Homebody Photo Tip: Learning to See

     Way back in the early 1980s I bought my first film SLR camera.  I had been shooting with a rangefinder camera and was eager to reap the benefits of an SLR.  I was getting good shots…sometimes.   And great shots…once in a blue moon.   I wanted more and better, and was disappointed that I could not get better images with the better camera.  Something was missing.

     I came across an interesting book, Photography and the Art of Seeing, by Freeman Patterson (1979).  It was filled with great photos, and packed with information such as “thinking sideways,” “learning to imagine,” “principles of visual design.”  It looked like this book could help me make better images.

     I read the book, and re-read it, and studied the photos.  But I just didn’t get it.  I could understand the words and the concepts.  But I just didn’t get it.  I continued to make some good photos, occasionally, for a long time until the digital photo revolution swept me up 25 years later.

     Again, I bought a better digital SLR camera, but again this did not automatically result in better photos.  I had to get a handle on this “art of seeing” thing.  I put a lot of effort into reading about this subject and looking at photos for several weeks.  Line, shape, pattern, textures, colors, composition rules, principles of visual design, thinking sideways-up-down-whatever, it was all swirling around in my head.

     One day, in my bathroom, I noticed a sun light pattern on the shower tile.  Bam!  It stopped me in my tracks.  “That’s a picture,” I said to myself.  I got it.  Pictures are everywhere and can be anything.  You just have to be ready to see them.

     Ever since that day I’ve been walking around seeing.  “There’s a picture,” I say to myself several times a day.  Once in a while I have the opportunity to record that image by taking a picture.  That’s why I always try to have a camera with me to get the picture, even if I can only manage a cell phone shot.
  
     I’m certainly not in Freeman Patterson’s league.  But at least now I get it.
  
     Kings Park Photo Club:  Meets the third Thursday of every month at the Kings Park Library at 7 PM.  Our next meeting is on February 20, 2014 (tonight).  Check out our members’ work on display at the People’s Bank, on Indian Head Road.

     Thanks for reading, if you have any suggestions for topics please post them in the comments.