Visual Clues To Finding Great Photos

[@ThePhotographicEye]

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[@Anon54387]

There's an oil painter whose instructional books I have that also says to squint to see the big shapes and changes in contrast, simply take off one's glasses but for those who are cursed with good vision one is forced to squint.

[@Anon54387]

As I've said before, very often symmetry is boring in color photos but it can really work in black and white. A case in point is that Fan Ho photo at 8:05. The stair case with that center rail and those two guys facing each other. That is a plus in a black and white shot that likely wouldn't work as well in color. I remember that from a farmer I knew when a kid. He took a picture facing an old farm trunk of the hood, and the symmetry of the hood plus that the lighting that time of day was such that the left half was shadowed and the right half brightly sunlit. That, too, probably would not have had the same impact in color.

[@simonpayne7994]

For anybody with a bit of experience and interested in the artistic side of photography Alex makes easy listening. I would even go as far to say - invaluable listening. You can augment your own knowledge with his. This makes your chances of success the next time you go out with your camera, that much better.

[@reyanipan]

Thankful I stumbled upon your channel Alex! It reignited my passion for taking photos. Your focus on creativity is what drove me to go back! Again thanks so much!

[@Tony-Larzzo]

Thanks!

[@seaeagles6025]

Hi Alex, you made some good points About trusting your instincts and your Gut. Sometimes trusting your Gut comes down to a lack of confidence. We as photographers sometimes have doubts, and we don't trust our Gut and instincts. Cheers Alex 😊

[@tedphillips2951]

I so agree! Shot what moves or interest you & not what you think others would like or approve of.

[@markgoostree6334]

So many times I've been in a good spot for a decent photo. And I was grumpy because I was there at the wrong time of day or wrong time of year. I could see the light angle would be better if only my timing was right. A very few times it worked out for me to return at the more favorable time... but not often. I have even gotten a map to check "east/west sun position" to plan my photo trip. That helped on a few efforts. Oh well, keep plugging away.

[@alunrees3056]

For so long I’ve struggled to have preconceived ideas, or to go out with a plan. Always made me feel I wasn’t doing it right. Thanks Alex, I feel liberated. A bit.

[@larryharper7343]

Alex, thank you for the wonderful conversation on photography! You always provide such inspiration to fire my passion to take pictures!

[@Tony-Larzzo]

Another great show!!

[@fishkingify]

I love what you said about just seeing good light over subject you had in mind. A shot I have been thinking about may not be the most eye catching but i thought that maybe just getting good light might be all i need.

[@Anon54387]

There's a Mel Gibson movie called The Patriot. They do such an excellent job with the lighting in that movie that it is worth watching just for that reason.

[@daemon1143]

For me, the choice between colour and black and white is about the texture. B&W is fabulous with textures that get lost in colour. Even thing like the haze in the air can show texture in B&W. But still Alex, really, we all know that to take great images, all we need to do is buy the latest Hasselblad and one or two of every lens with a full set of accessories, and take lots of KZbin advice about sharpness.

[@Veered2Train]

😂 truth!

[@simonbnyc]

You made some excellent observations. For me, it's light and color that initially make me decide whether I want to take a picture. The actual subject of what I'm taking often comes last. If the subject does come first but I don't have either light or color, then the chances are I don't have a picture. The squint method does work! The decision of whether a picture is black and white or color is made before I press the shutter. If the essence of the scene I'm interested in is about color then I'll take a color picture. If not, then the image will be black and white.

[@ddsdss256]

Good stuff. Re changing perspective, once I've identified a potential shot, if time permits, I'll alter my (more precisely, the camera's) orientation in relation to the subject (and often the focal length) in order to include desired--and exclude unwanted--visual elements and arrive at a suitable composition. This often forces me to shoot from other than the "standard" standing straight up with the eye to the viewfinder perspective. BtW, Erwitt's shot at 5:17 was heavily cropped (IIRC, about the top 75% of the frame), but the camera was obviously low based on the Chihuahua's eyes. Agreed about B&W--as in all aspects of photography, there are no rules (well, there are, but they should be ignored as rules produce conformity and therefore kill creativity!). I go by whatever feels right (and that may not be apparent until post). One of the many reasons that the only true photograph is a print is that they can literally have depth.

[@ChetanDodwad]

Wonderfully explained ❤❤❤

[@louiebodenstaff6772]

Brilliant episode!

[@TFUTM]

For a automatic, but less extreme, version of squinting try setting your camera to monochrome live view with clarity and sharpness reduced as far as they will go and contrast increased a bit.

