what improved my technique
what improved my technique
shooting. Trial and error.
It's like writing: the more you read/write, the better your writing will be.
You learn how to "see" more effectively. I mean, you learn to really notice things around you, and to instinctively pair a scene with technique. Your eyes widen (so to say). You walk down the street and see something and the means to capturing it come to mind almost effortlessly. That comes purely from experience, purely from years and thousands and thousands of photographs. It comes from reflecting on all the mistakes, all the times you missed a shot and pinpointing the reasons why it was missed. The camera becomes part of your body rather than an object - all the controls become second nature for the fingers.
Beginners start out with the sense that the camera is something that must be overcome in order to get what they see onto the film. It is an object that seems to control the situation and they are simply at its mercy. That is natural, like driving a car. More time in the drivers seat will grind down those edges and it will become natural.
You learn to identify the aspects of an image or a subject or anything that makes or breaks a photo. You do this merely through the process of sifting through shots that you've taken, looking for the good ones to print. People often shoot a roll of what they thought were great images, then get home, and find themselves disappointed because the film failed to capture something or everything. You learn to understand what the camera sees versus what you see, and how the film is going to remember it. You start to see like the camera sees.
The repetition of shooting and printing teaches you what looks best. It is a kind of reward/punishment method of psychological conditioning. The results of your shooting are going to make you happy or unhappy, and like shooting yourself in the foot or touching the hot stove, you quickly learn to avoid the 'wrong' technique.
