The Camera's Eye

Or Photography Lesson No. 4275.

Or What I Learned In Photography Class.

Wait.

I'm the teacher.

That, fortunately, does not mean I can't learn anything.

Because if you, the reader, have been following along at home, you know that for the most part, I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

Still here?

Case in point:

I walk past here all the time.

That is not what it looks like; sodium lights, strange paint on the walls, etc. it is not pleasant place or picture material.

Okay, I sort of thought there was something there as you can see, but I never thought of wasting a frame on it until I had to well, waste a frame.

I wanted to finish a roll off and develop it so I popped that shot off and I was pleasantly surprised with what I got.

The camera saw and captured something I didn't.

See I mean.

The clouds parted, angels sang, a light bulb went off above my head, I woke up and smelled the coffee etc.

Okay, subconsciously I've been doing this all along:

Using the camera as a tool, as a means to create images.

Making pictures, not taking pictures.

I almost always shoot stopped down, meaning I'm always under exposing my shots to create a certain look or composition.

Almost nothing I take looks like what it looks like with your nekkid eyeballs.

Okay, almost nothing:

I do expose for normal light now and then, but for the most part it's always under:

Trying to see what the camera sees.

Of course it's partly my eyeballs, but the camera is large part of of it too.

What can the camera do?

How will the camera see it?

Can the camera change something ordinary into something extra ordinary?

I must be thick.

Or dense.

Why this concept didn't come to me earlier, I dunno.

I mean I've been doing it, but now that I know why I'm doing it well, now I know why I'm doing it.

If you know what I mean.

Of course It's All About the Light Baby (AATLB!)!

That helped me realize what I was up to with all this exposure stuff.

How can I use the light?

What can I do to make it AATLB?

I mean a sunset is just a sunset until it's AALTB:

What I see matters and having an art background don't hurt but again in the end it's what the camera sees; the camera's eye.

Now I feel validated for having all these cameras!

Did I mention I got a new camera?

More on that later.

Photography is a lot about what you see, but it's also about what comes out of the camera.

It's tool, not a jewel and one can never have enough tools!

Don't you know.