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What the camera sees
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May 19, 2019 10:41:10   #
GeorgeFenwick
 
I was recently lamenting to a friend that many of my photos are adequate, but failed to capture what I thought I saw. He replied that good photos result from what the camera sees, and not what the photographer sees. Interesting thought, but if true, then how does one learn how to see what the camera sees? All thoughts welcome except “practice” since I already know I need to do a lot of that!

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May 19, 2019 10:51:50   #
Burtzy Loc: Bronx N.Y. & Simi Valley, CA
 
The human brain has a tendency to edit what it sees. For instance, a man wants a shot of his wife in front of a large building. She stands there and he takes the shot. What his mind saw was his wife in front of the building. What the camera saw was a building with a tiny speck of a person in front. Had he been able to think like the camera, he would have used a much wider angle lens and have her stand much closer to the camera in the foreground, thereby enlarging her presence in relation to the building. You just need to be aware of the camera's inherent ability to think like you.

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May 19, 2019 10:52:15   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
OK, you don't want a suggestion of practice in shooting. But, how about developing the skill to analyze your work and being able to articulate what is "missing". This actually is a lot harder. You may know in your gut / back of your mind something is missing, but don't know how to express that sensation in words, and even harder, to convert that sensation into an actionable change. So, when you look at your images, what do you see missing? What would you do different in capture or processing? When do you plan to implementation change and why not today?

The only photographer you have to be better than is the photographer you were yesterday.

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May 19, 2019 10:59:03   #
BebuLamar
 
GeorgeFenwick wrote:
I was recently lamenting to a friend that many of my photos are adequate, but failed to capture what I thought I saw. He replied that good photos result from what the camera sees, and not what the photographer sees. Interesting thought, but if true, then how does one learn how to see what the camera sees? All thoughts welcome except “practice” since I already know I need to do a lot of that!


With modern digital cameras you can take the pictures then chimp or with the new mirrorless you can see what the pictures look like in the EVF.
There are many reason why a photograph doesn't look like what you see. Let me list a few.
1. You normally see with your 2 eyes so the scene is in 3D and the camera only capture a 2D image.
2. Although your eyes have rather limited DOF but you have the feeling of unlimited DOF because your eyes quickly focus near and far to let you see near and far subjects with sharpness.
3. Your eyes have a limited angle of view but you can see a very wide view because the eyes move and give that impression of a very wide view.
Just a few. There are a lot more.

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May 19, 2019 10:59:08   #
davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel
 
GeorgeFenwick wrote:
I was recently lamenting to a friend that many of my photos are adequate, but failed to capture what I thought I saw. He replied that good photos result from what the camera sees, and not what the photographer sees. Interesting thought, but if true, then how does one learn how to see what the camera sees? All thoughts welcome except “practice” since I already know I need to do a lot of that!


George, you are speaking of an acquired talent, not some trait you were born with. Some people can pick up any camera and produce great photos while others, not so good? Too bad you are so adverse about practice. The greatest artists in any field know the value of practice, practice, practice. Military pilots never do anything BUT practice, every takeoff and every landing is practice. Even surgeons practice! Your friend offered some valuable insight.

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May 19, 2019 10:59:54   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
Burtzy wrote:
The human brain has a tendency to edit what it sees. For instance, a man wants a shot of his wife in front of a large building. She stands there and he takes the shot. What his mind saw was his wife in front of the building. What the camera saw was a building with a tiny speck of a person in front. Had he been able to think like the camera, he would have used a much wider angle lens and have her stand much closer to the camera in the foreground, thereby enlarging her presence in relation to the building. You just need to be aware of the camera's inherent ability to think like you.
The human brain has a tendency to edit what it see... (show quote)


Or, to improve the image, the photographer might have tried thinking like someone who wasn't there, someone who sees the resulting image and won't be interested in a spec in front of a building. The situation you describe we all see so often. Someone standing in front of something, neither being the true subject of the image. The person is too far away within the image to see them clearly. The person in the image is distracting from the background. Try changing things up and employ a well known rule of thumb: if your images aren't interesting, get closer.

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May 19, 2019 11:00:23   #
Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA
 
CHG_CANON wrote:
OK, you don't want a suggestion of practice in shooting... The only photographer you have to be better than is the photographer you were yesterday....



Agree 100% The only other advice I have heard that really pays off? Get closer.

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May 19, 2019 11:01:38   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
Jim Eads wrote:
Agree 100% The only other advice I have heard that really pays off? Get closer.


Reading my mind faster than I can post ...

