Sept 1 2010 Crazy Days in the Life of a Photographer

 All images are property of Basic and Beyond Photography.  Un-authorized reproduction of photos contained in this blog is punishable by law.

So I started a Photo 365 project about a month ago and let me tell you I suck at it. I get so involved with my life I forget to take a photo everyday or am just too busy to sneak it in.  I can manage to everything else done but that one simple thing. What is even worse is I cannot manage to update my blog more frequently than once a month or once every other month.  When will the insanity that is my life slow down?  I have on the flip side been delving back into the world of art which seems to be very good for my sanity.  Creating is something I have always had a knack of doing if only I could get paid to do that full time I would be in Heaven. 

I want to share a little conversation my young one and I had a while back really I think under all that video game playing the cheeky little chap is quit bright if only life were a video game he would be the #1 high score.  So he says to me "Mom why are you always taking pictures?" to which I reply "So I can remember things that we have done and help others remember too" after a few moments to ponder my reply he says, "Isn't that what we got brains for."  Needless to say I was speechless I guess my roll of film is out on my photographic memory.  Will have to remember to pick up another roll.  You just gotta love a kids honesty.

Well I will move on to the part of my blog I have been told people look forward to the most.  Today's photo tip.

Today's photo tip: See Better or as I call it Seeing through the Lens

See Better

Written by: Digital Photography

Seeing with Better Eyes

The psychology of seeing and how it affects composition
Your eye (and lens) sees something, but your eye is connected to your brain …. which interprets what you see….. it adjusts color
balance, ignores un-important things, tries to “edit out” those things you don’t want to see. You now must re-program your mind so that you really do see everything.


Here’s a simple case in point:
The Classic cars are in town and you see one you like and take a snapshot. You see the yellow car…. but not the meter on the left, the power lines above, or even the yellow on the bottom right…… your mind ignores those distractions for you.

Here’s what you must learn to do: Eliminate unwanted distractions …. either by cropping them out during printing (like I just did) or move in closer and crop them out with the camera and lens.

Or…… you could think about what you really want to show …. walk around, crouch down, look at it harder …. and then shoot.
The point is, you must concentrate and think harder about what it is you want to show… and force yourself to see how to eliminate those things you don’t want to show.
This should become habit…. you should practice doing this with everything that “catches your eye”. Your eye WILL begin to see better … and you will begin to think about the lighting, the angle, the “feel” of those things as you look around.
Sometimes you might feel weird or cursed because of the way you “stare at” – study – things, but it is essential that you develop this habit if you really want to get better. To become a true, serious amateur or top-notch professional you need to be constantly studying subject matter, light, composition, etc. AND figuring out how you want that shot to look in print.
One of the reasons I was considered a first-rate riot photographer was that, even in the middle of a riot – with all that noise and hate and physical violence and constant threats to myself – I forced myself to concentrate on:
HOW THIS PIC WOULD LOOK ON THE PAGE.