Applying Knowledge

Dragan

Okay, so it's a Friday and i am itching for that magic hour when i can walk out of work and into the weekend. As such, a bit of distraction is in order and what better way than to talk some rubbish?

For the last couple of days i have been hung up on what i have called "applicable knowledge". I have discovered the there are certains things i can identify in an image that might be positive or negative, how best to improve or work around it and how to get that better shot. The only problem is, the vast majority of this only comes into the play AFTER the fact.

For some reason, i just don't seem to be able to approach that taking of a photo with this same anlytical/theoretical knowledge, I just end up taking the photo. I have gotten better at looking at WHY i want to take a certain shot, experimenting with settings, angles, lenses etc....but still the knowledge i can drum up at the actual time of shooting seems to be far less that the amount i can apply when i am looking at the shot later, deciding why i like it or think it's good and what i want to do with it from a PP point of view.

Has anybody else noticed this? Is it something that you found faded away after time as the simple nature of practice and taking more and more shots led to be being able to apply more and more of the theory and knowledge learned at the time of the click?

Covey

It's quite normal I would say.

Unless your taking very static subjects with controlled light (still life for instance), there is simply not enough time to consider every single aspect prior to getting the shot. Consider everything to the nth degree and miss the shot/light etc, isn't a great option.

You can look at a photo afterwards, with all the time in the world and you can pick it to pieces. It's like most decisions in life, you make them as best you can, taking in all your experience, but they often look different in hindsight.

Photography, thankfully, is rarely an exact science, and such imperfections are what differentiates one photographer from another and makes it such an endearing medium imo.

elven

oooh now there's a lovely friday thread

I think it's about absorbing that knowledge so you apply it without even having to think consciously about it at the time. If you're doing too much conscious thinking, you get restrained. Most people talk about doing their best work when they experience 'flow', which is that state of mind where you don't notice time passing, you become able to completely ignore outside distractions and you instinctively know what to do, without aving to consciously concentrate too hard. Little pockets of that are probably happeningw hen you are shooting, and thats' why you can come back to the pictures afterwards and see the results of it but can't apply it on purpose next time. But the more you shoot, the more you do internalise that stuff, so you get into the flow easier.

I have waffled about it at length on my blog and know a few other bloggers who talk about that stuff - Paul Butzi, Andy Illachinski and a good few others you'll find on their blogrolls. There's some reading for you

Dragan

elven wrote: »

oooh now there's a lovely friday thread

I think it's about absorbing that knowledge so you apply it without even having to think consciously about it at the time. If you're doing too much conscious thinking, you get restrained.

That is very interesting. I have an interest and hobby background in various Martial Arts and this is pretty much one of the universal principles...that something is practiced and drilled and practiced again until the action becomes instinct and seperate from a concious thought...you are just acting and reacting, not thinking or deciding.

Definitely some food for thought there, and thank you very much for the links, i'm off for a read!

elven

Oh that reminded me of Zen in the Art of Archery too. Not about photography but well worth a read, it's along the same principles.

Nisio

(Don't know if I'm off on a tangent here)

If you were learning a new language; which would be easier to understand; a sentence spoken to you by a native speaker or the same sentence written down?

I reckon it's similar to your post, the finished picture is pinned down and easier to analyse than the vista you point the camera at. Maybe as you get more fluent with the technical/settings side of photography its easier to analyse what you're looking at the get the picture you want?

(edit and by "You" I mean "I" )

CabanSail

I go along with the "flow" idea too.

It's like when I first learned about the Rule of Thirds. I would consiously place subjects on the intersections etc. Soon it became less thinking about it & more "that looks right" in the viewfinder. I guess it also works when shooting in P you can quickly look at the exposure readings the camera is giving & visualise the DOF & quickly chnge things if needed.

On the other hand I wonder if the Digital Age has made some things worse. Back when shooting Transparencies each time you released the shutter it cost you money. I was a poor student & so considered each shot before taking it & tried to make each frame count. I heard a veteran press photographer speak about this recently, saying the younger guys now take these bursts of shots when there is not much happening. He will still consider the image & take what is needed. he had a lot less images to wade through at the end of the day. I have noticed that my habits have changed over the years too. When i first got a DSLR I was still shooting in film mode where 36 images were your lot. Then I went into shooting way too many frames for a while & lately have noticed that has come down again.

oshead

This seems to be a recurring theme in photography. Probably because being inventive with imaging sometimes one needs to escape from thinking too much and just doing it.

I'm currently watching the Strobist Lighting DVD. In it, David Hobby talks of "Applicable Knowledge" as a Bag of Tricks. A set of lighting and photography tricks that don't need concious tought anymore. He goes on to say, with these tricks, he is now able to figure out new lighting problems with apparent ease. Without thinking too much.

To fill your bag of tricks, he advocates you taking your worst style of photos and making them your best. Doing this helps you to think more critically. With success, it will make your whole photography repatoir stronger. I tried this myself last week with my Winter Garden set. Now my bag of tricks just got a little bit fuller and my repatoir just a tad stronger.

In a month or so time, after I get some new lighting gear (Umberellas etc..) I will embark on the process of improving my Portrait Photography. And thus raising my bar a little higher.

Dave OS

bocha

this sounds exactly like how i feel - i take what i think is a good shot and then later look at it as it's just not what i expected. I just can't seem to learn good composition.

ThOnda

As said above, the more you know, the more you can apply already when capturing the picture. If you struggle to understand meaning of Aperture, you could have problems to enter DoF and bookeh competitions.