ever wish you could 'see' differently?

[Huss]

The problem is many people see it as some weird competition but it's not. If photographer A's photographs are how he see's the world in some honest way and photographer B's photos are the way he see's the world in some kind of honest way then they both could be very valid and one not being better than the other. Just different. And ones opinion of what is better is certainly and only their opinion. Because what is not valid or good to one person is amazing and insightful to another. A lot of that depends on what they are looking for in the image.

Plenty of room for it all out there. So Joe just go out and create honestly. The way you see. Don't try and compare to other photographers because your vision could be just as valid as the person you are measuring against.

Just be true to you. There are probably as many out there that will not like what you create as there are that will like it. And thats OK.

These comments were speaking of personal work.

Excellent comment.
I also think that this is why photographic competitions seem so arbitrary to me.

 

[Rayt]

Not really.

.....

Just makes me realize that it's about being at the right place.

That's an excellent point. I tend to dismiss my own photography for this reason. Who can't get interesting shots at a Mumbai slum or if everyone walked around in the city in raincoats and fedoras? This is why I really admire people like Martin Parr who literally can make great photos in his home town. I remember a quote that went something like if you can't get an interesting shot within two blocks from your house then you are not good enough.

 

[peterm1]

I think much of photography is a struggle to "see" an image in the scene before you Part of it comes from experience I suppose but some of it seems to be inherent in a person. I know I can see stuff others don't and I know that there are others who can see images I do not. I would agree that some people just have the ability to see an image where others do not but some definitely is learned. This is where studying the rules of composition comes in. The rules of composition work. You can ignore them sometimes. But it is best to follow them till you have the skill to know if something will work without applying them.

I find that it helps to actually look through the viewfinder when trying to find or to visualize an image. Until then I have only the vaguest of ideas whether a subject will work as an image. It gives a whole different perspective on an image because it helps you to see what the final subject might look like when captured. Something I simply cannot do by just looking at it.

Also I am often reminding myself of the old Robert Capa saying "If your photos are no good, you are not close enough" (It was quite gutsy of him to say this given he was a war photographer but the adage still holds true). Try to get close. I find that images shot in this way are often much more compelling than wide shots which try to get everything in. Especially if you know what to look for and know how to compose.
When I first got into photography seriously I also bought some books to help me specifically with this problem. Probably they will be out of print now but they could be worth looking for on the 2nd hand market. Studying other photographers' work critically helps also but its good to do it having read a bit as you know what to look for when you examine their work.

The following books on "learning to see" come immediately to mind:

"Developing Vision and Style" (Cornish, Waite and Ward contributing, Ephraums editor)

"Learning to see Creatively" (Peterson)

"Lens Light and Landscape" (Bower)

"The Making of Landscape Photographs" (Waite)

One of the better books on the subject, as it covers a wide range of photo genres is "The Photographers Eye" (Freeman) Fortunately this one is available as a PDF online for free (for example download site, here) :

https://archive.org/details/The_Photographers_Eye_Composition_and_Design_for_Better_Digital_Photos

It is worth studying closely to pick up some tips on how to see creatively.

 

[Sparrow]

... I often wish I could un-train, go back to that childhood naivety and just do new things at random.

I agree with Bailey's concept that the 'Art is in the errors' ... and I seem to make fewer these days.

 

[Peter David Grant]

All the time. Mostly when I look at photobooks. I wrote about this exact thing the other day if your interested: https://www.peterdavidgrant.com/reflections-looking-photobooks/