Chapter 4 - Practice your Eye

After having done one of my photography courses and practicing the techniques to master the Elements & Principles, you must continue to practice until it becomes second nature to combine them effectively. Practicing as often as possible is the key to constantly unlocking your creative mind. If you don't use it you'll loose it. When I begin a new series of shots I go through the mental exercise of putting myself in the mood. As a Travel Photographer you can choose any genre you feel comfortable with but in my case I prefer to shoot a landscape - a portrait and a still life as a minimum. As you will see below from various examples, writing some notes and stories after I have taken the shots helps me understand how I see. It doesn't matter if you have a flare for writing. I also make it a rule not to view the image when I am shooting as this hinders or inhibits the flow. Constantly looking at an image on the back of a camera while shooting is a distraction from a moment not to be missed. When a moment has passed then I view but don't spend too much time being self-critical and concentrate more on what exactly you are trying to communicate. It is a brain storming exercise to keep on moving from one subject to the next.

Going back to the analogy of the Elements being the vocabulary and the Principles being the Grammar as quoted by my photography teacher (John Nolan), you can't learn a new language if you don't have the vocabulary. The Grammar is what unites the elements. Sometimes we approach a subject we are attracted to and are quick to take a photo. If you step back for a few seconds, ponder on the angle, walk around it and watch the light closely. Stoop down, climb high, look whats around to add or subtract from the subject. Sometimes you can also anticipate a moment on instinct.