"Photographic Seeing"

SECCTION V “PHOTOGRAPHIC SEEING” FROM THE BOOK BY ANDREAS FEININGER DIFFERENCES IN “SEEING” BETWEEN HUMAN EYE AND LENS A LENS IS PART OF A MACHINE AN EYE PART OF A HUMAN BEING THE LENS MECHANICALLY REPRODUCES EVERYTHING WITHIN ITS FIELD OF VIEW VISUAL IMPRESSIONS PROVIDE ONLY PART OF THE INFORMATION WHICH CONSTANTLY IMPINGES UPON OUR BRAIN WHERE IT IS TRANSLATED INTO CONCEPTUAL IMAGES THE EYE SEES A SUBJECT IN THE CONTEXT OF ITS SURROUNDINGS IN A MUCH WIDER SENSE THAN THE LENS. A PHOTO PRESENTS THE SUBJECT TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT BECAUSE WE HAVE TWO EYES WE PERCIVE DEPTH DIRECTLY THE CAMERA DOES NOT AS IT HAS ONLY ONE LENS THE WORLD IS 3D WE SEE IT AS IT IS THE LENS PRODUCES BIDIMENSIONAL IMAGES THE ANGLE OF OUR VISION IS UNALTERABLY FIXED ON THE CAMERA WE CAN USE LENES HAVING A DIFFERENT ANGLE OF VIEW FROM WIDEANGLE TO TELEPHOTO THE SCALE IN WHICH WE SEE OBJECTS IS ALWAYS THE SAME TO US PERSPECTIVE NEVER CHANGE IN PHOTOGRAPHY IT DOES ACCORDING WITH THE LENS WE ARE USING WE CAN SEE AN OBJECT IN SHARP FOCUS AT A DISTANCE OF EIGHT INCES NOT CLOSER THE LANS HAS NO LIMIT WE SEE EVERYTHING IN SHARP FOCUS THE LENS “SEES” IN A SELECTIVE FOCUS DEPENDING ON “DEPTH OF FIELD” WE DO NOT SEE IN THE DARKNESS BUT WE CAN EXPOSE THE FILM (SENSOR) USING A LONG SHUTTER SPEED THE EYE ADJUST ITSELF AUTOMATICALLY TO CHANGES IN BRIGHTNESS THE LENS DOES NOT SO IT CANNOT COMPENSATE HIGH- CONTRAST SUBJECTS THE EYE ADJUST ITSELF AUTOMATICALLY TO CHANGES IN WHITE BALANCE ANALOGICAL CAMERAS DOESN’T (IT DEPENDS ON FILM) DIGITAL CAMERAS HAVE A WHITE BALANCE SCALE IN B&W PHOTOGRAPHY COLORS DO NOT SHOW HUMAN EYE IS EFFECTED ONLY BY VISIBLE LIGHT WE CAN TAKE PHOTOS USING OTHER KIND OF WAVES AS INFRARED AND X RAYS THINGS ALWAYS MOVE IN FRONT OF OUR EYES A PHOTO IS A STILL IMAGE THAT STOPS ACTION AND SHOWS AN ISTANT IN PHOTOGRAPHY WE MAY HAVE DISTORSIONS IF WE TILT THE CAMERA VERTICAL LINES CONVERGE TO TRANSFORM A SUBJECT INTO A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH GOT TO DO SOME WORK BEFORE TAKING THE PICTURE PRESSING THE BUTTON IS THE LAST STEP WE DO JUST TO EXPOSE THE FILM (SENSOR) THE PHOTOGRAPHERS WORK IS WHAT WE DO BEFORE THAT SECCTION VI Composition To take a good picture you need to: 1. pick a subject 2. check lighting 3. look for the best angle of view 4. frame the subject: including only what’s important 5. use the Rule of Thirds: imagine a grill dividing the image into thirds and do so that the subject is on one of the intersection 6. use selective focusing, include layers and leading lines to create perspective 7. press the button on the right time T. & M. Grimm, The Basic Book of Photography, Penguin Books, 1997, 10. Composing Effective Photographs, pp. 316/331