From Syl Arena’s Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School…
17. Learn to think of the viewfinder as optional.
If you don’t regularly make photographs without looking through the viewfinder, start today. Learn how your lens sees without looking. Become more spontaneous. Hold your camera up over your head - like a paparazzi. Shoot from the hip (literally). Go for the worm’s-eye view. Stop chimping the LCD after each shot. Try this. Cover the viewfinder and LCD with tape — except where the histogram shows (so you can make good exposure decisions). Then shoot for a day or a week without ever looking through the lens. I’m sure you will come up with many great images that show you the world in a way you haven’t seen before.
So there’s your challenge. Take a bunch of photos without using any kind of viewfinder or checking the images on the rear screen afterwards. Post your best one of the week!
Well this was fun! Although shooting without looking through the viewfinder did mean a lot of shots of things at some very odd angles and not getting in the image what I thought I was getting! I decided to get down to ground level and this is my favourite of the ones I took this week.
That's a delightful picture!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photo. It looks totally planned.
ReplyDeleteI love just holding out my camera and clicking away sometimes. I like seeing what it chose to focus on and what shows up as the focal point.
It's especially fun when you are in a crowded restaurant or on the street.