Digital Photography - Learning to See

What compels you to stop and shoot a digital photograph or series of digital photos? I often wonder what draws me to a scene? Why did I stop here instead of a mile back or a mile further down the road?

Once I stop for a scene, I have to decide how I am going to digitally photograph it. Will I use a telephoto lens, wide-angle or close-up? Each creates its own perspective digitally.

Which lens I choose determines what I am trying to say photographically. If I want to isolate a subject with very little of the surrounding area, I will use my 70-200 mm zoom telephoto. If I want to include some of the surrounding area, then I will choose my 17-85 mm wide-angle zoom.

If I want a perspective similar to what the human eye sees, then I will set my wide-angle zoom lens to 50mm. Finally, if I want to come in really close on an object in the scene, then I would use my 90mm close-up lens.

Once I have selected my lens, then I have to decide where I will place the subject in the viewfinder. I know it will not be right smack dab in the middle.

But, by using the Golden Grid, or Rule of Thirds as it is sometimes called, I would place the subject on one of the intersecting points created when I visually drew vertical and horizontal imaginary lines in my viewfinder.

Next, I will determine how I want to light the subject. If I want to accent the texture, I will side-light it. If I want to de-emphasize texture, then I will front-light it. Finally, if my subject is translucent or if I want a silhouette, then I will back-light my subject. If I want to show how large my subject is or how far away it is from where I am standing, then I will put something of a known size in the foreground off to the side.

Watch the horizon. When shooting horizons, don't have the horizon centered in the photo. Give the area you want to emphasize the most room in the photo. So, if your subject were the sky or something in the sky, then the area above the horizon would get two thirds of the room in the viewfinder. If your subject were below the horizon, then that object would get the two thirds.

Framing a scene consists of using something, natural or manmade, to surround a subject or at least come in from one or both sides and the top. Framing allows you to use one object to look through at another.

When doing this, the most common mistake photographers make is not getting close enough to the subject. If you are not close enough to your subject, the subject gets lost in the framing. The second most common mistake is having cluttered edges of the frame.

In other words, having unwanted items intruding in from the edges of the photo. Always check for this before snapping the shutter.

Another choice you have to make is whether you are going to shoot the scene horizontally or vertically. Most scenes are best shot vertically if the subject is vertical, such as trees, waterfalls, etc. However, if the subject runs horizontally, then that is the best way to shoot it. Horizontal subjects include mountains, deserts, clouds and seascapes.

Two of the last choices you have to make are shutter speed and the aperture. If your subject is stationary, then the shutter speed is not much of an issue. However, if you intend to show motion by either freezing it, blurring it or by panning, then shutter speed is definitely a consideration.

On the other hand, if you are concerned with how much depth-of-field you will have, then your interest will be in which aperture to use.

Now you have all the considerations and decisions that must be made, once you are stopped after being drawn to a scene. If you systematically go through all these items, your resulting photograph will show what drew your interest to this subject. Lastly, do not be afraid to experiment and break away from tradition.

If you liked this article, please visit Ron Kness' website Sunlight Media at Sunlight Media for more digital photography tips and techniques.

Ron Kness
Sunlight Media
Travel Media Specialists
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