Do you shoot with one eye open, or two?

[otherprof]

Maybe it's me, maybe it's not, but I'm used to shooting with one eye closed. After a few shots, my left eye ends up foggy when I reopen it and my whole vision is off for several minuets while it readjusts.

Shooting with one eye closed also forces me to worry about unsymmetrical wrinkles as I age from winking all the time. [emoji38]

I am considering become a pirate photographer, and wearing an eye patch while I shoot so I can keep both eyes open. :giggle:[emoji14]irate: But only if I get the cool boots and sheath that come with the title.

Anyone else have this issue? Any cool tricks I should know about?

I remember back in high school bio being cautioned to keep both eyes open when using a (monocular) microscope. I'm not sure if this was a health and safety caution or not, but i got to be able to draw what I was looking at while I was looking at it. I still try to keep both eyes open when looking through a viewfinder when doing street photography.

 

[runnah]

I sleep with one eye open.

 

[sm4him]

I shoot the same way I sleep--one eye open.

I have tried and tried to shoot with both eyes open, especially for bird photography, so I can keep an eye on the action. But I just can't do it. Don't know if it's simply because of some 40+ years of the one-eye habit or not, but I can't do it.

I think it's actually just the way I'm wired. I have always struggled with binoculars as well, I actually often end up closing one eye because if I keep both open and look through both lenses of the binocs, I can't focus on anything. That's really weird, I know. But then, it's me.

 

[wyogirl]

I have found in the past when shooting motocross that it is handy to know the exact time the bike comes onto a jump to get it mid air, so to answer your question i do sometimes keep both eyes open.

^^ I shoot with both eyes open if I'm shooting action-- especially if I need to track my subject. Other than this scenario-- I shut my left eye.

 

[JustJazzie]

Thanks for all the thoughts guys! I hadn't really considered sports since the only one I have tried so far is the kids on their dirt bikes. I'll tuck away the two eyes open advice for later!

@Designer I will try to shut my eyes a little lighter from now on, maybe that will help.

@KmH, I actually tried shooting with my left eye to block out the right, but it was weird, and my nose was in the way! Hahah.

@unpopular, I get it. Your a "true artist" huh? :giggle:

@otherprof that is really interesting! Im not sure my brain could do both at once!

 

[unpopular]

My mom knew a guy who was a photographer in WWII who lost his sight due to old age.

Didn't stop him from taking photos. Though, I'm pretty sure the quality of his work had been impacted. Either that or the US Navy had really low standards.

 

[robbins.photo]

Wait. ..... what? You mean you people only have two eyes?

Wow.. what a bunch of weirdos. Didn't realize we were surrounded by biclopses.

 

[Peeb]

OK- here's how it breaks down (for me- YMMV) while shooting:

EYES OPEN.........FREQUENCY
.....-0- ...................never
.....-1- ...................mostly
.....-2- ...................sometimes
.....-3- ...................never

Again, just me...

 

[bogeyguy]

Well, since I'm blind in one eye and can't see out of the other I have tough decisions to make, do I feel lucky punk..................................

 

[TrolleySwag]

Trying to get used using both eyes for street photography. For portraits I need the extra whatever it is to mentally focus.

 

[MrWrong]

My camera doesn't have a viewfinder so I always shoot with both eyes open. If I did have a camera with a viewfinder I would probably close one though.