What do you do to improve your ability to “art” photography?

[TurtleCat]

The recent thread on technology and photography got me thinking. In short, how do you go about improving your artistic eye/skill in photography? I’m mainly thinking of the person who isn’t a full time professional as I think most of us here don’t have the time to spend 40+ hours a week practicing and experimenting.

I’ve always felt that there are people who have talent that takes time and effort to cultivate but there are also the people who may not have as much talent but have found ways of maximizing what they do have. I would probably be in the latter camp.

To be clear, I’m not speaking to enjoyment or enrichment and that stuff. I’m looking for the ways people have found to improve their art.

 

[Replytoken]

Learning to see better, learning how others see, learning more about lighting, and learning about how to set up my camera and scene to implement the applicable things I have learned.

--Ken

 

[Cameron T]

If you're actively going for art, you need to be able to plan for what you want to create and teach yourself to see it while you're there.

Ex you find a good landscape, plan for good light, time of day, etc.

For what I do (wildlife) it's much harder, but generally placing myself in more favorable spots for the more "artistic" shots is helpful, though often times it's easier said than done.

 

[DRwyoming]

I’m looking for the ways people have found to improve their art.

Many paths folks can take from formal instruction (classes, books, videos, workshops) to just observation of what others have done and what parts of that you like, love or dislike.

I try to pay attention to photos and paintings that I really like and try to figure out what it is that I like so much about them. Often the lighting jumps out but sometimes it's the composition or use of color or something else. If I can figure out what it is I like so much about someone else's work I can think about ways to work that into my toolkit. I'm not talking about copying outright but noticing what I really like and thinking about how I could do some or more of that in my own work.

I do think it pays to be familiar with the accepted basics of: composition, lighting, perspective, leading lines, implied motion and sight lines, use of color, graphic elements and other things that have been studied and taught for centuries. That baseline doesn't mean we always want to do these things or follow the standards but it can help to have a solid baseline and then break away from that baseline when you want for reasons that make sense to you.

One of the cool things is that we can always try new things, expand our artistic toolkit and move our own work forward.

 

[Palouse]

Take lots of pictures and share them with people to critique.
Read the great books by masters.
Be your own worst enemy and your own best friend.
Forget gear.

 

[ivancook]

Read Ways of Seeing by John Berger and watch the episodes on YouTube. A lot of it comes down to changing your perspective and being more aware and intentional in how you see the world. Also, examine the work you love critically and ask yourself why you are responding to it that way. There are also some basic composition and color theory principles you can learn that help.

 

[peachfront]

The recent thread on technology and photography got me thinking. In short, how do you go about improving your artistic eye/skill in photography? I’m mainly thinking of the person who isn’t a full time professional as I think most of us here don’t have the time to spend 40+ hours a week practicing and experimenting.

I’ve always felt that there are people who have talent that takes time and effort to cultivate but there are also the people who may not have as much talent but have found ways of maximizing what they do have. I would probably be in the latter camp.

To be clear, I’m not speaking to enjoyment or enrichment and that stuff. I’m looking for the ways people have found to improve their art.

Do it for one hour every day. I'm a full-time writer so I'll give you an example from writing. Stephen King himself doesn't write 40 hours a week, he writes 2000-2500 words a day-- friend, that's like one hour a day. (OK, I type fast but you get my point.) What's important with your art is to do it every day. With birding, my mentors write field guides & sometimes offer bird tours, so I've mostly seen the scientific side of hawk photography. Now that I'm trying to learn how to take my own photos, I see exactly what Steve was talking about. Hawk against a blue sky is good for helping hawk counters ID the birds, but how do you take a photo to grab people's hearts when you're not writing a bird guide or a scientific paper? The only way to do that is to study art that grabs people's hearts. Go to museums/galleries, talk to fans, talk to artists, take courses and tours, figure out how artists achieve the effects they achieve. Most of my photos are still terrible so take my advice with a grain...

 

[Winston Churchill (Sir)]

Read Ways of Seeing by John Berger and watch the episodes on YouTube. A lot of it comes down to changing your perspective and being more aware and intentional in how you see the world. Also, examine the work you love critically and ask yourself why you are responding to it that way. There are also some basic composition and color theory principles you can learn that help.

thanks for that reference

 

[Jmaes]

For me, it's a combination of experience and influence. I'll use wildlife photography as an example (since that's what I do), but this obviously applies to all types of photography in some shape or form.

