Seeing Creatively.

Photographer: Al Jurina

A very common comment that I've heard people say is, "I wish that I had your eye for taking pictures." While this is indirectly flattering, it also makes me chuckle to myself. The reason is that if you were to look at some of my older work, before I even knew how to use a camera, you would probably laugh hysterically.

How does one see more creatively? Well, there are 2 answers to this that I believe make the most sense (at least to me):
 1. Some people are just born with it. For some people, seeing elements of design, like color, shape, texture, etc. is just a natural thing to them. Their brains just pick up on these things and they have an innate ability to hone-in on it. For these kinds of people, good art is obvious, and sometimes effortless. Now, I am not claiming to have this gift. As said previously, my former abilities to take pictures was terrible at best.

2. Some people have to work at it.  I've heard a quote recently that I've found to be interesting: "Hard work beats talent any day of the week." In my own opinion, if you possess a passion for something, and a desire to learn as much as you can, you can achieve great things. For me, learning to see creatively involved educating myself by reading, practicing, listening to lectures, and then doing it all over again and again. Through this process, I have been able to train my eye to see things that I would have completely not noticed in the past. The more I do this, the more I improve.

For you all reading this blog, this is my challenge: If you are really desiring to learn, then you need to DEDICATE YOURSELF to studying photography. Not just looking at good photos, but figuring them out, experimenting. Try to mimic the work of others. Make it a frequent hobby. Keep it up, dig deep for new inspiration and, of course, practice, practice, practice! Just as athletes train their bodies to endure the rigors of their sport, train your eyes and mind to look for beauty and interest in the world around you. To do so, here are a couple of resources that can get you started:

Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography (Updated Edition) -this book has worked wonders for helping me to see design in the world around me. Bryan is an excellent teacher, and this has been one of my favorite photography books ever.

The Digital Photography Book - Scott Kelby is another great author for those learning. These books are more directed on how to "get the shot", as opposed to borring reads on shutter speed and aperture. His wit and humor are throughout the book to keep it fun, and his tips are excellent.


http://digital-photography-school.com/ -This website is PACKED with information and articles, and a forum of great photographers. I started reading this blog years ago, and the information has helped me improve in different ways.

Hopefully, some of these resources will help you to expand your vision and learn more. Remember, the harder you work at things, the better you will be!



Popular posts from this blog

Control How Your Camera Views Light

Image
Cameras don't see light the way we do. In fact, they see significantly less of a range of light and darks than we do. Because of this, they can sometimes be fooled. However, despite their limitations, understanding the different ways in which they measure light can help any photographer improve upon the results. But to do this, we need to understand something called "metering". Metering is the way that your camera evaluates the scene and responds with the appropriate settings. For instance, if you point the camera at a bright sky, it's going to give you different settings or tell you the light is different, than if you point it at a dark grove of trees. Because not all scenes are created equal, camera manufacturers have invented things called "Metering Modes". Thankfully, these are pretty common among all cameras. Let's look at 3 of the most popular modes. 1. Matrix or Evaluative metering: this kind of metering is the default setting on most ca...
Read more

Manual Mode: Shutter Speed

Image
Yesterday, we looked at how aperture will affect your exposure when you are in manual mode. The next setting we need to examine is Shutter Speed. Shutter speed is simply that: the speed at which your shutter opens and closes when you make an exposure. Shutter speed is measured over time, and is often referred to as "Time Value" (Tv). Generally, you take photos in fractions of a second, but that all depends on what you are photographing. For now, let's talk about light and shutter speed. Simply put, the faster your shutter speed, the less light you have. The slower your shutter speed, the more light you have. When it comes to exposure, you must choose a balance with your shutter speed that will allow your camera to get enough light for the exposure and also to be quick enough to not let your exposure be blurry. This is naturally a balancing act with photographers, adjusting both the shutter speed AND the aperture to get them an accurate exposure. To adjust these ...
Read more