Photographers ... What do you see?

Quicksnapper

Quicksnapper

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Name
Sara
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Working on some stuff for a club comp in a couple of weeks, I started to wonder about what people see when they pp an image. I don't mean their technical work flow, but more their artistic view of the image as a finished product of the image capture and pp processes combined. So do you ...

... Look at the RAW image and then think what you can do with it. Spend however long the mood takes you fiddling around and see where you end up?

... Take the shot with a very definite end result in mind and pp towards that pre-ordained end result?

... Take a shot with a vague idea of how you would like it to look ultimately and see if you can get it there?

... Look through your recent random shots and try to make the best of a bad job after the event?

Rightly or wrongly, I tend to be in the first group but wish I could be a bit more definite about the whole thing. Am I alone? What's your approach?
 
I generally have a pretty good idea of what I want the end result to be when I press the shutter and I'll be finessing what I do with the camera with that in mind.

In fact, I usually have a pretty good idea of the shot even before I even lift the camera to my eye. I'll compose mentally first. One of the reasons I like shooting with primes is that it's easier to tune my eyes to what the lens will see before I look through the viewfinder, rather than mess about zooming in and out looking for a shot.

I'll certainly be thinking about whether it's going to end up as a black and white or colour image as that will influence other decisions I make about composition and exposure (I feel I can afford to let shadows fall to pure black and highlights to pure white more with monochrome than I would with colour).

PP is mostly just to get it to where I was aiming at, though I can't deny that I will explore other options while I'm at it and I will sometimes change my mind on the journey to the finished item.
 
". Take the shot with a very definite end result in mind and pp towards that pre-ordained end result?"


This.
 
...All of the above:
In a small number of cases I've had a particular look in mind from previous experience or having seen other work that I've liked. A look that perhaps does not come easily straight out of the camera. Having a clear idea can help you get straight to the point in PP. It doesn't happen a lot. But it's great to be inspired that way. Most of my PP is aimed at keeping the original look as shot.
 
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I go to particular places at particular times when I think there may be some photo opportunities to explore. I then wander around and see what I can find. I use my eyes initially to find potential opportunities and then look at the scene through the camera rather than directly so as to get an idea of how a photo might turn out (with regard at that stage to PP options). "Exploring" may involve changing position, direction of view, focal length and capture settings, particularly aperture, to see how that effects the look of the scene. Having found a scene I may capture a number of "variations". If it is a difficult scene which is likely to have a high failure rate (I do a lot of closeups/macros) then I will typically capture several instances of each variation (if circumstances permit).

PP involves selecting images that, to my eye, look like they might provide the basis for a tolerable image and then using PP to explore their potential and then either bin or complete the PP, the aim being to produce an image that is pleasing to my eye and credible as to how the scene might have looked (not necessarily how it actually looked, which in itself is a bit of a slippery concept IMO, especially for close-ups, but also more generally).
 
Thanks for your thoughts everyone. I'm about 3 or 4 years into my photography "journey" and at the stage where I'm more definite about what I do (and don't) want to photograph, which isn't to say I wouldn't have a go at something new if the opportunity arose, of course. But I have found in the past that I've taken a rather "scattergun" approach - shooting far too many images without any real feel for how I want the thing to look in the end. I think that's a common issue with beginners. I have been known to just shoot things and hope that one or two might be OK. I'm trying now to be more circumspect, and trying to take fewer, but better, images and really thinking through how I take the image before pressing the shutter button. I'm lucky to have decent gear, and my lenses (apart from my macro) are all zooms, but I get Rob's point about using primes. I do tend to be a bit of a zoom freak! My OH is blessed with a collection of primes, maybe I'll borrow some of his gear and see how I feel about them. ... think he'll notice if his 300mm / f2.8 goes for an unscheduled walk about??!!

Thanks all .... Sara x
 
I guess I fall into all of the following options

... Look at the RAW image and then think what you can do with it. Spend however long the mood takes you fiddling around and see where you end up? I do this sometimes if I'm a bit bored.

... Take the shot with a very definite end result in mind and pp towards that pre-ordained end result? I do this when I have a particular shot or a clear vision of how I want the end shot to look.

... Take a shot with a vague idea of how you would like it to look ultimately and see if you can get it there? For casual walkabout shots then this is probably true.

... Look through your recent random shots and try to make the best of a bad job after the event? There are times when I do this. It's not so much a case of trying to make a silk purse from a pig's ear - it's normally a clear idea and I will find an appropriate shot from ones that I didn't previously use for anything.
 
It's an interesting question and one i don't spend any time thinking about normally. However, thinking about it, it all depends on my moods and attitudes at the time. On commercial jobs i have usually thought quite hard and discussed with the client what they are after. That then usually means i have a very clear idea of how the finished image is going to look. I guess I then shoot with that in my mind at those times for those jobs.

When I am doing personal work, I am not so sure the process is quite as clear. Yes (I have a clear idea in my head) if I am deliberately carry through a 'vision', no if I am shooting more randomly in a location I don't know very well.

At all times I find PP to be an amazingly flexible vehicle to develop my ideas after the shoot. It all depends on how the mood takes me and sometimes i try to 'force' things and it just doesn't work. Sometimes I spend hours on an image in PP only to wake up in the morning and laugh at myself while hitting the delete button! Other times I am pleased with the outcome and maybe a touch 'surprised' at my achievement (I like that feeling best!).

I think the important thing is, it really doesn't matter. I don't think there is a right way and a wrong way. Its whatever works for you. However you end up creating images is a personal thing and develops with time. I don't think anyone should get hung up on a 'system', there is no perfect way. Some of the best shots I have ever seen have been 'grabbed' and not planned at all and then edited and PP'd later.

Creativity is personal.
 
Unless the shot has at least some potential I would not take it at all.
I use PP as a means to bring out what I saw in the first place...

While I often carry a camera with me on the OFF chance of a picture. On most of those occasions I come home with out shooting anything.
The better shots always seem to come from when I go out with something in mind, or a particular event to cover.
Though when you get in the "Zone" you see pictures everywhere, and far clearer, and "Know" when things are going especially well.
 
I usually have a pretty good idea what I'm after when I shoot, there are time after I have the shot I'll 'see' something different in PP, but not often to be honest.
If I'm bored and it's quiet I will sometimes play with old images to see what I can get out of them though.
 
It is a good question. Often it's about trying to wring the very best out of the raw file, fixing small errors or removing unwanted items. Sometimes I'll shoot deliberately experimental images with a view to trying different processing afterward - I've come to view the process of creating an image as being in 2 parts, and using the camera is only the first part.
 
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