Painting with Sight

Painting with Sight

From the Greek, the word photography translates as "painting with light." Capturing that light as an image though would be difficult indeed without seeing the potential in the first place. Photography is also "painting with sight."

For many years, back when photography was first commercialized in the fabled years of the film era, exposure was difficult. Camera light meters were primitive by today's standards. And let's just say that "high ISO" values needed fewer digits to write out than those of modern digital cameras. ISO 800 was fast, and you were living on the edge to shoot with such films. A lot has changed over the years. But some things remain the same. Photography still needs at least some light to form an image. But not so much that if overwhelms the recording medium resulting in burned-out overexposure. Not too little, and not too much. But today, we can make use of a much wider variety of light levels, and we have better tools to help do so. It's easier than ever to master exposure, or at least make up for it afterwards if you shoot in raw.

But cameras still only see what we point them at. By means of camera position and direction we can explore the world around us. Through the selection of focal length, aperture and shutter speed we can bracket out unwanted details and determine the rendering of details we choose to include. Yes, it is possible to ignore composition and concentrate solely on exposure, but I think you'd agree we can make stronger images when we focus (literally and figuratively) on how things look. Photography is as much about painting with sight as it is painting with light. Or at least good photography should be.

For the sake of this article, let's set aside questions of exposure. The light is just right, or you've got what you do have to work with under control. Aren't modern cameras great? Yet the question remains: what are you going to photograph? What do you see? That's the real canvas on which we compose.

Two photographers can go out shooting together, standing side by side, and return with entirely different images. I first noticed this years ago teaching photography workshops and it's stuck with me ever since. Of course, it's hard to photograph something that isn't there. A fieldtrip to coastal tidepools isn't going to yield many images of alpine wildflowers, but it's remarkable the variations on a theme possible in in any given circumstance. Standing side by side, the exposure variables and limitations remain the same for both photographers. So, it isn't the exposure that is responsible for the variety of results, it's the vision. And the skill and attention to detail involved in realizing that vision.

I'm going to stipulate that at least a few good images could be possible by randomly firing off the shutter while waiving the camera around this way and that without looking, but it seems clear that your odds will go up if you are paying attention to what you're shooting. To shoot it, it helps to see it.

A camera has a role to play beyond just that of exposure. It's an aid to help you see what you are composing. Human vision is a complex process, but we can't really change focal length at will. As we look around, we construct a virtually seamless mental representation of our environment, centered around where our eyes are focused but extending beyond with no real frame to speak of. The camera opens a world of new possibilities for perspective and framing not apparent to the naked eye.

A camera helps to hone your vision, painting that vision one stroke at a time.

First, you spot something of interest. "Hey, that might have some image-making potential," you tell yourself, or thoughts to that effect. Something catches your eye, and you stop to investigate. You take stock of your potential opportunity and what it provides to work with. At some point, you settle on an idea to explore in more detail. You mount a lens with about the right focal length to your camera and investigate more deeply. You mount your camera on a tripod, set up to about the right height and continue to hone your vision until ready to press the shutter release and commit that vision for posterity. Even after firing the shutter, you can evaluate your results in near real time in the field, retrying as long as circumstances permit, to make the best image you can.

Film photography always involved an element of trust. You never really knew what you had until the film came back from being developed. Today, digital shooting removes much of that uncertainty, but some remains. Shoot a long exposure of a waterfall and it can be difficult to gauge just how the results will appear without checking. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Venture into high dynamic range (HDR) imaging or other multi-shot techniques and, while you may be explicitly shooting each brush stroke of your eventual image, you'll have to trust that you have what will be needed later in order to assemble and tone map the result. Experience helps of course, but somewhat as with shooting film, you'll have to wait to see what develops when you get things into the darkroom (the digital darkroom these days). In any event, the process retains an iterative element, refining your composition as you go, painting with sight.

Not all photographers have the time to paint their composition quite this way. Sometimes you just have to go on instinct and get the best you can then and there. Perhaps one shot is all you will get, so make it count. If I encountered the illusive bigfoot creature in the woods someday, I'd be happy with anything that wouldn't end up being just another blurry outline running away in the shadows. I'm pretty sure I'll never face such a challenge, but even more well-known wildlife can be challenging, offering little time for finesse. That decisive moment at sunrise when the light first strikes the opposite mountain peak won't afford many second chances either. Some paintings have to be made more quickly than others, but the process remains the same. You look, you refine what you see in the time permitting, and you make each shutter press count.

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Sourced by Time Trap Photography sharing the best photography tips, news and tricks throughout the industry. Time Trap Photography is dedicated to freezing those special moments in life that can be revisited and admired for generations to come. - Shannon Bourque
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