Experience: If you shoot enough, at some point you'll have "seen it all" so to speak and just getting a sharp image with a pleasing background/composition might not necessarily cut it every time. So you start trying new things (different light, shooting wider/closer, panning, using flash,...). As long as you enjoy what you're doing in the process, there's an almost lifelong process of experimentation/improvement that you can follow. I know that I'm still getting consistenly better images year after year and seem to enjoy myself more and more with every passing year.

Influence: As mentioned already, look at what other people are doing and see if there's anyting there that you like (stylewise) and use that as influence/inspiration. I feel that this forum for example is a good starting point; there's some excellent work being posted here regularly. Other than that, contest galleries, publications etc are good sources. Obviously, there's always limits to this (ex: you're not exactly going to match a stunning shot of a polar bear right in your backyard, unless you live in the northern arctic), but there's things to be taken/learned from a composition/light/editing perspective.

PS: this one's optional; but also keep location in mind. Visiting locations where subjects are relatively approachable and you can take your time to apply the necessary techniques to get the "perfect" shot helps so much versus relying on fleeting moments and semi hoping to get it right.

 

[hef19898]

Take lots of pictures and share them with people to critique.
Read the great books by masters.
Be your own worst enemy and your own best friend.
Forget gear.

+1 on forget gear.

What worked for me, was to look at the old master paintings, everything from the Dutch masters to Monet and paintings in general (it gets really abstract so when you consider modern arts or the works of Dali for example). A painter can create his own loght, so to say. And some of them were great at what they did, from composition to light to tze subjects they painted, to color, you name it. Train your eyes on the works you like and enjoy and you will find things inspired by that out in the wild.

Also, don't follow rules blindly. Composition rules are more like guidelines anyway, so don't be affraid to break them. Experiment.

Just one thought on professional photographers: most professional photographers are not artists in their daily work. They are paid by clients to produce certain results, not to produce pieces of art. The number of people able to live of their work by selling prints and the like is extremely small. Sometimes these two, artists being to life of their art and professional photographers, get mixed up.

 

[TurtleCat]

Interesting replies all! I’ve been reading Bryan Peterson’s Learning To See Creatively which is very good. It has given me some new ideas on approaches. However I still run up against the limit on available talent

I remember what a pianist told me once. He said that anyone can play the notes with enough time and practice. Even be quite good at playing notes. He said talent is where you play the notes between the notes to enrich what you’re playing. He said he wasn’t good enough to do that. I knew a few other pianists and asked them that and they all agreed.

So I wonder to myself how that translates to photography and how I can learn to play between the shots. Or is it like diffraction and I run up against the diffraction limit.

 

[bleirer]

Something that has improved me has been studying art in general, especially painting. I'd say in addition to the good advice given, take an art survey or art appreciation course at a college or community college. Read the blogs on museum websites. Visit as many museums as possible as often as possible. Try some rough sketching, you don't have to show anyone. Read books on composition for painters. There is a lot of overlap with photography. Get this book, cheap on Amazon. Here is the creator of Dinotopia. He explains a lot about how light and color work and how we get a 2 dimensional shapes to depict 3 dimensional form. While it is intended for an audience of painters, there is plenty of info useful for the photographer. You just have to translate the concepts into how they apply.

Sorry about the giant link:

https://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Realist-Painter-Gurney/dp/0740797719/ref=asc_df_0740797719

 

[sib]

Something that has improved me has been studying art in general, especially painting. I'd say in addition to the good advice given, take an art survey or art appreciation course at a college or community college. Read the blogs on museum websites. Visit as many museums as possible as often as possible. Try some rough sketching, you don't have to show anyone. Read books on composition for painters. There is a lot of overlap with photography. Get this book, cheap on Amazon. Here is the creator of Dinotopia. He explains a lot about how light and color work and how we get a 2 dimensional shapes to depict 3 dimensional form. While it is intended for an audience of painters, there is plenty of info useful for the photographer. You just have to translate the concepts into how they apply.

Sorry about the giant link:

https://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Realist-Painter-Gurney/dp/0740797719/ref=asc_df_0740797719/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693379102054&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8969669618906230380&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9015321&hvtargid=pla-421340550896&psc=1&mcid=58f31b4d9d303ba2a544df40072f2cd7&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwi_exBhA8EiwA_kU1Mhf2CWFEnqxJqDm-fAt5VmPhLc3tI-9hhxa8Dl8GAtSyA0d6kW6EkxoC1XgQAvD_BwE

Hi Bill -

Thanks for the book pointer!

