On Seeing

I got thinking about how we each look at images and how we bring our own expectations of how images work. What really interested me was how we deal with the times when that expectation is not met.

Several years ago as we were building our new house, I was taken by the idea of recording some of the materials we used or found on the site.

A very personal view of black and white photography.

Try this as an exercise. You’ve got three minutes. Describe your image and give me some idea of what motivated you. Intimidating? Impossible? Here’s how.

Level horizons are really just the tip of a critical iceberg. Here’s why you should consider going straight.

This year, a new camera has changed the way I take pictures. I’ll not break the habit of a lifetime – this won’t be a camera review – so this is all about how you see.

Finding someone else to help with editing our pictures and choose our collections can prove useful. It works in other fields; why not photography too?

Consider the use of monochrome to concentrate your viewers’ eyes on the real subjects of your photos.

I feel like something of a scratched record about this, banging on about photographic intentions yet again. But it’s important.

We all take disappointing pictures at times. To get out of the habit, we have to learn to see in a different, more conscious way.

In this article I describe some of the aesthetic decisions I made when processing a raw image file to get to this picture of Berwick Pier.

Surprisingly perhaps, you can improve your own pictures by learning how to critique other peoples’ images. Being specific about, and putting into words, what you do and don’t like will help when you come to create your own images.

Do you need to tell people what your photograph is about? As ever it all depends on circumstances – what does your audience need to make the most of your images?

Being clear about your intentions for a photograph before you actually press the shutter button is the first step in creating images that say what you want them to say.

Working in monochrome means you can’t rely on colour contrasts to separate elements in your photographs. You have to use the light and capture differences in luminance to produce an image with impact.

One of the hardest lessons to learn when starting with photography is not how to fit everything relevant into your pictures, but how to leave everything else out. Here are three steps I follow when I’m trying to create images with impact.

“Seeing Things” by Joel Meyerowitz was conceived as a “Kid’s Guide to Looking at Photographs”, but it works for older people too.