christopher walrath
No longer a newbie, moving up!
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2008
- Messages
- 1,265
- Reaction score
- 25
- Location
- In a darkroom far, far away...
- Website
- home.comcast.net
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos NOT OK to edit
Here's an excerpt form a piece I'm writing.
In order to ‘see’ photographically, a person must be at least somewhat familiar with what goes on with the eye and the mind when looking at a photograph. The eye sees only reflectance edges, the edge between one degree of luminosity and another, and differences in pigmentation. The mind will associate an image viewed with a memory preserved from its own experiences. If none exist then the viewer may well move on without any significant recognition or attachment. In order to catch a viewer’s eye photographers employ photographic techniques such as contrast, composition and familiarity of subject.
Contrast is a useful tool that can add drama and that eye-catching quality to a photograph. A plain image of a seascape on an overcast day can be a good example. Sand and surf and sky may appear to be very close in tone and lack the ability to draw the viewer’s attention for very long, certainly not long enough to create a lasting impression. Make that same image on a day with bright sunlight and more turbulent seas and the viewer may take notice of it. The use of, say, contrast control filters in a black and white image to produce separation in tonal values in the image will create a striking photograph that may remain in the viewer’s memories for months if not for years. A photographer needs to learn to see possibilities in a subject that allow for greater creative control so that the photographer knows when to use the tools at his disposal to create a lasting and iconic image.
Now try to envision a pasture with remarkable snow covered hills in the distance. With nothing to lead the viewer’s attention to those hills they may go completely unnoticed. However if the photographer was to include that barbed wire fence and angle it into the photograph in a way that as it recedes into the background, the lines of the fence would most likely draw the viewer to those mountains and now the same subject has added meaning that was lacking before. There are visual tricks that can be done to emphasize a subject in an image. Shoot an image of a person through some wood lattice, framing them in the angled pieces of wood. This is called framing and helps the viewer of the image to focus on the subject. And be sure to check and see whether there are any distracting details in the background that draw the viewers attention away for the true subject such as a trash can or an airplane contrail. Do everything you can to limit the visual input that the viewer receives aside from your intended subject or theme.
Our eyes have different components for detecting the ‘color’ and intensity of light, rods and cones. The rods detect the wavelength of incoming reflected light. The cones enable us to differentiate between higher intensity and lower intensity light. Without our eyes and their various components, our ability to see, as we know it, would be different. Also something to remember is that our eyes have increased perception latitude, more so than film has exposure latitude. A photographer might make an image and then get the prints back and find that, within the high contrast scene they just shot, the shadows have absolutely no useful detail and that there are highlights that are completely washed out. It is possible to be able to visually see a scene before you that the film cannot record. Black and white will cover a luminance range of about 128:1 or seven stops of exposure. The human eye can see a luminance range of 10,000:1 or around 13 stops of exposure. Film cannot compete with the human eye, but with a properly trained mind behind that eye, this shortcoming can be overcome.
But this can only happen if the eye is maintained. A photographer must normally be able to see their subject. Poor vision can lead to soft images do to bad focusing and might even cause a photographer to overlook a possibly interesting subject because it simply was not noticed. Just as a photographer gets his gear cleaned at regular intervals, the eyes should not fall into neglect. Get regular checkups and get prescription eyewear if necessary. Don’t let a good shot pass you by simply because you didn’t know it was there.
Another consideration to bear in mind is the way that the human memory works. The human brain has an associative memory, meaning that the brain will associate visual and other types of input with personal experiences. Everybody has seen a kitten or a baby or a car or a field of grass. Not everybody has seen the aurora borealis or an iceberg or the Great Barrier Reef. So images of unfamiliar subjects that the brain does not remember are best rendered with vivid color, increased contrast and/or with compositional tricks to emphasize the subject. Another example of an associative memory might be that a person will see a photograph of a familiar subject and associate with it. Let’s imagine that someone who lives in western Wyoming has just seen for the first time Ansel Adams’ ‘Grand Tetons, Snake River Overlook’ and thinks ‘I have a dozen of these images at home’. He then goes to find his prints of the same subject and sees, upon further inspection, that the images are intrinsically different and may very well not measure up to Adams’ print. The reason for this is that the human brain will take an image of a familiar subject and, in the absence of the actual experience, will fill in the blanks created by time and what the brain did not remember. In this case it will remember the mountains, which alone are very remarkable. It will not remember the edge of the roadway in the foreground or the shadow cast by their body that is on the ground before them in the image or the clouds that obscured the peaks that day or any other myriad of forgettable details.
So it is important to bear these things in mind when choosing, composing, and exposing a subject. There are certain things that some people will respond to that others will not. There are visual tricks that can attract almost anybody to a photograph where, if not employed, the image would go unnoticed. And practiced visualization will provide the instinct for when such techniques may be required in any given situation.
