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Can a "good eye" be learned ?


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<p>Exellent question and the answer is most definetily Yes!</p>

<p>Artists have long recognised that to MAKE an image that has artistic merit , Vision,

Creativity,Content and Craft has to be engaged. The first three belongs to the Soul and

only the last one to the Brain. </p>

<p>It seems that because of your Engineering background you have been looking in the

wrong place.</p>

<p>When we look at something, a stream of thoughts immediately gets started at the

forefront of our awareness. At the same time almost subliminally, a, non-mental, bodily

response to the Scene, arouses silently, creating a Feeling. This Feeling is like a reflection

of the reality of the Scene, on the surface of our awareness, like in an Inner pond. Our

incessant stream of thoughts creates disturbing ripples in it ,that shatter that reflection,

corrupting it. Whatever is left of it becomes our vision. Normally Vision happens in the

Mind, not in the eye. </p>

<p>Put emphasis on Inner Vision instead; the product of awareness, and tune out any

accessory, distracting mental stories that might be rippling through it. The key here is to

provide enough abstraction as to avoid the generation of a Story. Try to generate a Feeling

instead. Try to to SEE the difference between what something IS and how that something

Feels. </p>

<p> When an artist succeeds in expressing what s(h)e saw, craft becomes less important

than his findings. Content depends on Vision, vision depends on Awareness and

awareness is a property of the Soul . Form depends on Craft to express its message.</p>

<p>The way we see the World largely depends on how we see Ourselves, and vice versa,

since the world and us are not separate but one. Thus the photographer is on every image

that he takes. Try identifying what makes you tick visually as it will be in resonance with

your inner self. Therefore most people take pictures of what they consider

pretty. Photographing beautiful things is easy . A more advanced and productive step is

to

try finding beauty in the Ugly. This will be an exercise of your Will and your Will is

inseparable from your Awareness that seats right before your Vision.</p>

<p>   <a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=1675561"

target="_blank">Luis</a></p>

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David, your question has spawned a thesaurus of excellent information. For that: thank you. Now a year later I throw in my two bits worth. You ask can one develop a GOOD EYE. The answer is simple: YES! Even an excellent eye. (takes a lot of work) But there are those in this community who have the gift of talent. When someone with talent garnishes it with hard work the result is genius. Let's assume you and I are not geniuses or talented, but we can strive for and expect excellence. I hope that sounds positive. Too often I find my better pictures within the original shot, and I crop severely, thinking, "Next time I see a once in a lifetime shot, I'll get it right." If ever I'm undecided between two takes I ask my wife. Strangely I am beginning to visualize, even planning, my shots even before I take them. Gotta go now; there's still a little light left. Regards, Bernie
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<p>I really like this thread. Many great ideas. How to develop a "good eye"? Here is my take.</p>

<ul>

<li> Go to a kids soccer game</li>

<li> Take 400-500 shots in the hour or so surrounding the game.</li>

<li> Load them on your computer and review them</li>

<li> Delete the bad ones (at least 25%) as rapidly as you can - do so with no remorse</li>

<li> Now go thru and pick out the good ones (max 25%)</li>

<li> Repeat this process again and again.</li>

</ul>

<p>This is not just about sports photography. Do the parents, the bench warmers, the coach. If you can do this for a soccer game where there is lots of action, and good lighting, you can do it for other events as well.</p>

<p>Deleting shots is hard for people at first. Learning to make a quick judgment is an important skill to practice. How many times have you seen a thumbnail on photo.net that looks good. You can often tell a good picture before you even see the bigger version.</p>

<p>Many cover shoots for magazines come from picking one shot from a hundred takes - they keep one and throw out 99. This process of deleting will train you to make faster judgements on the quality of your shots. Practice, they say, makes perfect.<br />

</p>

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