The Photographer’s Eye

Photography / 21 Comments / September 9, 2014

There are photographs that capture our attention, while others, even when taken at the same moment, don’t. Two people can spend the day walking in Prague and at the end of the day, one person has some pictures that are just ok, while the other one has stunning pictures, regardless that so many people have taken pictures in the same streets.

What does it take to create an artistic image and not just a snapshot?

Let’s start first by defining what is a snapshot. Usually, a snapshot is taken at events like family gatherings, sports events, when traveling, or when we want to capture a beautiful scene. It’s a quick capture to document that moment, to save precious moments. Generally, a snapshot is an everyday photo that doesn’t trigger emotions. It might be an interesting photo, an image displaying a pleasing view or a beautiful child. But if it’s not different than any other similar images, then it is a snapshot. Perhaps a beautiful one, but still a snapshot that doesn’t really say anything about the subject.

On the other hand, a photograph is a well-thought and creatively executed image. You might be in a parade trying to get that special image, not the same trite shots taken in parades, when on the sidewalk, you see this distracted boy lost in his thoughts, away from the commotion of the parade. The image itself tells a story. And you take the picture.

Of course, there are many gray areas between a photograph and a snapshot, and a snapshot, taken at a moment without that much thought, can become a photograph. The photographer’s eye can select and create an image in an instant, as sometimes that is all you have, a split fraction of a second. A photograph has to be punchy enough to have an immediate impact. It should tell a story without any corroborative wording or enhance your text when it is used as a visual aid.

Is the photographer’s eye innate or learned?

I believe the photographer’s eye is a learned way of seeing the world through a lens. It’s paying attention to the world around you. Someone with a photographer’s eye recognizes situations where the elements of art come together. Of course, there are people that might have an innate artistic bone, but most can learn techniques to boost the photographer’s eye inside himself or herself.

Tips to develop your photographer’s eye

Look at lot of images from famous photographers. What inspires you in that photo that you like? Why does that image attract and hold your attention? Is it the originality, the angle, the composition, the light, the subject, the story? You need to be conscious of why some photos stir you and why others don’t. You might not be able or want to duplicate all that you see, but being consciously aware of what calls your attention is a first step. There are museums, books, and sites on the Internet that can help you, like Eyewitness from The Guardian newspaper.

Exposure is basically the relationship between the camera aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

The ISO is the sensitivity of the film or digital sensor to light. It’s like the film speed used years ago before the digital era. A higher ISO allows you to capture images in less light while using a lower ISO gives you more detail in the photograph. Higher ISO numbers give you more noise in the image. Noise refers to the graininess in a photograph. In most cases, the grainier the photo the less detail it has.

For instance, if shooting outdoors on a sunny day, you can set the ISO at 200 or lower, or choose 400 or higher if it is a cloudy day or you are shooting without a flash or tripod. If you are shooting a ballet recital and can’t use flash, you will probably shoot at a higher ISO, like for example 1600, to have a chance of freezing the dancers’ movements. If you are shooting scenery or a portrait and you have a tripod, then you can shoot at 100 to have as much detail as you can. But there are many other factors to consider, like adjusting the shutter speed and camera aperture, as you will read later. Once you choose the ISO, you will probably stick to it. Of course, circumstances might change drastically and you might have to adjust the ISO. But make sure at the beginning of each photo-shoot that you check and set the ISO depending on your specific situation for that day.

The camera aperture is the size of the lens opening. It controls the amount of light that goes in. The smaller the f/number, the larger the opening and vice-versa. A smaller aperture like f/5.6 lets in more light, giving detail only to a selected part in the photo, blurring the background, perfect for taking a portrait. A smaller opening like f/22 lets in less light which brings everything into focus, perfect for scenery, giving more detail in the whole photograph. The use of a tripod helps when needing a smaller aperture as most of the times it means that you will have to choose a slow shutter speed. And as you will read in the next paragraph, slow shutters speeds can blur a photo.

The shutter speed is the length of time a camera shutter is open to expose the camera sensor to light. It is also known as exposure time. You freeze motion with a fast shutter speed or capture movements with a slow shutter speed.

I love having the option of shooting water at different speeds. Below are two photos taken one after the other in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. What changed was the shutter speed. To get the silky smooth effect in the first photo I used a slow shutter speed like 1/8th of a second. The camera shutter stayed opened for a longer time to achieve this special effect. The higher the shutter speed, the longer it stays opened. The second one was taken with a fast shutter speed, like 1/500th of a second which froze the action. The camera shutter stayed open for a very short time, so there is no movement at all in the photograph. The ISO stayed the same in both photographs. The key factor for action photography is the shutter speed, so you adjust the camera aperture accordingly. You need to have steady arms or a tripod for these shots, as any movement can ruin your photo.

Your specific circumstances will dictate the proper combination needed to obtain the image that you want. First set the ISO. Then work with the shutter speed depending on the photo you want. If you want to capture your child jumping on the air, you choose the fast shutter speed first and then set the camera aperture accordingly. If you want to take a photograph of a sunset, then you choose a high camera aperture first as you want as much detail as possible, and then choose the shutter speed accordingly.

Composition is definitely the most important element when we talk about the photographer’s eye. Composition refers to the visual arrangement of the different elements in your image; where you place your subject in the image, and how and why you include or exclude the foreground and background of that subject. Proper composition and framing are key to a great photograph. Although composition rules are less rigid than exposure rules, there are some and one of them is the rule of thirds.

The rule of thirds

The rule of thirds distributes the space within the image, creating some lines and intersection points. Psychology and science state that the eyes will target some specific points in any image, whether it’s a painting, photograph, digital art…

One of the most common errors is placing the subject in the middle of the frame.

Centering the subject often contributes to a static and boring composition so try to place the point of interest away from the center of the frame. As you look through your viewfinder or examine the LCD screen, imagine two vertical and two horizontal lines creating a grid of nine rectangular boxes, like in the photo above. Try placing the point of interest, or other important elements, on or near the points where the lines intersect. For example, if you’re taking a portrait, the subject is the person’s face and the point of interest would be their eyes most of the times. In a landscape, the point of interest may be the sun setting on the beach, so place the sun on one of the intersections.

Another option when you are in a hurry and can’t work with the rule of thirds when taking the photograph, is to perform post-cropping with photo editing software like Photoshop. Nowadays, we all have the advantage of working with an image from beginning to end without having a photography dark room. Our instruments are the camera and a computer, where we download the photos we take, make the selection of the photos we want, and if necessary, edit the photos with the software of our preference. Another instrument is the scanner, as we can digitalize our old photos, negatives, and slides. We can customize our photographs to our preference (or the customer’s needs), cropping, enhancing colors, using filters… But you should always aim to have your best composition in the photograph you are taking with your camera, as another common error is depending too much on software like Photoshop. Our best instruments are the camera and our photographer’s eye.

Remember that the rule of thirds does not apply in all cases and anyway, rules are made to be broken on many occasions.

Of course, there are more elements that you need to consider when taking a photograph, like light, color, time of day… But most importantly remember that a photographer’s eye is a learned skill that you will acquire through studying, practice, observation, and more practice. So, go out and start shooting (with a camera)…