3. The photographer’s eye
Buongiorno a tutti 😊 Another weekend, another coffee break together. This is our third photochat, and I have to say that I start liking this little weekend routine.
Did the title of my post make you curious about today’s topic? :)
OK, now I explain.
Do you remember that last weekend I told you that I was in Sweden visiting my boyfriend? Well, my travel back to Switzerland on Monday has been quite adventurous: my flight was one of the hundreds cancelled because of drones flying over Copenhagen airport.
However, thanks to the big number of hours waiting at the gate, I had time to interact with some of the other passengers in my same situation, and in particular one conversation inspired this week’s post.
I was sitting on the floor of the airport with a coffee, going through the photos taken during the weekend on my Fuji, when a girl sitting close to me said: “Are you a photographer? Your camera is so pretty! I have a camera too; I received it for Christmas last year… but I barely used it. I do not know what I want to capture, my town is not interesting, and I have no free days in the week to dedicate to photography, so I ended up leaving my camera on the shelf”. (I had to refrain from screaming NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!).
I know she is not the only one feeling this way. So many times, people ask me “Since you have a full-time job, when do you go out to take photos? Do you dedicate your weekends to photography? And how do you decide what to capture? I live in a boring place…nothing inspires me”. Ok, let’ s talk about this 😊
This question usually comes from hobbyist photographers that, exactly like me, are in the fortunate situation of not having to pay bills with their photos (yes, because wedding photographers, product photographers, event photographers obviously know exactly what to photograph: what the clients hire them for! And yes, they do have to plan when to take photos. It is a MUST). But we are lucky, because we are free to create whatever and whenever we want, with no pressure. Funny enough, sometimes it is exactly this freedom and lack of structure that make many people feel lost.
So, how do I get around this “problem”? I put only one rule to this freedom: take photos “ALWAYS and NEVER”.
That’s true: my camera is always in my bag, and I do not plan any specific photo walk day. In this way, my creativity is not limited to a specific day and time, I do not feel any pressure. I remove the lens cap from my Fuji when I see something that sparks my attention.
Now that we solved the problem of the “WHEN”, let’s talk about the “WHAT”.
A famous photographer that I adore, Ernst Haas, said “I am not interested in shooting new things - I am interested to see things new.” You are probably thinking “Easy to say, but training the eye is another thing”. I completely agree. What if you live in a small town, walk the same street front and back every day and it feels so boring that you have even stopped looking around? Well, you always notice something, but you are not aware of it. I would like to share some “exercises” that I constantly use to train my eye to be aware of what it is noticing. Some of these tips might be useful to some of you too, who knows…everyone is different.
As we say in Italy, “Tentar non nuoce” (Try does not hurt).
YOUR EYE IS YOUR BEST LENS: yes! If you do not see it with your eye, you will not find the most interesting subject looking in the viewfinder of your camera. This is what I tell myself when everything seems boring around me. So, what I do, is just look around and actively ask myself what catches my attention. Is there a special light? Do I notice the movement of people? Or am I attracted by a color? A reflection maybe? Already asking myself these questions, I realize that my eye starts “seeing” in a different way. In that moment, I am ready to remove the lens cap and look through the viewfinder.
What if nothing catches my attention? I accept it, just accept it, but keep looking around. For me photography practice happens in every moment, even when I just frame scenes with my eye only.
Fujifilm X-T4 + Fujifilm XF 56 mm f/1.2 WR
SHOW ME WHAT YOU SEE: before starting street photography, it happened quite often to walk with someone and say “Look at that! So cool” and the other person was not actually understanding what I was really seeing, because I could not explain it in words. Photography changed everything. A window can be just a piece of glass if you do not notice that reflection, that color, that special light or texture. Imagine walking with someone, and explaining to that person, with an image, what you are seeing. It should be clear from your photo why you chose to click the shutter button in that moment, with no need of words. When a photo makes me see with the eye of the photographer, for me that’s a good photo. It delivers a feeling.
Fujifilm X-T4 + Fujifilm XF 56 mm f/1.2 WR
YOUR ENDLESS TREASURE BOX: it is obvious to say that mastering exposure triangle, composition and all technical knowledge gives you the freedom to choose when to use the rules and when to break them. However, there is one more thing that is often considered not important, and even boring: the camera manual. Do you actually know all the “stuff” that your little camera can do? As soon as I have some time (waiting at the dentist, queuing at the post office, sitting on my sofa at night, …) I turn on my Fuji and go through the settings, millions of times, and I promise, the more I dig into that little box, the more I find, and the more creative ideas come to my mind. When I see something that makes me curious, I check the manual, read all the explanations, and try the new setting on the “battlefield”, until I master it. Our camera has definitely more features than just a shutter button.
Little anecdote: once I was asked “How did you discover the technique of multiple exposures??? Hoooow did you learn?”. Probably they expected a magical story behind it or something like that, but my reply was just “I read the manual, and then I practiced”. As simple as that (might sound boring, but it’s pure truth). I love manuals 😃.
Fujifilm X-T4 + Fujifilm XF 56 mm f/1.2 WR
CLICK THAT SHUTTER BUTTON: last but not least, once you discover the existence of a new setting, do not be afraid to experiment! Click that shutter button! Worst case scenario the photo will be really ugly and will end up deleted from your SD card. Best case scenario you will master a cool feature that can really help to express your vision, or you will capture a beautiful moment that otherwise would pass unnoticed. In addition to loving manuals, I really love clicking every single button on and in my camera, and try what happens if I use this or that, combine this or that, change this or that. I really encourage you to be curious and click the shutter button without any fear of taking a bad or boring photo. The more you try, the more you will want to experiment, the more creative you will feel. Nothing around you will look boring anymore 😊
And whenever you want to exchange experiences or ask question, I am always here, ready to talk photography!
I hope you liked this third coffee break snap together and the photos that I shot yesterday afternoon, just before sitting at the cafe’ at Basel train station (I was waiting for my friend Marina arriving from Zürich airport, and I could not miss the opportunity to click some photos).
Have a great weekend! Chat soon again!
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