WORKING THE SCENEor “Chipping Away at the Scene”

Agenda

• Pre-Visualization

• Mindfulness in Photography

• Working the Scene

• The “Decisive Moment”

• Images and contact sheets

“The term visualization refers to the entire emotional-mental

process of creating a photograph, and is one of the most important

concepts in photography.” — Ansel Adams

–Ansel Adams

“The first step towards visualization - is to become aware of the world around us in terms of the photographic image. We must explore what lies before our eyes for its significance,

substance, shape, texture, and the relationship of tonal values.”

Ansel Adams

•Ansel Adams was a landscape and nature

photographer, a passionate environmentalist, and

a champion of the U.S Parks system.

•Given Adams’ particular interest in photography,

his style, and the large format cameras he used,

the process of visualization lends it itself well to

the contemplative photographer.This is someone

who takes a slow and deliberate approach to

formulating an image in the mind, interpreting

that visual image, and translating that image into

a print that best conveys what the photographer

was both seeing and feeling at the time.

•Ansel Adams stated that his negatives were “the

score” and the print was “the performance.”

Pre-Visualization

Previsualization is the act of looking at a scene and imaging what the image will look like in its final format (e.g., in a print) and all of the steps that the image will need to go through to produce the final image.

Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico Ansel Adams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_Ar5ZPuKUM

The Tetons and the Snake River

Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada from Lone Pine, 1944 by Ansel Adams

THROUGH PRE-VISUALIZING THIS SCENE, THE PROPER FILTER, SETTINGS AND POST-PRODUCTION IDEAS WERE ALL THOUGHT OUT BEFORE THE SHUTTER WAS PRESSED

Brian Pex

Pre-VisualizationGalen Rowell, a master landscape photographer, said that previsualization was an essential element to his photographic approach. Rowell stated that ”Seeing photographically involves not only a sensitivity to composition and timing, it also calls for awareness of how the scene will translate into the photograph.”

One of the important rule’s from Rowell was: “All great photography is about communicating an emotion.”

Rowell was familiar with this location, subject, and environment, and may have

previsualized the potential with golden light.

This photograph was used as a cover for Outdoor Photographer, and Galen conducted considerable previsualization and preplanning to set it up, climb the pinnacle, and be in position for the perfect rim-light effect, then a friend tripped the shutter.

Steps for Composing a Photograph Using Pre-visualization

• STEP 1: PHOTOGRAPHIC LOOKING AND SEEING

Look Deeper. Analyze everything. Search for elements that can be put together to form the photograph. Analyze the situation more quickly to determine if it’s worth pursuing, and how to best approach it.

• STEP 2: COMPOSING THE IMAGE

Study the scene. Decide how well the objects relate to one another compositionally. Also Analyze the Light - is it highlighting exactly the things you want highlighted.

• STEP 3: ENVISIONING THE FINAL PRINT

Translate the Scene. The most difficult part of visualization is envisioning the final print you wish to make while looking at the scene. Attempt to convey the mood that the scene impressed upon you. Go Beyond the Scene - Not only can you show the viewer the world that is important to you, you can also create your own interpretation. Minor White said, “We photograph something for two reasons: for what it is, and for what else it is.”

Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photo-graph: Not searching for unusual subject matter but making the commonplace unusual.

-Edward Weston Pepper #30

Photography.. is about finding something interesting in an ordinary place..It has little to do with the things that you see and everything to do with the way you see them.

-Elliott Erwitt Pigeon in Flight

Mindful Photography

Even though the great masters of photography may not use the word “mindfulness,” many of them talk about photography as awareness of the present moment in which we forget ourselves.We let go of the goals, desires, expectations, techniques, and anxieties that make-up who we are in order to more fully immerse ourselves into the experience of seeing. We open up our awareness of what the world offers us.

John Suler’s Photographic Psychology: Image and the Psyche

Mindfulness in Photography

• With mindfulness in photography, you can use your camera to learn to be present.

• Mindfulness in photography involves not only looking at something outwardly but also being aware of your internal response.

• When you photograph, does the scene evoke an emotion (sorrow, grief, joy, hope, empathy, wonder or any other emotions)?

• Try to photograph what you feel.

By Lisa Richman

What is “Working the Scene?”

•Don’t just take one shot, Shoot the scene and keep discovering the best composition.

•Find out what it was that captured your attention.

•Keep shooting (take a step forward, left, right, crouch down, get closer, go backwards).

•When you’re shooting look at the edges of the frame and when you’re done, choose the best photo.

Working the Scene

• Shift your point of view, take as many shots of the same subject from different points of view and compare the results.

• Try taking both a vertical and horizontal picture. Remember, the best time to shoot a vertical is right after a horizontal!

• Try different apertures/shutter speeds and different lenses.

• Try to return, if possible, at different times of the day and under varying weather conditions.

Working the Scene

• First step: Slow down, stop, and look around for a moment.

• Walk around the subject and see how the background changes as you move 360 degrees around your subject.

• Explore what captured your attention.

Anthony EpesHavana, Cuba

Change Your Vantage Point

• We see the world from our most common vantage point (standing up at eye level) and at a distance from the subject that is at our comfort zone (not too close and not too far away). Explore different point of views by getting down low, up high, in close, or some other unexpected camera position.

• Consider taking more photos than you normally do and also move in closer to your subject than you normally do, if possible.

• See how things look from different angles and perspectives.

Copyright Steve Simon (all images)

Key Points

• Find a subject or scene that intrigues you.

• Work the scene until you have the best shot you can get.

• Take time to just walk around and observe the scene that intrigued you and to allow yourself time to examine what interested you about the scene.

• Be patient - wait for the best light, weather, and subjects.

• Have perseverance.

Contact Sheets

• The contact sheet (also called a contact proof) historically was a positive print of all the negative images from a roll of 35mm film or medium format film.

• Today, the term refers to an arrangement of multiple, small, same size images on a single page usually with some identifying information such as the image filename placed under the image.

• The purpose is to allow the photographer to view a mini-preview of all the film (or pictures) to determine which photographs are best to print.

Elliot Erwitt, contact sheet for “Chihuahua,” New York City (1946)

Decisive Moment

The concept was introduced by the founder of street photography (Henri Cartier-Bresson). The “decisive moment” is a fleeting moment - where all the compositional elements come together and you only have a split second to capture that moment.

What is the “Decisive Moment” for you?

How can you better capture the “decisive moment” or, identify the “decisive moment”?

Tips on How to Capture the Decisive Moment

• Follow your intuition.

• In terms of technical settings, “set it and forget it.”

• When photographing people, look for emotions and gestures.

• Photograph what is personally meaningful to you.

• Take multiple shots (if you can) and work the scene!

Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare by Henri Cartier-Bresson

Elliott ErwittParis, 1989

Eric KimSanta Monica, 2010

Eric KimSanta Monica, 2010

Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos. FRANCE. The Var department. Hyères. 1932

Carla Coulson

Try to capture a few meaningful or decisive moments and share the beauty with others.

Photograph what you feel!