You won't find any tips in this article.
No "how tos", instruction or equipment advice.
What you will find, though, is the best way of recognising when a good picture might be there for the taking.
Grasping the technicalities of photography used to take a lot of study and practise.
Nowadays, digital cameras, autofocus, metering systems, etc, are so good that there's really no excuse for failing to get the technical aspects right.
Yet, if you look at the galleries on many of those websites that cater for one particular make of camera, you'll find that there's an awful lot of dross.
People are spending hundreds of pounds on equipment and then just taking snaps of their pets and their kids.
It occurred to me that although these photographers now have the means of taking sharp, well-exposed pictures, they haven't a clue what a good photograph is beyond those qualities.
Developing the photographic "eye" Their problem is that they spend too long looking at camera brochures and articles explaining how to perform certain techniques without trying to develop an "eye for a photograph".
So how do you develop "the eye" then? Well, you make the image the goal.
Not the camera, the lens or some other piece of equipment but the image.
That's the key: making the image the be all and end all of the photographic process.
That might seem obvious but visit the "marque websites" I mentioned above and you'll quickly see that few people are getting the message.
Fondling cameras, "testing" their lenses and buying more equipment seem to be the goals in many cases.
Make the image count Once you decide to concentrate on the image, your photography will take off in a different direction.
The websites you visit will change.
You'll start to seek out photographers' websites rather than camera review sites.
You'll stop looking at pictures of cameras and start looking at more photographs-and that's when the breakthrough comes.
Looking at photographs, in fact not just "looking" but "really looking", is the way to develop the eye.
I've no scientific evidence for this but I strongly believe that looking at great photographs encourages a kind of pattern recognition to develop in the brain.
You subconsciously absorb the elements that make a picture appeal to you.
That's what happened to me and my photography came on leaps and bounds as a result.
Armed with these "templates", you will start to notice photographs you wouldn't have seen before.
Note that this isn't the same as copying someone else's photography: it's a way of applying compositional and tonal strengths to the scene in front of you and making something coherent out of it.
But back to looking at photographs.
I'd suggest getting the Magnum Landscape book (Phaidon 1996, ISBN 0714836427) and looking at no other book or publication for at least a fortnight.
It's not expensive but it contains some fabulous photographs.
Learning to look Look at it from cover to cover spending some time actually scanning the images.
There will be some you like, some you don't and some that will just stop you in your tracks.
Really examine the "wow" images.
Ask what it is about them that you like.
Try to figure out why the photograph works.
Is it the quality of light? Or the way the image is composed? Does it make you wonder what's going on or why the photographer took it in the first place.
In fact, ask yourself why the photographer took it and try to find the answer.
The more you think about outstanding photography like this, the more you will start to recognise, in everyday life around you, the potential for good-if not great-photographs.
No "how tos", instruction or equipment advice.
What you will find, though, is the best way of recognising when a good picture might be there for the taking.
Grasping the technicalities of photography used to take a lot of study and practise.
Nowadays, digital cameras, autofocus, metering systems, etc, are so good that there's really no excuse for failing to get the technical aspects right.
Yet, if you look at the galleries on many of those websites that cater for one particular make of camera, you'll find that there's an awful lot of dross.
People are spending hundreds of pounds on equipment and then just taking snaps of their pets and their kids.
It occurred to me that although these photographers now have the means of taking sharp, well-exposed pictures, they haven't a clue what a good photograph is beyond those qualities.
Developing the photographic "eye" Their problem is that they spend too long looking at camera brochures and articles explaining how to perform certain techniques without trying to develop an "eye for a photograph".
So how do you develop "the eye" then? Well, you make the image the goal.
Not the camera, the lens or some other piece of equipment but the image.
That's the key: making the image the be all and end all of the photographic process.
That might seem obvious but visit the "marque websites" I mentioned above and you'll quickly see that few people are getting the message.
Fondling cameras, "testing" their lenses and buying more equipment seem to be the goals in many cases.
Make the image count Once you decide to concentrate on the image, your photography will take off in a different direction.
The websites you visit will change.
You'll start to seek out photographers' websites rather than camera review sites.
You'll stop looking at pictures of cameras and start looking at more photographs-and that's when the breakthrough comes.
Looking at photographs, in fact not just "looking" but "really looking", is the way to develop the eye.
I've no scientific evidence for this but I strongly believe that looking at great photographs encourages a kind of pattern recognition to develop in the brain.
You subconsciously absorb the elements that make a picture appeal to you.
That's what happened to me and my photography came on leaps and bounds as a result.
Armed with these "templates", you will start to notice photographs you wouldn't have seen before.
Note that this isn't the same as copying someone else's photography: it's a way of applying compositional and tonal strengths to the scene in front of you and making something coherent out of it.
But back to looking at photographs.
I'd suggest getting the Magnum Landscape book (Phaidon 1996, ISBN 0714836427) and looking at no other book or publication for at least a fortnight.
It's not expensive but it contains some fabulous photographs.
Learning to look Look at it from cover to cover spending some time actually scanning the images.
There will be some you like, some you don't and some that will just stop you in your tracks.
Really examine the "wow" images.
Ask what it is about them that you like.
Try to figure out why the photograph works.
Is it the quality of light? Or the way the image is composed? Does it make you wonder what's going on or why the photographer took it in the first place.
In fact, ask yourself why the photographer took it and try to find the answer.
The more you think about outstanding photography like this, the more you will start to recognise, in everyday life around you, the potential for good-if not great-photographs.
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