Train Your Eye to Take Better Photos by Analyzing Your Reaction to Others

 

By Alan Henry

A great camera and technical know how will only take you so far when you're learning to take great photos. You also have to pay attention to your composition and what you're trying to convey with the pictures you take, whether you want to make a statement or just capture a special moment for others to see. The best way to start thinking about how to compose your own pictures is to study other photos you love.

Photographer Simon Ellingworth has a great exercise to help you analyze the photos other people take so you can understand what makes them so good. He offers up a few examples, but suggests you sit down with the photos that you think are particularly well composed, close your eyes, and when you open them, immediately look at the photo.

Then ask yourself a few questions, like where your eye is immediately drawn, and how you scan the photo (does your eye go straight to a specific object, or are you scanning the photo in an S-shape?) Was the photo taken from eye level, or is a special type of photo, like a macro or wide-angle shot? How was light and shadow used in the photo? Finally, ask yourself if it's spawned an emotional response. Studying a great photo for the way the photographer has composed it—and the narrative or emotional response you pick up from it—will help you examine your own shots for similar nuances.

You can read the full list of suggestions at the link below, but the gist is that by taking time to really examine the photos you like, you can understand how to improve your own composition before you ever go into the field. Then, when you do head out to start shooting, whether you're taking pictures at a museum, on a hike, or at the kids' soccer game, you'll be better able to compose great shots, or at least sift out the bad ones from the great ones when you look back through what you took.

How To Train Your Eye to Take Better Pictures | Lightism