[@brucegordon6969]

Thanks Alex! Another excellent video! I find some of my favorite photos I have taken are of something I saw out of the corner of my eye. If it caught my eye, I take the shot.

[@jameshoward9700]

Haha, its taken me two months since a fortuitous bout of Covid got me watching YT photog channels and I discovered yours. Such thoroughly excellent stuff. I'm sure I speak for many others when I say "thank you" for helping me explore new directions in photography and giving me all sorts of inspiration from the stylistic to the motivational. You've genuinely helped me see things anew when I was at an absolute dead end. Cheers. And don't worry about the mug! Some people...

[@johnclay7644]

informative content

[@SimonWillig]

Funny how some very skillful landscape photographers tell you to be prepared, scout the location, envision the picture you want to take, account for the weather etc. I tried but that doesn't work for me. Happy to find you on my side😀

[@joetrent4753]

I am the type of street photographer who likes to wait for something interesting to happen, also wait for the right light and it's very obvious that's what Fan HO did with his photo's. In fact its easy to spot the hunters and the fishers, to use the two terms used for street photographers, just by simply observing their photographs. I often spot an interesting photograph opportunity and will take a few test shots then return to the scene at a later date when the light is more desirable and just hope I manage to capture the shot I had in mind. It's quite challenging in this day and age when so many people just look unremarkable and are often staring into a phone though.

[@footrotdog]

I think the colour vs black&white question comes to a point you've raised previous with regards to the difference between painting and photography. Paint is the art of adding things in. Photography is the art of taking things away. If the colours in a photo do nothing for, or worse are distracting in the image then it's probably a good choice to remove them.

[@aes53]

I think Robert Frank showed that the moments before and after the decisive moment are just as interesting.

[@PhotoArtBrussels]

Alex, i thought for a subject; many old studio photos where not made by using strobes, i suppose. In the old days those did not exist ... can you explain how photos where made in the old days (with artificial lighting, fresnel, hot lights, theater spots...)? What we can learn from it.

[@Oncewasgolden]

I never go to a place wanting a specific photo. When you focus you lose general observation. I go to a place and sit down. Watch, wait, then go whatever catches my eye. When I see the frame, I know what to take. The frame is in my mind, not literal. I do not know how or when it came to be, it just is. Like the sky is just blue.

[@jasongold6751]

I simply go out on walks. I sniff, smell, see and frame. Push button! TX Henri! BW is truly peculiar to photography. Painting in Art, is all color oils! (OK other stuff too). I love BW! Why? One remembers in BW!

[@ihavenot]

I do not believe that is the case, memories are in fact colourless and details such as colour, odours, etc. are recalled and added by the brain.

[@Anon54387]

One can paint in black and white, and indeed some do, not to mention graphite and charcoal sketches. Some more yet paint in muted colors and get surprisingly neat results out of it. Way back, art schools had people draw in graphite or charcoal to get them entirely used to thinking in terms of shades from light to dark before they ever let them touch colored paint. By then, they were so used to thinking in scales of shade that they could apply it to individual colors whether blue or red or what have you. Someone I know took an art class at the local college and they made them do an entire painting using nothing but blue and white paint under a similar idea.

[@markglore7196]

I wonder if anyone has ever looked at a painting by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Monet, etc ....and said "that would look better in black and white". 🤔😉

[@jeghedderhenrik]

😂

[@anthonyudall8543]

Sort of. A b&w copy of Arnold Böcklin's painting "Isle of the Dead" inspired Sergei Rachmaninoff to compose a symphonic piece called "Isle of the Dead". He said that he probably would not have written the music had he seen the colour original.

[@lphilpot01]

As an erstwhile graphic designer I definitely can appreciate and enjoy design for design's sake, whether strictly pure design, abstraction of literal subject matter or whatever. But as a wannabe landscape photographer I really desire -- ideally at least -- to make images that connect the viewer with the visceral impact of the actual, real landscape. Trouble is, that inherently places serious limitations on what I consider Worthy Subject Matter™ And because I don't have access to "worthy" landscapes within the sphere of my normal daily life, I don't shoot. At least, not nearly as much nor as well as I should shoot ...for some values of "well" and "should", I suppose. I guess I need to figure out some way (in my mind?) to add inherent value to my photography so that it's not wholly dependent on the quality and value of the subject matter alone.

[@tedbrown7908]

Great photo's are never great if they are never seen. How does a person get their photo's seen by the masses?