Seeing and the Photographic Eye

A small dead tree on the lake shoreline.

     On your first trip into the forest nothing is really obvious.  There is so much to see.  It's hard to take it all in.  Is this chaos or is this a beautiful wild-scape full of unknown parts?

     Those of us who enter the forest often have learned to see what is right before our eyes, to see all the parts that create the whole of chaos.  Without practice we are confused by the light patterns, shadows and miss the hidden obvious.

     It would be the same for me if I were to walk the streets of a big city.  The lights, people, cars and jumble of architecture would blind me.  It would take time and practice for me to see all that is basically hidden in plain sight.  The photographic eye needs training no matter where or what you are photographing.

     I have an exercise that I do often to help me to see the details regardless of the environment I find myself in.  I pick a search target for that day.  This gives my mind something to search for and relate to.  Some days it's a particular species of tree.  A tree sounds big and easy to see, but in a forest seeing that one particular species can be challenging.  But if I educate myself on the particulars of that species my brain will have something to focus on and the search becomes easier.

     Try it for yourself.  Whatever it is that you love to photograph pick something that your brain can lock onto.  No matter how long you've been creating images this is a practice that will keep you stretching mentally and learning to see, not better, but more with your photographic eye.

---