I read a story once about how Ansel Adams was setting up one
of his famous photographs while others were watching. He noticed something out
of place in the view and walked a few yards into the scene and broke off a dead
limb hanging from a tree. He supposedly said something to the effect, “That
limb doesn’t belong in my photograph.”
Most of us probably would never have seen the obtrusive limb
much less taken the time to remove it. But, with his trained eye, he was able
to identify what was out of place and took measures to remedy the situation. It
was a perfect example that defines the art of seeing.
In
photography the art of seeing is one of the most important elements in
composition. It’s not so much a matter of recognizing an obviously beautiful
scene it is recognizing beauty within the marginal scene that is difficult.
A few years ago I snapped a rather quick photograph of some
water plants rising out of the edge of a small lake. A soft greenish reflection
spread across the surface of the lake around the plants that created a nice
mood generating moment. I really didn’t think too much about it, I just quickly
framed it and fired off a couple quick shots. In that same kind of molded
moment, I snapped another similar image where the reflected light on the
surface cast a yellowish glow amongst a tangle of tree limbs that had fallen
into the water. Again, I didn’t think too much about it, just snapped a couple
of quick shots.
Some weeks later someone was watching a video I made about
that lake that included those two images and she commented, “How did you see
that…how did you know that a few plants and some tree limbs would make such
good photographs…I would have never seen that nor even thought about looking
for something like that.”
I found it difficult to answer the questions…and it came out
something like this, “I just saw it…it was instinct.” Actually I did not think the images were all that
great, but they were nice examples of seeing photographically.
As I began to reflect on how I managed to take those two
photos I tried to think through the process of what I did. The first thing I
remember is seeing the reflected light on the surface of the water. Then I saw
the structure around it. By using a long lens, and panning across the surface
of the lake looking in the direction of the plants and tree limbs, I was able
to isolate those ordinary subjects against some exceptional light. When my eye
saw the moment…I fired off the shots. It was that simple.
How I actually saw the moment(s) came from countless
thousands of failed photographs trying to accomplish the same thing. All of
those failures have contributed to improving the art of seeing to the point
that it becomes almost instinctive. You just know it when you see it. The
moments were not obvious…it required looking beyond the obvious and seeing what
is not always easily seen.
Many times we allow the big picture to get in the way. The
big picture represents the obvious, the subtle reflections and the tangles
represent the not so obvious. Being able to do so takes practice and a
willingness to break away from our preconceived ways of always wanting to do
the same old thing the same old way.
Keith
