A photographers thought process?

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D_Aitchison

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Hello all,

It's me again. Trying to get my head into the way of thinking about good photos.

I was thinking (always dangerous), about how a seasoned photographer goes about getting that ideal shot that he or she is happy with.

I don't mean for submission to a competition or even the approval of others, I mean what YOU think you are happy with.

I came up with these steps last night, and being a complete begineer, it made sense to me. But what do I know. So - have a look and post what your grey matter is subjected to before puting your eye to the view finder

1. Find something to take a photo of (Obviously)
2. Consider light and distance.
3. Adjust camera settings to achieve the effect you are after (shutter speed / aperture / composition (same as aperture?) / flash etc.)
4. Adjust lens settings (zoom and focus).
5. Take the picture, or series of pictures and choose the best one.
6. Load onto PC / Laptop and consider any Post Processing to liven (rescue) the image?

So, there you have it, it sounds logical to me, but could in many ways be utter tosh.

How do you go about it?

David.
 
I don't know how much thought really goes into it unless I am setting a picture up, otherwise it goes something like

Wow, look at that, grab camera turn on make sure most settings are okay
Take picture before it moves
Check settings properly and if time adjust and take more pictures
Check on display and delete if bird/dog/squirrel/deer was leaving the scene
Repeat above as required
Load onto machine and decide whether to keep and what to do with them

Or

Set up scene
Monitor lighting settings
Take a couple of test pictures and review on computer
Adjust scene/lighting/camera settings as necessary
Repeat above until happy with results

I generally have a camera within a few feet of me and roughly set it to my environment if I think there will be a chance of taking a picture

I don't consciously think about it though, it just happens - a bit like driving a car, if you asked me which order the pedals are in I would really have to think about it but my feet know automatically
 
Good points. I suppose I am thinking of it too much, there is always photoshop.

I feel that photoshop to a photographer, is what silicone is to a builder, both can hide a multitude of sins!
 
Hi DA!

Good question - no real answer!

If setting up a shot it's as per your logic or starts out as per... but mostly it's fairly instinctual; move around looking until it feels right and shoot. Take home and assess.

I've said elsewhere on TP that often something grabs my attention but I don't know what or why. If I don't have time to explore it there and then I take a shot and examine it later. Sometimes there's something in the pic I can use for some purpose. Othertimes I have a visual reminder of where to try again or what could have been and what to look out for in future.

......

I've just read thro' the above and it sounds like I have very few thought processes! Oh well!
 
I think a lot of the camera settings you worry about now tend to become instinctive anyway as you progress. What's more important is a a gut feelig about the shot - I can't put it any better than that. :thinking:

One of the best togs I ever knew would quite honestly tell you that some of his best shots were accidents. Not much help probably. :D
 
In my very short experience i have found that the process and thoughts i use when taking a shot varies dramatically depending on the type of shot i'm taking. For example when taking a landscape u (generally) have a fair amount of time to set up the tripod, compose the picture properly, then play around with f numbers and speeds to get things right.

Whilst with more action type shots i tend to set up the camera first before lifting it to my eye, so i know that when the action is there the camera is setup to catch it (e.g. continuous auto-focus, high shutter speed, etc...).

Its probably best to spend a minute or so having a think when u first get to taking ur camera out. just work out light, your aims, etc... that way u have an idea about what u want to achieve, instead of just shooting and hoping.
 
CT said:
I think a lot of the camera settings you worry about now tend to become instinctive anyway as you progress. What's more important is a a gut feelig about the shot - I can't put it any better than that. :thinking:

One of the best togs I ever knew would quite honestly tell you that some of his best shots were accidents. Not much help probably. :D
Click to expand...

I'd agree with that. Right time, right place. You do get lucky. Of course it does help to have the right settings, but that comes with time. Generally I'll go out, whack the camera on ISO800, f/2.8 and wait.
 
Is ISO800, f/2.8 a good general setting? What lens do you use?

And what are you waiting on? Wildlife stuff or other?
 
D_Aitchison said:
Is ISO800, f/2.8 a good general setting? What lens do you use?

And what are you waiting on? Wildlife stuff or other?
Click to expand...

Its a setting for what I shoot, its not a good generic setting. I generally shoot urban life so I keep it on that unless I spot a nice building then adjust the settings. But often I want the subject to stand out so I'll leave it at f/2.8 and I don't want to worry about the shutter speed being wrong so ISO800.
 
I'm currently studying psychology. We have looked at the different approaches experts as opposed to novices attempt to solve problems in their area. SO for photography, this could be a photo assignment with the brief 'wind'. Unfortunately we didn't study photographers, but one thing which came out would be technique is second nature, ie settings. an expoert would instinctively know what settings and lens to use to achieve the desired effect or picture they were after.

We also looked at what make people creative compared to those that arn't, and the conclusion I came up with, was that your more or less born with genuine creative abilities. This is different from someone such as a musician that recreates music compared to creating, its the novel creating that cannot be taught, apart from a certain amount of knowledge in music or photography which you must possess to carry out that creativeness.

there are ways that to mental thought process can be studied with a photographer, but I think they would differ between a studio portrait and photojournalist photographer. But It would take a long while to study.
 
