Learning to See

"I have things in my head that are not like what anyone has taught me--shapes and ideas so near to me - so natural to my way of being and thinking that it hasn't occurred to me to put them down."

--Georgia O'Keeffe - artist

Our chosen genre is travel photography, a type of photography that includes many other styles--landscape, architecture, urban, portraiture, adventure. When we arrive on location we immerse ourselves into the experience of being there, taking in the sights, the sounds, the smells, the emotions--especially the emotions--and the photographs that result convey the immediacy of our mindful experience. We have found this to be necessary if we are to communicate effectively a sense of "being there" to the viewer.

No one wants to see the same old images of familiar places and events. What we want are images that appear fresh and new. The only way to do that is to see the world around us in fresh, new ways.

Before you can benefit from our workshops, you must have the willingness to see the world as though seeing for the very first time. Otherwise, you are seeing the world as a series of static, mundane images and that's just what your photographs will be. See the world with a new perspective and your images will appear new and fresh.

We begin each workshops with a discussion of the barriers to experiencing the world in a mindful way and we teach you how to demolish those barriers by becoming intentionally and deeply aware of your surroundings.

We consider each of the building blocks of good visual design and present methods of arranging them for clear expression of ideas and feelings. Before closing, we consolidate and review everything by evaluating the images you've made throughout the workshop and we discuss how you can further improve your photography using the principles described in the workshop.

3.    

Mindful Photography

“Like chess, or writing, it is a matter of choosing from among given possibilities, but in the case of photography the number of possibilities is not finite but infinite.”

--John Szarkowski, from On Photography by Susan Sontag

Creating the photographs you want means composing a part of your environment in the viewfinder of your camera. The possible options are vast and the most common error made by many beginning photographers is to photograph at the first place they stop.  A particular subject calls to them, they click the shutter and move on hoping that the image they captured will turn out to be a keeper. This approach is rarely successful but sometimes they get lucky. These little surprises are enough to reinforce their methods and they continue to be accidental photographers.

To fully explore the possibilities of any worthy opportunity requires taking time to become immersed in the scene. William Neil, master landscape photographer, calls this “working the scene.” I call it mindful composition. One of the most satisfying aspects of photography is the arrangement of objects within the frame of the viewfinder. Only by carefully observing the relationships  of line and form, foreground and background, and the balance of tones, can you refine the image design to intentionally make a great photograph.

To work the scene to it’s fullest advantage, you must pause—put the camera down for minute and take a few deep breathes if that’s what it takes—and then carefully observe the arrangement of objects within the frame of the viewfinder. A few steps to the left or right, forward or back, moving up a hill or sitting on the ground, can make a huge difference in the overall impact of the composition. You can also try changing focal length to help find a different perspective. Remember, the object of your attention is not the true subject of the composition--the entire frame of your viewfinder is--and your attention to all parts of it is critical to making a successful statement. Photography is as much about making a statement as is the craft of writing. It's the statement or message inherent in the image that sets a good photographer apart for the snapshot artist.

Anything that distracts the viewer from your subject or theme can ruin an otherwise good photograph. A good example is a bright piece of sky in the corner of a darkly lit image. Another is an out-of-focus branch, in an otherwise sharp image. Distractions such as these pull the viewer’s eye out of the scene and away from your message.

One of my favorite compositional techniques is to fill the frame with a texture. When a more-or-less even pattern fills the entire frame, it isolates the subject from any distracting elements—this is the second rule of mindful photography: remove any elements that distract from the subject or theme. In the forest image shown here, for example, Cathryn filled the frame with the branches and blossoms spread evenly throughout. No sky or any other distracting bright areas are included and there are no foreground elements to add depth. This gives the composition a flatness of scale that heightens the textural effect.

Cathryn found an angle where the dogwood and redbud blossoms moved diagonally across the frame in order to balance color and form. She moved her camera into the best position to fill the frame. This is often a process of trial and error, looking through the viewfinder, moving again until all elements come together.

The process of composing an image is a combination of exploration and refinement. Don’t trust your message to luck. As a photographer, your call to a particular subject or theme is an emotional one—it is a call straight to the heart.  Explore your environment with your heart, and refine the composition mindfully.

Introduction to Full Frame

                 

This blog contains the technical ingredients of the Full Frame Photography workshops and is intended to provide a sense of  the experience of actually participating in a workshop with us. Any interested person will be able to take the ideas from this site and benefit immediately by incorporating them into their own photography.

It is impossible to recreate in words the creative interaction that occurs between workshop participants and instructiors but we have tried to convey some of the flavour and intensity of the workshop experience. To the extent that it is possible, we have adopted the format and included the instrucitonal content that my teaching partner and I provide.

You may use the information presented here to create your own personal workshop. By learning the building blocks of visual design and the techniques for arranging them in the picture space, you will begin to see the world in new ways and you will easily create images that you will find satisfying and others will find meaningful.

Have fun!

2.  

The Most Important Thing

It isn't the camera that makes a really good image. It's the photographer. The camera is

only a tool. The camera is actually a toy. It's a very complex toy and it becomes very important to the serious photographer but it is a toy before it becomes a serious tool.

Really good photographers make really good images. Mediocre photographers make really good images sometimes but only by accident. Magazines like National Geographic don't want to depend on accidental images. Art gallery owners don't want to promote accidental photographers. And not a single member of the viewing public appreciates mediocre photography.

You can learn to become a really good photographer. It's not hard but the very first thing you must learn is not how to use your camera. The first thing you need to do is develop the photographer's eye.

Every photographer wants to learn as much as possible about the camera and very quickly becomes immersed in the technology. We can't help it. It's a fascinating technology, especially today when it's constantly changing. But when you become immersed in the technology, you remain there for a long time. If you've already developed your eye, you will be making good images from the beginning, but if you become enchanted by the camera and lenses and all the other gadgets before you develop your eye, then you're only going to become frustrated with the images you produce.

In the next blog in this series, we will begin exploring the concepts that are the basic foundations of really good photography. It is the only place to begin if you are serious

about becoming a really good photographer and not just an accidental one. These concepts have nothing to do with the camera but they are guaranteed to make you a better photographer right away.