In order to ‘see’ photographically, a person must be at least somewhat familiar with what goes on with the eye and the mind when looking at a photograph. The eye sees only reflectance edges, the edge between one degree of luminosity and another, and differences in pigmentation. The mind will associate an image viewed with a memory preserved from its own experiences. If none exist then the viewer may well move on without any significant recognition or attachment. In order to catch a viewer’s eye photographers employ photographic techniques such as contrast, composition and familiarity of subject.
Contrast is a useful tool that can add drama and that eye-catching quality to a photograph. A plain image of a seascape on an overcast day can be a good example. Sand and surf and sky may appear to be very close in tone and lack the ability to draw the viewer’s attention for very long, certainly not long enough to create a lasting impression. Make that same image on a day with bright sunlight and more turbulent seas and the viewer may take notice of it. The use of, say, contrast control filters in a black and white image to produce separation in tonal values in the image will create a striking photograph that may remain in the viewer’s memories for months if not for years. A photographer needs to learn to see possibilities in a subject that allow for greater creative control so that the photographer knows when to use the tools at his disposal to create a lasting and iconic image.
Now try to envision a pasture with remarkable snow covered hills in the distance. With nothing to lead the viewer’s attention to those hills they may go completely unnoticed. However if the photographer was to include that barbed wire fence and angle it into the photograph in a way that as it recedes into the background, the lines of the fence would most likely draw the viewer to those mountains and now the same subject has added meaning that was lacking before. There are visual tricks that can be done to emphasize a subject in an image. Shoot an image of a person through some wood lattice, framing them in the angled pieces of wood. This is called framing and helps the viewer of the image to focus on the subject. And be sure to check and see whether there are any distracting details in the background that draw the viewers attention away for the true subject such as a trash can or an airplane contrail. Do everything you can to limit the visual input that the viewer receives aside from your intended subject or theme.
Our eyes have different components for detecting the ‘color’ and intensity of light, rods and cones. The rods detect the wavelength of incoming reflected light. The cones enable us to differentiate between higher intensity and lower intensity light. Without our eyes and their various components, our ability to see, as we know it, would be different. Also something to remember is that our eyes have increased perception latitude, more so than film has exposure latitude. A photographer might make an image and then get the prints back and find that, within the high contrast scene they just shot, the shadows have absolutely no useful detail and that there are highlights that are completely washed out. It is possible to be able to visually see a scene before you that the film cannot record. Black and white will cover a luminance range of about 128:1 or seven stops of exposure. The human eye can see a luminance range of 10,000:1 or around 13 stops of exposure. Film cannot compete with the human eye, but with a properly trained mind behind that eye, this shortcoming can be overcome.
But this can only happen if the eye is maintained. A photographer must normally be able to see their subject. Poor vision can lead to soft images do to bad focusing and might even cause a photographer to overlook a possibly interesting subject because it simply was not noticed. Just as a photographer gets his gear cleaned at regular intervals, the eyes should not fall into neglect. Get regular checkups and get prescription eyewear if necessary. Don’t let a good shot pass you by simply because you didn’t know it was there.
Another consideration to bear in mind is the way that the human memory works. The human brain has an associative memory, meaning that the brain will associate visual and other types of input with personal experiences. Everybody has seen a kitten or a baby or a car or a field of grass. Not everybody has seen the aurora borealis or an iceberg or the Great Barrier Reef. So images of unfamiliar subjects that the brain does not remember are best rendered with vivid color, increased contrast and/or with compositional tricks to emphasize the subject. Another example of an associative memory might be that a person will see a photograph of a familiar subject and associate with it. Let’s imagine that someone who lives in western Wyoming has just seen for the first time Ansel Adams’ ‘Grand Tetons, Snake River Overlook’ and thinks ‘I have a dozen of these images at home’. He then goes to find his prints of the same subject and sees, upon further inspection, that the images are intrinsically different and may very well not measure up to Adams’ print. The reason for this is that the human brain will take an image of a familiar subject and, in the absence of the actual experience, will fill in the blanks created by time and what the brain did not remember. In this case it will remember the mountains, which alone are very remarkable. It will not remember the edge of the roadway in the foreground or the shadow cast by their body that is on the ground before them in the image or the clouds that obscured the peaks that day or any other myriad of forgettable details.
So it is important to bear these things in mind when choosing, composing, and exposing a subject. There are certain things that some people will respond to that others will not. There are visual tricks that can attract almost anybody to a photograph where, if not employed, the image would go unnoticed. And practiced visualization will provide the instinct for when such techniques may be required in any given situation.
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