Photography - Visualization

Grand Canyon at sunset by James Breedlove

Art From Visualization

It is difficult to put into words what is meant by visualization from a photography prospective, for a number of people are gifted with a talent to automatically seek out the aesthetic view in things and capture the perfect moment.  But quite frankly it takes much more time to be able to transfer what is in the mind's eye to what the viewer sees.  One must know his or her own environment and the in's and out's of the camera from which they are working with in great detail.  

I like to look at it in a 3D since, a type of global environment for which you can see from different perspectives how something will look or work.  The direction of light, angle of the scene the best views you might get, the depth in the photo from a chosen angle.  You formulate in your mind what you want it to look like, then you find the necessary environment to transpose your mental picture to the digital sensor within your camera or film.  

There is allot that goes into capturing the one great photo that you have pictured in you mind, the right light hitting the vegetation the hues cast by the type of light you have and if shooting natural light, the sun angle in the sky and the even the time of year effects they scene.  

"But all I want to do is capture a shot that can be remembered"

If all I am doing is taking a snapshot, to glance at some other time then this is not for you.  You should just quit reading and go about your business.  Often in the scheme of photography all the elements to make a good shot may be there, but the feeling in the photo is not, we go through the list of the things we ought to have to make a good photo appear great such as perspective, incorporating a good foreground, mid element perhaps and background, try as much as possible to focus on the tools of trade such as the so called rule of thirds etc.  But, in the end the photo is only as good as what your shooting.  Maybe a little picturesque but is it really.

Some might have the tendency to say, but all I want to do is capture a shot that can be remembered.  We all want that in our photos, the trick is making the photo appear as it is in our minds eye.  Then you must remove yourself from the place where it isn't coming out and put yourself in front of something that works.  If you want specific light, think of the times of day you will shoot, morning light verses evening light, the way the shadows fall.  Do you want the appearance of atmosphere in your photo, wither clouds of haze, fog or whatever it might be; sometimes you must wait for that perfect time.  The only way our photos is going to be remembered is by providing something that sticks in the viewers mind.  It can be reminiscent to a season in time, it can be places not seen widely they is strikingly beautiful or it can be an element which is close to home.  But all the elements must be in place, you must see this in your mind and transform that image to memory card or print.  It doesn't happen by itself, a camera isn't magic.  It only captures what is defined under the perimeters of its makeup.   

Don't feel bad when when you have gone to a national park and stood where other great photographers stood and shot nearly the same shot and get back and can not match what they had done.  Some things must be understood, the greatest names in photography didn't achieve their mastery at photography in a single day, so why would you.  Sometimes it maybe in the gear they used, medium or large format vs. your APC or Full frame camera or it may be that they waited till the right time of year, right elements were taking place and studied they place for some time before they made that great rememberable shot.  It is because the visualized what they wanted in the photograph and for those elements to come to pass all the things necessary had to be in place.  

Can someone take a shot that will be rememberable without all the visualization stuff, absolutely.  But those once in a lifetime events don't always happen and when they do will you have a camera with you.  The lucky shots that really were snapshots really occurred at a time when one was least expecting them, of the people around one had a camera and was close enough to capture an event that rocked.  Some were journalist who seek out things happening and likely keep a scanner in their vehicle to let them know something is going down.  In other times photographers when out hunting for a photograph that would capture their career objectives, they were fortunate enough to have the resources to go places you and I haven't been, wither on expeditions or touring remote villages in Afghanistan.  Still, some of these people who have made the great shots without the focus upon visualization, found themselves driven to make a shot they have in some way preconceived.  In fact visualization led them to the subject and what they captured was mindful of what they had imagined.  Example, Curry didn't just luck out in capturing the well known shot of the Afghan girl that litters the photography world from decades past.  He actually went searching for that one shot, and when he saw the girl the environment and opportunity,  the elements fell into place.  All he had to do is capture it.  Same being with most tragic events where a single photo captures the elements of the whole scene and is published by the AP, which goes instantly viral.  Was that a lucky shot, being at the event with a camera was no mistake.  Being at the right places to capture the vent, maybe but most likely the photographer was positioned at a place that captured the widest view or had the best background, a point where taking a photo would be most memorable.  When something did happen unexpected he or she was there to capture the shot.  Most likely the photographer was there to capture whatever was going in the best light, they were there by purpose.  Rarely by accident only do you see a photo made that becomes famous, in actuality those who took the photos where photographers, they were their for a event of some sort and they had vision to capture the frame that would be remembered.  Lucky you think.  Well, imagine this; some of the most memorable shots taken was during times where there were crowds of people, some or a lot of them had cameras, some may have been closer or at a better angle only the one captured it.  Come on, is that coincidence.  So how many incidents have to happen where one photographer's photo is the star of the show.  Practice, perception and visualization; when you are there to capture a event don't let distractions ruin your photo opportunity, seek the best spot to take a photo, picture what it is you want you photo to look like in your mind, set your camera up to capture it.  When the moment comes snap the shot.  Sometimes, the moment doesn't come in a day or week or even in a particular season, but eventually it will and when it does be there to take the shot.

I said in the beginning visualization is sort of like designing a 3D landscape, you have axes XYZ and you can move around the objects you want to be subject in you final render.  You can see all sides of the created landscape or scene.  In visualization you remove yourself from what you are doing and see the area in your mind based off what you have already viewed.  Think of the area how light falls on each subject, the clouds, the sun, shadows somewhere in there is a photo that is great.  Once you have set your mind to what it is you want to take, make it happen in camera.  You must make a photo at times because not all things come to you nor can you always be where it is that is the perfect shot, right off the bat.  A shot might be at it's best 50 or 100 foot off in another direction, at times you will have to scout that out.  If the best shot happens just as the sun comes up over the horizon in the morning your there prior to that, and you ready to capture it, same is true for those evening shots.    Now all you can do is go out there and search for a area that might look good in a photo, visualize the best possible shot and make it happen.  Remember, sometimes when you are thinking about the best shot you may find that there isn't one, maybe it's time to find one that is.

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