to realisation is being able to see. I’m sorry: of course you can see already, or you wouldn’t be reading this, and you wouldn’t be a photographer (interestingly, there are sight-impaired photographers, but that is something I don’t intend to address here!).
Seeing is not so much about developing new abilities, as putting the ones you already possess to use. I want you to try to divorce the act of looking from the process of seeing:
"You do not see with the lens of the eye. You look through that, and by means of that, but you see with the soul of the eye." John Ruskin.
Traditional artists may develop their eye by drawing and painting common objects, the empty space around objects, an object upside down, with the wrong hand, from memory etc. It can facilitate examining and understanding the world with which they interact and promote the process of learning to see.
Is it necessary for a photographer? Well "necessary" is a strong word, so I have to say ‘no’. It isn’t “essential” for a painter, either; but it can certainly help, in part because it challenges the artist (in this case, the photographer) to look at their subject differently and render it with an unaccustomed tool. We might call it working inside the square to be able to look outside the square.
A photographer might adopt a similar vision-stretching approach by using an unfamiliar film, borrowing a friend’s camera (so long as it is different enough from their own!) or exploring a familiar subject with a single-use camera, devoid of all the facilities we forget are luxuries and not essentials - things like auto exposure, zoom lenses and variable shutter speeds. Would you still be a “good” photographer under these conditions? What could you learn about seeing the essential in your subject from such an exercise?
Seeing is largely about knowing what the picture is and capturing it in such a way that what you visualised is what a viewer who was not there when you took the photo will immediately understand what it was you saw. An even stronger concept is that of investment. Your intent should be apparent to people who do not have an emotional connection (are not invested in) the image.
It is clear that when a picture taken at someone's daughter’s wedding is passed around, it isn’t judged by them in the same way as a picture of a stranger’s wedding. When the viewer is invested in the scene, they tend to see a different picture than someone who does not have the same connection. They see the love, relive the memory of the day, or see again the baby, child, adolescent who is embodied in this beautiful bride. The flaws are simply edited out!
I may see the same photograph, but I will not experience the same picture... Not unless you are a very skilful photographer whose intent was to embody these elements in the photograph.
Which is my point: when the photo you visualised, the image you made, and the photo a “disinterested” viewer sees are the same picture then you have truly succeeded.
How else can you train your “photographic eye”? - Spend time inspecting (not just looking at) other photographer's images.
Browse through magazines, websites and published work, and try to see how photographers achieved their images. Look at the subject matter they chose: much of it will be available to you, but what did they see that you may have not recognised as a photographic opportunity, let alone a great image? Again, try to analyse how they brought their vision to your attention. Be critical of the idea that they used some special equipment you can’t have access to. It may be true, but not often. Look for the techniques that employed, especially the use of composition and exposure and focus. See how what they have done relates to painting, drawing and print-making.
Don’t limit your study to great photographers. Look at the craft that goes into those taken-for-granted newspaper and sports photos, and the myriad of advertising shots that are all around us, often almost unseen. Yet the best of any of these would stand comparison with any fine art or gallery image.
Compare your own pictures with these, and learn. Learn, too from the less skilled. Just as you can discover how a great picture achieves its impact, you can also see where a photo failed. Think how you could retake it to overcome those failings and do it -Become your own hardest critic. Do not be afraid to return to a scene and retake your shots. Set yourself assignments to go out expressly to re shoot those good and not so good pictures so they become excellent.
Apply what you discover in other people’s work about composition and how they use light and colour and composition. Discover from the shadows in an image how the lights were placed - outdoors shadows can be used the same way. Understanding light and composition is a key to good imagery.
Join a photosharing website and submit your pictures for criticism. Tell people you are not just after the “good shot” variety of comment, but invite true critique (I recommend betterphoto.com but there are others).
Your eye is the most important lens in your photo kit. As you learn to use it as an artistic tool, the thing most likely to interfere with seeing will be lack of familiarity with your equipment. When you don’t quite know where the different controls are or what they do, you will be distracted from the true image. When you are playing with a new ‘toy’, be it lens or filter or flash gun, your vision will be blinkered.
No matter. You have to gain mastery of your tools, but so long as you keep returning to your vision, you will also master your photography.
