In my journey to practise my eye for the best photos and to improve my ”seeing”, I have started to really taking my time when I try to find a picture. I look at angles, light and shadows. I am not finding it all perfectly yet, but at least I am looking. Before I didn’t know until I got home and downloaded the photos to the computer if it was a good picture or not. I still do, but more often the picture I had in my mind show up on the memory card too. 🙂 So I am hoping that practice will make nearer perfect. I find it rather rewarding to ”really” take in the scene or subject. To actively think of it and how to show it.
I am hoping that this is a first step to take better photos. Before I was kind of stuck in the kind of photos I took. Often rather simple ones. A twig there, a leaf there, a flower there and some backlight, and shallow depth of field. And that was my photo. You have seen examples of such photos in this blog. I nowadays call them ”a typical boring Marie-photo”. 🙂
I want to become more creative and find different angles. Different perspectives. New ways to see the twig, the leaf, the flower etc. At the same time I also want to really try to figure out what it is I want to show with the photo. Not just take a photo ”to take a photo”. I often ask myself now ”why do you want to take this photo?”. If I can’t think of a specific answer – the photo is probably not going to be a good photo. Before I just took photos without thinking.
The reason for taking a photo now doesn’t always have to be to get a ”great photo”. It can for example be because I see the light in a way I want to try to capture on camera. The actual subject doesn’t matter, it is just for technique and learning purposes. I don’t mean to show the photos to anyone, just to see how the light turned out, or a specific effect, a specific exposure.
I am hoping that this is a way forward to taking better photos eventually. I find it a lot of fun.
If you also like to take photos – what do you do to become better? If you are a beginner and amateur like me? Or if you are a professional – how did you learn? What is your trick to get better? 🙂
Walking through a gate of trees, looking for the picture!
”Hmm, the light up there through those trees looks kind of nice….”
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As you say, it is good to try and take it all in before you aim the camera…get a good look at what surrounds you, watch the light for awhile and see how it plays with the scene. These are very thoughtful photos you’ve posted today.. I like the softness of them x
Yes, it is worth it to just take the scene in for a while. I try to also think about how the scene, subject, light etc affect my own spirit. How does it make me feel? And is there some way I can convey that in the photo? I am glad you like the softness and can sense some thoughtfulness in the photos, because that is exactly how I felt when I took them. 🙂 That tells me that this is a good way to do it…!