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Freshness

Let’s take a break from the hefty LNII series and start a fresh question: How to keep a fresh eye in seeing a scene?

R0010345 (Medium)(The plastic plate reads: "fresh fruit juice" ranging from orange juice, watermelon juice to starfruit juice and more.  I shot this picture with the WB tuned to purplish. The light was right and the mood peaceful.  There is some special quality in this scene that entice me to pause and shoot)

Last July, I bought the GX200. Since then, I have been taking photos every day. On good days, I take lots of shots; on other days when the mood or weather is not right, I take fewer. This is way too different from my film days. For one thing, film photographers tend to be more frugal; for another, serious film cameras are less portable on a daily basis.

Anyway, taking pictures is more like eating breakfast to me now: I will feel funny if I skip it. Well, I’m not a breakfast “refusenik”, so to speak. When I reviewed the daily posts I wrote here, I was sort of amazed by how varied the topics and photos I had done.

For a minute, I wondered, “How could I tell which scene would make a good photo?”

The answer is probably that I can’t tell. Instead, with a bit of luck for sure, I have managed to keep a fresh eye in seeing a scene and find in it what holds a viewer’s interest. So the real question is: how do I keep an eye fresh in seeing a scene?

1) Training. I have been taking photos for 20 years. My mind can see a scene like through a viewfinder. In the old days when I couldn’t carry with me the SLR all the time, I liked to see a scene through the “viewfinder” by joining the ends of my thumbs and index fingers to form a rectangle.

2) Reading. I have been reading books on photography techniques. By the way, I do not read much about camera reviews really. I bought the GX200 because I was amazed by the GX100 loaned to me. I didn’t read any review about the GX200 or 100 before I bought it. Time is precious.

3) Reading again. Read anything which can cultivates an artistic mind. I read poems and proses. Well, I play classical music with my guitar too.

4) Mimicking. When I learned to do creative writings in the university, a professor revealed to me that shadowing the style of great writers was a surefire way to success. Personal style usually comes after years of practices. The same can be applied to photography. I read albums featuring works by photography masters and sometimes mimic their treatment of some particular scenes. I may do it right away after reading, or later on when a similar scene arises.

R0013574 (Medium)(The car owner must have done some reasoning before coming up with this novel way of fixing his car.  Can we call this creative?)

5) Reasoning. When you come across photos which lots of people praise, ask this question, “A good photo but in what way?” Then read on to see if you agree to what people praise about it. Why and why not? This makes you a ready photographer next time a similar scene shows up.

6) Timing. Visit a place in different days or different time of a day or in different weather (especially in extreme weather conditions). Fresh scenes will present themselves whether you manage to keep a fresh eye or not.

7) Reversing. Go along a familiar route in a reverse direction. This can make you see a scene differently.

8) Standing. Take for example, sometimes I just stand in the street at the same spot for ten minutes to look around and take pictures. This forces me to calculate the best way to shoot a scene.

9) Orientation. If you haven’t stood against the sun to take pictures, try it. If you haven’t lain on the floor to take pictures, try it. If you haven’t used only your more creative right brain to take pictures (by closing your right eye), do it. If you haven’t taken a bus ride just to give yourself a higher angle to take pictures, you have missed lots of good shots. Orient yourselves to fresh viewpoints.

10) Scouting. Scout a location to find a unique viewpoint

11) Sleeping and exercising. This is no kidding. You have found yourself in a great mood after a good night’s sleep or some aerobic exercise, haven’t you? Researchers have found that enough sleep and aerobic exercises can increase the serotonin levels in us, giving us a better mood and sharper mind. Being sleepy and in bad mood can benumb creativity. As an aside, little girls are more calm and contented than the boys because their serotonin levels are higher.

R0013725 (Medium)(Think but you don't have to smoke. I took this picture when I came out from a performance hall. I wasted no time and shot this picture with the WB tuned to greenish. I waited for the man to exhaust a breath of smoke to convey a sense of thinking)

12) Thinking. Think about what you want to express in a photo before you compose. Better still, think about what theme you wish to work on before setting off with your camera. A specific target makes you see things in specific perspective.

13) Reviewing. Review your photos to see what is good and what is not. You may also use a software to do the cropping and trimming to see how a composition can be improved next time.

14) Topicality. Think up a project to work on. It is a good idea to pick a topical issue. You will learn a lot about what and how to shoot in the process, along with other useful knowledge. Make reference to similar projects before you set yours rolling.

15) Make friends. You can learn from your friends something you may never know otherwise. They give you new perspectives in seeing a matter. And the number of ways we manage to see a scene also hinges on our ability to reason things from different stances. Besides that, friends can afford you chances to go somewhere or do something you may never try otherwise too. Those are the occasions which can unleash your power to see a scene with a novel eye.

R0013881a (Medium)(If I haven't acquainted myself with the Taekwondo master, I won't be able to shoot pictures in this grading test)

16) Keep taking photos. “Practice makes perfect” is a platitude but always true.

These are all I can gush and share with you. What are your tips? Do drop a line to tell us how you keep a fresh eye in seeing a scene.

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