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Piece of Gear We Always Forget

Lesson 3 from: Mastering Photographic Composition and Visual Storytelling

Chris Weston

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Lesson Info

3. Piece of Gear We Always Forget

Next Lesson: Be a Storyteller

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Your 10,001st Photograph

03:24
2

Camera Gear

03:03
3

Piece of Gear We Always Forget

03:47
4

Be a Storyteller

03:09
5

Finding Ideas For Photography - Know Your Subject

06:59
6

Cae Study - Why Are Zebras Black and White Striped

01:30
7

Photograph What You Love

02:00
8

See the Extraordinary in Ordinary Things

01:31

Lesson Info

Piece of Gear We Always Forget

When we think about gear, we tend to think about cameras, lenses and add on, such as filters. But there's another vital bit of equipment we often forget. And it's this your body now What do I mean by that? Well, let's start with the eyes on his journey from the retina to the center of the brain. The data your eyes receive is heavily compressed, much like the visual data in a J peg, which means the part of the brain that tells you what you're looking at on what to do about it gets just 13 thousands of the original information. Think about it. That's a tiny, tiny amount. Now it performs this compression using historic information. Basically what you've learned an experience in the past, and it does it for good reasons, because that's how we navigate our environment and survive everyday life. But how does it affect your photography? Well, if your brains is only 1 3000 of what is actually there, my question is, what's it missing? What little details is the brain filtering out that could he...

lp you turn a record shot into something more that answer that question. Take this view What do you see? Amounted? Yes, but to get to that conclusion, your brain has brushed over the detail, including the most obvious one. It's a triangle. What else? Well, take a look at this image as well as a triangle. There's a bold circle created by this boulder. There's an implied horizon line, which I've positioned just above the center line, which draws your attention to the foreground. Importantly, there's also a smaller white line under the boulder, which creates separation between it and the water. There are lines on the mountain, texture in the rocks and the vivid orange color in the land, complemented by the blue in the sky. More subtle but critical to the composition is this small triangle in the foreground, which is an almost perfect mirror of the mountain line shape, color, pattern and texture. These are the building blocks of which all images created on being mindful off them is essential if you are to make well composed photographs rather than take land record shops. So a key part of composition has nothing to do with cameras and lenses and has everything to do with you knowing how your brain is interpreting what you see enables you to deactivate the filters it uses to inform you of the bigger picture so you can focus on the stories hidden underneath. Now what else? Well, what about legs? Legs of the most underutilized piece of equipment you own? Let's be honest. The predominance of zoom lenses have made us just that little bit lazy. It's so easy now just to stand in one spot with the obvious subject in front of you and zoom in and out until you get the right crop. But walking around exploring their environment often leads to finding lots more images, subjects you might have missed if it's simply stood still. A great way to get yourself moving around is to do what I did all those years ago. Get yourself a single prime lens head to a favorite location. I just see how many great shots you can get. And as well as exploring the environment, explore the subject to bend down, step up, step to the side, change your angle. Where you stand in relation to your subject is what determines perspective. And sometimes it's the smallest change in position that makes the greatest difference to the composition. No

Ratings and Reviews

Edmund Cheung
 

Perhaps the style of presentation and simple, short, and direct messaging does not "jive" with some; but others may really love this. Yes the production of each episode is stylized and perhaps a bit formal (like a TV Show?), but there is something to be said about it. Perhaps this is not meant for professional photographers? I think of myself as decent amateur / high level photographer. I found lots of great nuggets of wisdom and inspiration from this. Especially when I an in a rut for creativity. Yes I have heard all these concepts and ideas before. BUT it is always great to hear and see a different way of presentation and voice. Please do NOT take the naysayer reviews as the end all. You should judge for yourself and watch a few episodes. If the style and content click for you, I would highly recommend this course.

Kai Atherton
 

While I am perhaps more advanced in my photography then this course. It is always great to be able to go back to fundamentals and remind ourselves of the basic principles, and even camera function. I thoroughly enjoyed this course and Chris's other. It is a great motivational jumpstart when lacking fresh creative idea's.

Abdullah Alahmari
 

Thanks a lot to mr. Chris Weston This course is great and It is a 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 course for me. Beside the other course ( mastering the art of photography ) both courses are Complementing to each other and highly recommended.

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