I normally set up the scene or frame the image first, focus, adjust aperture and then shutter speed and ISO to suite or vice versa with the last two. Completely varies on the scene really though.

The come home, slap most of them into CS2 and make them look what they should look llike :D
 
I think CT has a good point about camera settings, they should become instinctive (or intuitive) so you are at the stage where you don't really need to think about them, they come naturally.

As for thought process, for me it's light first, second, third and last.
As I mainly shoot landscapes, it's all about light, understanding it and being able to interpret it, visualising how it will appear in the image.

Another important concept is deciding what not too take, so I usually carefully look around the edges of the viewfinder, making sure I'm not cropping a tree in half etc.

Also considering empty space, empty space is so so important, both in landscapes and wildlife, for example if shooting a running animal, you need empty space (within the image) in front of him/her to run into.

Another thought process is converting 2D into 3D, ie, images are generally 2D, to create an impression of 3d (depth/perspective) I carefully consider how I can achieve this , for example including FG stones in a lake scene, or winding road leading to mountains.

Last (but never least) , every image has a beginning , middle and end, you need to consider all three. All too often you see a good beginning/middle but a poor end. An example is a perfectly exposed landscape, with FG interest, but the sky is all white, without any detail, or the sky is great, middle part is sound, but the FG tree is blurry because you screwed your focusing up.


Anyway, my two-pennorth of thought processes.
 
I think its important to put out of your mind that your going out to use your camera, its buttons, its settings and alike... forget about all that until you find a view or subject that you want to shoot.

Try to think of your eyes as the camera, place an imaginary sizable frame into your minds eye, and then simply start seeing the photos as they appear in front of you, adjust your frame, crop out stuff etc.

When you find a image you like, then think how to use the camera to get the shot you want.
 
natjag said:
I'm currently studying psychology. We have looked at the different approaches experts as opposed to novices attempt to solve problems in their area. SO for photography, this could be a photo assignment with the brief 'wind'. Unfortunately we didn't study photographers, but one thing which came out would be technique is second nature, ie settings. an expoert would instinctively know what settings and lens to use to achieve the desired effect or picture they were after.

We also looked at what make people creative compared to those that arn't, and the conclusion I came up with, was that your more or less born with genuine creative abilities. This is different from someone such as a musician that recreates music compared to creating, its the novel creating that cannot be taught, apart from a certain amount of knowledge in music or photography which you must possess to carry out that creativeness.

there are ways that to mental thought process can be studied with a photographer, but I think they would differ between a studio portrait and photojournalist photographer. But It would take a long while to study.
Click to expand...

I think natjag has hit on a number of good points. Photography covers a number of different abilities which in my mind includes interpreting the brief, technical ability (how to use the camera), compositional / creative ability (how the recorded picture looks), the area of photography (e.g. portrait, street, landscape etc) and also post processing (digital or darkroom) which itself covers a number of different abilities (knowing how to use the tools as well as knowing how to produce the desired image).

There is the element of the level natural ability at all the elements too; as natjag pointed out creativity is an abililty which everyone has natuarally to a greater or lesser extent (the same can be said for all abilities). However, I would strongly disagree that it cannot be "taught"; I firmly believe that everone can develop their creativity by practicing it (the amount of the practice required to acheive mastery depends on the level of natural ability). Practicing under a master who provides contsructive feedback will speed the development process and in my mind this is exactly what teaching is.

As natjag has said there are techniques that can be used to "model" a photographer to discover how they create their results. However, if you do this you should pick someone that is excellent at what they do (model excellence rather than mediocrity) and be clear in exactly what you want to do just like them before you start picking (I would also suggest you pick a small bit to start with - walking before running is a good metaphor).
 
Great thread with some excellent ideas and thoughts. As a photographer I have "lived" with the zone system for nearly 30 years and once mastered allowed me to use exposure/mood to match my own mood. Sometimes I will deliberately set out to take very dark images whilst brighter moods can result in a different interpretation. Light is important but not the controling factor. My moods are.

I also agree with Natjag and SimonTalm and believe good composition and technique can be learned. Weston once described good composition as "the strongest form of seeing" and believed with discipline it could be refined by any receptive individual. Bailey believes that a photographer is "only as good as the images he looks at" which implies a need to study not just technique but also the images of other photographers in the same way as an artist will study the work of others. If there is a key it may be to keep practicing the craft whilst at the same time broadening our vision.
 
My dad was pretty nifty with a camera and he always said "the difference between an amateur and proffessional was, the amateur looks at the moment and then takes a picture, the proffessional takes the moment and then looks at the picture" :)

I think the more you do the more at ease you are with the camera so settings become second nature and you can relax more with the image you are taking, some people have a natural eye for a picture and what will look good, and as always practice makes perfect.

Knowing how to use light is a big plus too.



I'm still point, shoot and hope fraternity ;)
 
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