Photographers: Close Your Eyes

It is the best way to see

If you want to see better to be a better photographer…close your eyes.

Our senses inspire our creativity; relying on just one – sight – is to minimize the ideas, sensations, perspectives, and contexts that inform and literally illuminate your vision.

A few examples may be in order:

·       You are standing at the beach, ready to complete a photo assignment for a photography club of which you are a member. The theme for the assignment is “Beach.” A few beautiful images of waves, seagulls and a sand dollar and you think you’re done.  Nope. Try again. Stand barefoot on the beach, close your eyes. Feel the hot sand around your feet? Hear the sound of the waves? Hear the various ages, languages and cultures represented in the multitude of voices within earshot? Hear the seagulls? Can you differentiate from the baby seagulls and their parents based on the sounds? How about the smell of the salt air, the hamburgers being cooked upwind of you? Feel the sweat beads gathering on your arm and the “chill” when a slight breeze blows?  Spend a couple of minutes like that with your eyes closed. Do you see the beach differently now that your senses have engaged your creativity?

·       You are going to create some images of a baby. Let’s say it is a family member – child, grandchild, niece or nephew. You’re sure the images will come out great because the little one is cute as a button. Before taking photographs, engage your other senses. Hold her hand, feel her grip, note how soft and smooth her skin is. Listen to the variety of sounds she makes. Lean closer…can you smell the baby shampoo?

·       You are a champion for the homeless and have committed to create a photo series for a nonprofit organization that is focused on the issue. You are sure that the visually inspiring topic will enable you to create work a la Dorothea Lange’s great work during the Great Depression era. Before you create at an encampment of the homeless, close your eyes. Notice the aromas, the sounds, the conversations. Listen to stories, handle the materials you find in the area. Your other senses will guide your choices of lighting, content to include in images, and more.

·       You are rightfully proud of the roses that are budding and blooming in your gardens. You know that pretty much any adequately focused, exposed and composed image will reveal a beautiful flower.  Close your eyes to expand your views and ideas. Tap your fingertip on the thorns to better understand their point (pun intended), feel the smoothness of the stems, sniff slowly the aroma, barely touch the petals and buds (edges and flat surfaces). You should now be flooded with ideas.

The perspectives provided by other senses will affect what you see and how you see, and that will influence your choices of lighting (color, quality and direction of light), composition, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focal length and the myriad other creative choices to be made. Try intentionally closing your eyes as an exercise, and soon you will incorporate all your senses into every photographic experience as part of your creative process.

(Having spent my life as a photographer, I hope to help you love photograph because I know how much joy and creativity opportunities it brings. Much of what I share is reflective of, or influenced by, the concepts I share in my first photography book, “The Seeing, Not the Taking:  A guide to seeing for photographers. You can check out my photography here.”