I don't have the eye...

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six6six

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Sam
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When you guys picture the shot beforehand, the "See it before you take it" kinda vision. Do you really see the picture or do you just have a brief idea of what you want?...
I just don't see it.. whenever I go out with the camera I say Oh i want this and that and the other, but just never happens. I end up just taking the shots, and they turn out okay-ish but nothing to what I want.

So my question is do you work at it until 'you have the eye' or just until you master the skill of photography. If you have any tip's or idea's or some sort of eye you wanna share please do so!...
 
Sometimes I see the shot. Often depends on the subject. Plenty times I think I see the shot, but when I get it on screen what I have was not what I thought I saw.
Unless you have a natural talent I reckon you just need to plug away until you get a feel for things. I believe I have become more adept at recognising situations where there is no worthwhile shot (or at least where I am not going to recognise one).
 
I'm fairly good at seeing the shot - sometimes it just leaps out at me, even when I don't have my camera :bang:. A lot of the time though I have to work at it, and some subjects are easier than others. I think it helps that I have long experience of using (expensive) film when I really would think before pressing the shutter.

It's worth learning a bit about composition - so-called 'rules' are useful guidelines. Have a look at photos you really like and try and work out why you like them. Think why you want to take a particular shot, what you want to convey with it, and how best to do so. Most of all - practise!
 
during the week when i was catching a train to work i looked over at another platform where a train had just arived, there was loads of peolple rushing around getting on and off the train and in the middle of them all was a boy and a girl standing there hugging and kissing saying goodbye before the girl got on the train and i thought it would have made a lovely photo but i didnt have my camera! :( is this what you call "seeing the shot"?
 
Thats it Daniel yep. :thumbs:

Sammy. Yes you've got to keep working at it until you’ve taught yourself what works well and what usually fails .... practice practice, get crit, get more crit and keep learning by making mistakes
...after a good while you'll actually stop taking that shot you want, you'll look through the viewfinder and say to yourself, 'yep that’s rubbish' and you won't press the shutter.

That will be the day you get the eye.
 
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Tracer said:
I'm fairly good at seeing the shot - sometimes it just leaps out at me, even when I don't have my camera :bang:.
Click to expand...
I got a digital camera in July because I kept 'seeing' things I wanted to capture and only had my mobile phone.

I often think there might be a shot there, have a look through the viewfinder and think 'nope' and don't take it. Or I take a shot and then try a few different angles to see which I like best.

Looking at other people's images can be helpful, not to copy their style, but to get inspiration and ideas. And getting feedback is very helpful.

I think its a combination of intuition, experience and skill.
 
I'll look at a subject with my ordinary eyes, think, 'hey that's nice':
Flick on my photography eyes and rethink 'nah, the camera won't see what I'm looking at', or 'yep, it's good'
It's training the brain to see what's really there, not only what it perceives is there. Eyes don't have the hardware limits that sensors/films do and part IMHO, of 'the eye' is to be able to re-interpret a subject as a camera will.
Human brain to Camera brain transition becomes more fluid after a while, almost a reflex.
I'll still rattle off a couple, just in case, though :)
 
I always see it.............. when I don't have my camera with me..... :bonk:
 
You could try picking up a copy of 'The Photographer's Eye' by Michael Freeman of Amazon.

It's a long winded read but has several good tips and makes you think more about using objects within the frame and how to lay them out etc...
 
martyp said:
You could try picking up a copy of 'The Photographer's Eye' by Michael Freeman of Amazon.

It's a long winded read but has several good tips and makes you think more about using objects within the frame and how to lay them out etc...
Click to expand...

I was just looking at that!.. are you spying on me? :thinking:


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Edit:
Just added it to my Amazon wish list...
 
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Haha, no, I just started out in the same situation as you.

Could make a nice photograph but it was mainly down to luck with regards to how it all came together. Wanted to understand more about composition etc, and that book caught my eye and got some good reviews.
 
Six6six, I have the advantage of generally knowing what magazine I'm shooting for and what style they like, plus they give me pretty firm briefs with relation to how many sequences they need, how many DPS options etc. It makes it easier for me to visualise things when i get on the bank and meet the angler. If I know the venue that's great - I know where to shoot from and what makes the best shot - but on venues I have no prior experience of then i just have to visualise, see if there's an option there to fit and if no, win it and shoot until I know I have something the editor will like.

As for my personal photography... I'm hopeless. Give me a portrait and I'm fine - lighting takes care of itself usually - but stick my camera on a tripod to do some landscape work then I might as well be trying to fathom out quantum physics. Landscapery just does not compute in my head, no matter how much I try to pre-visualise.

I think there are times (and subject matter) that the photographs just take themselves; others are dictated by whether you have the 'feel' and 'eye' for it. I don't have that for landscapes so have given up on them for things I'm better at
 
I think you just have to shoot a lot. Over time you kind of get accustomed to the framing and limitations of your lenses (primes especially), that you can compose a shot before you hold the camera to your eye.

I'm nowhere near to being a pro or to be even considered a great photographer but I have got so used to seeing "photos" everywhere that I even see opportunities when I am driving :lol: I look across the road while at the lights and frame a shot and think to myself, "missed it". I once ran a red light because I was looking at the red and purple clouds at dusk hanging over a huge glowing Tesco logo on a store across the street.
 
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