What Phase Two - 'The Action Group' - Looks Like in Practice. Photography Observation Exercises

an introduction to Simple Photography Tips phase two - The Action Group. photography observation exercises

Bluebells and Wild Garlic stretch into the distance on a misty spring morning

One of the aims of Phase Two - the Action Group; within Simple Photography Tips, is to help you further develop that habit of noticing, here are some photography observation exercises.

As a member you receive every fortnight, a simple observational exercise, designed to sharpen the eye and deepen the pleasure of taking photographs.

'Once a fortnight' is based on the realisation from responses I've had, that 'weekly' puts too much pressure on, and as we're heading into 'mindfulness' territory, pressure is not what I'm interested in.

Strange as it may sound - the task here is photograph the 'atmosphere'.

Find somewhere where the air itself becomes part of the photograph.

Look for mist; rain; sea-spray; drifting cloud; early morning haze

Let your eyes scan the scene, remembering that Monet is said to have stood and looked for around forty minutes before doing anything.

Look at what's in the distance.

Look at the foreground.

Notice details of trees, moss on logs, or rocks, the way a wave surges back leaving a mist in the air. The light that shines through a hole in the cloud in the distance.

Instead of concentrating only on the subject, notice the space between you and it.

Notice how distance changes things.

Contrast softens.

Colours fade.

Shapes simplify - either blending, or becoming more defined.

Although your eventual aim is to create a photograph where the atmosphere becomes part of the story, the journey to taking the photo is just as important.

Allow yourself time and space to notice.

Scenes like this are easy to overlook unless we slow down long enough to notice what is happening around us.

This image, taken almost a year ago on a slightly misty morning, when the shadows were almost non-existent, is the sort of image that it's easy to 'walk on past.'

Why? Maybe because it's a misty morning, and your brain is not set up to noticing the light and the depth of colour, and thus the photographic opportunities.

Notice things about the image, just spend time. The way some of the logs provide 'barriers' the concentration of flowers in the middle of the image, the tree-trunks leading the eye upwards.

Let your eyes walk through the scene, taking you into the distance where the bluebells are 'lost' and only the wild garlic is visible, lighting the path through to the distant trees.

What else do you see?

Have you noticed the diagonal log in the foreground taking your eye into the scene. The hazel breaking into leaf in the top of the picture. The muted lime colour of the beech-leaves in the middle distance? The individual bluebells separated out because you're sufficiently above them to give space between them and their neighbour.

Let me know what else you notice.

Within the Action Group it may seem at first that the exercises like this are simple, but over time they quietly transform the way you approach photography.

You begin to notice more.

And once you notice more, your photographs naturally begin to say more.

If you’ve subscribed, you’re very welcome to become more involved in the journey.

Phase Two - The Action Group is a quiet, supportive space to put things into practice, and to gently recover the part of you that can get lost in the busyness of life, that you may look until you see.

To join the waiting list just ping me a message through the contact page.

Have open eyes and an open heart!

Ut aspicias, donec videas - That you may look until you see.