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May 19, 2019 11:08:05   #
Bob Story
 
First, good photography requires a lot of work that most of us are not willing or able to do. Most of us just want to point and shoot without doing the footwork or research to find the best angle or time of day with the best coloration, usually morning or late afternoon. Secondly, interesting photographs are of interesting things – no getting around that – and has little to do with proper exposure, etc. since the camera can do that for us. Study the scene through your viewfinder first, is it really what you want to capture? lastly, don't be too quick to use telephoto, you can always crop later.

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May 19, 2019 11:10:59   #
pendennis
 
Burtzy wrote:
The human brain has a tendency to edit what it sees...


Well stated!

One of the best ways, and it's much easier today with digital, is to take a lot of photos from every distance and angle, just to see what you acquired and missed. Learn what your equipment's capabilities are. Do you have a wide-enough angle lens? Is that telephoto really reaching out for the duck?

Does that picture of the building look as though it's falling backwards? Then, you have perspective problem that needs attention. Does the sun cause your subject to squint? You have a lighting problem.

It's a matter of getting experience through doing. In the film days, these lessons were expensive, as even B&W film wasn't free.

The other thing you need to do, is put your photos out for others to view and critique. There's nothing like "What were you thinking?" to make you rethink what you did. Now, you're going to get cretins who won't offer positve critique, so write them off like an erasue. You also need to see what other people created, and ask yourself if that's what you would have done. How many pix of Niagara Falls? Billions, but each person got what they thought was their interpretation. That's all that counts.

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May 19, 2019 11:16:52   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
Bob Story wrote:
First, good photography requires a lot of work that most of us are not willing or able to do. Most of us just want to point and shoot without doing the footwork or research to find the best angle or time of day with the best coloration, usually morning or late afternoon. Secondly, interesting photographs are of interesting things – no getting around that – and has little to do with proper exposure, etc. since the camera can do that for us. Study the scene through your viewfinder first, is it really what you want to capture? lastly, don't be too quick to use telephoto, you can always crop later.
First, good photography requires a lot of work tha... (show quote)


The camera too can see things we don't see, particularly macro or long telephoto. I'm always amazed at the details of insects and flowers or BIF that I can't see with my own eyes in real life and are revealed only later on a large screen display.

Interesting views of everyday things can help too to create interesting images. Anyone can stand start-up and shoot from eye level of everything. Give me a view from ground level or very close-up or something / anything unusual that I wouldn't have seen myself standing there too straight up and bringing the camera to eye level and shooting from a distance.

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May 19, 2019 11:20:40   #
RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia
 
Be very aware of how the camera works.
The effects of changing your shooting position, focal length, aperture and shutter speed.
Know how light works.

You don't need a camera to do this - just be very observant and take pictures all the trime with your mind.

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May 19, 2019 11:43:01   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
GeorgeFenwick wrote:
I was recently lamenting to a friend that many of my photos are adequate, but failed to capture what I thought I saw. He replied that good photos result from what the camera sees, and not what the photographer sees. Interesting thought, but if true, then how does one learn how to see what the camera sees? All thoughts welcome except “practice” since I already know I need to do a lot of that!


> Long view (establish the scene)
> Medium view (frame the situation)
> Close-up (emphasize the key elements of the story)
> Bird’s eye view (look down on the scene)
> Worm’s eye view (look up at the subject)

> High key (predominantly light tones)
> Low key (predominantly dark tones)
> Watercolor look (desaturated or pastel hues)
> Saturated look (bold, “heavy” colors)

I learned from my mentors to look at a scene or situation as a story. All you have is a frame to compose that story. So the challenge is to include things that tell, or support the story, and exclude things that are irrelevant or distracting (unless the distraction is an important juxtapositional side story).

Timing is very important. Did you catch peak action? Peak expression?

Composition is very important. Rule of Thirds? Rule of Fifths? Lazy Rule of Thirds? Layer Cake of color or contrast? Pinwheel? Skyscraper? Mondrian?

Aspect ratio — 1:1, or 4:3, or 3:2, or 7:5, or 5:4, or 16:9, or...?

LOOKING at thousands of great photos primes your subconscious mind to MAKE them. PRACTICE builds the skills, habits, and instincts needed to make them more consistently, or at least more often.

Notice that I didn’t say “take” or “shoot” once, until this sentence? That is a conscious decision and part of a conscious mindset. Photographs are made.

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May 19, 2019 12:42:53   #
Brokenland
 
This is a growing subject which need to be addressed. The issue might be the camera you're using and not your shooting style. The more MP and better lenses would offset the difference between the human eye and the camera lens.

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May 19, 2019 13:19:38   #
Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA
 
Photoshop turns mediocre pics into striking ones. A pic without post processing is like a fashion model without makeup. A very few can pull it off, but the vast majority can not.

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