Just a tip that you can cut off everything after the part of the URL that ends with "dp/0740797719/" (and this same technique works for any Amazon link).

-Scott

 

[MrFotoFool]

I have been doing a lot more black and white conversion and processing for strong contrast. Obviously some good color images do not work in black and white, so it forces me to edit for strong composition that is unreliant on color.

 

[Len Shepherd]

Visiting Art Galleries from time to time can help

 

[fcotterill]

Get out with your camera every day, if possible. This article is a readable summary of Composition with respect to outdoor photography

Composition and the Elements of Visual Design - The Canadian Nature Photographer - photography articles, workshops, Photoshop online training, video

www.canadiannaturephotographer.com

"Be Open.... Look at Art....it's being going on for 50 000 years...Photography only started 200 years ago". Jay Maisel, who qualified in Fine Art before becoming a photographer. I re read his two books regularly

some bookmarked threads on composition etc

Rabatment of the rectangle as a composition aid

I've been rereading The Painter's Secret Geometry lately, and I'm impressed how many artists of yore relied on this simple technique and it's variations. Got me wondering if any of you thought about it when placing the focal point or area of emphasis or for cropping? Or is simply the rule if...

bcgforums.com

Anyone Want to Talk About Composition?

I recently reread Richard Garvey-Williams excellent book, Mastering Composition. Do you have other composition resources, websites, videos, that you recommend? Do you have a mental composition checklist as you are shooting, assuming there is time to think?

bcgforums.com

What does being 'good' at photography mean for you?

I can imagine for some people it's capturing images like Steve's or some other masterful shooter (of any genre) or for some it could be clearly capturing the bird or building or scene or model or loved one or event they wanted (or were paid to create) a record of. I've always measured it for...

bcgforums.com

A new Comprehensive Photography Textbook

Photography: A 21st Century Practice I also have too many photography books, but this is a more novel synthesis: The authors structure the content and lessons of this book on Craft, Composition, Content and Concept (4 C's). This brings a welcome balance to the role of technology in photography...

bcgforums.com

The Three Second Rule

Years ago, I spoke to a photo judge regarding the task involved in going through hundreds of pictures, to pick the finalists. He stated that one of the guides is the 3-second rule. If a photo holds his attention for that length of time or longer, it was placed in the keeper pile. I use it all...

bcgforums.com

Using techniques from painting to add a feeling of depth to photos

I got to thinking and reading about how painters give the feeling of depth or a 3d quality to their art. I think there are a few ways to apply the lessons to photography. The article linked below gives a great summary of what painters call atmospheric perspective. A couple of things that seem...

bcgforums.com

 

[ccirelli]

I think this is a hard question to answer (but also a good one). For starters - shoot in mono. It's the best way to improve your eye for strong composition. I shot exclusively in black & white when I started out, then gradually moved on to color later on. If an image is strong in black & white, it'll be strong in color. Composition is king, lighting is queen.

What's cool now with mirrorless and RAW files is you can shoot in mono, your EVF by default will also be in mono, BUT you can always convert to color later in post. Tip - if you use Lr Classic, make sure your RAW default is set to Camera Settings (not Adobe Default), in Lr's preferences under the Presets tab. But I know a few people that shoot in mono basically ALL the time, so they can "see" composition & light easier. My Nikon Zf is basically in mono full time (and 1:1 ratio lately too).

Also, carry your camera with you everywhere. As much as realistically possible. Make it easy to carry and access. I rarely leave the house without a "real" camera, but hey cell phones count too since they capture images (at pretty high quality these days).

There are tons of gear-centric channels on YouTube. Very few are dedicated purely to the ART of photography. One that I can very much recommend is The Photographic Eye, Alex is great to listen to and really motivating. Gets you in a good photographic frame of mind

 

[Paul Grecian]

Ultimately it's all about self discovery and being authentic to who you are. Explore the world visually in a mindful way without pre-planning what you want to happen and allow yourself to feel something spontaneous. You don't know what you're going to react to.

 

[hef19898]

+1 on gallaries and museum as well as The Photographic Eye.

As far as Youtube channels go, Courtney Victoria and Expressive Photography go in the same direction while leaning more towards landscapes.

 

[John Woodworth]

Another, thing: I like looking at illustrated advertising images. The major car, fashion, industrial and outdoor hire (some of) the best contemporary talent.

An advertising image need to have everything: Eye catching composition and simplicity while conveying the message,