On my photography walks I frequently have Shoot What You See sessions where I literally shoot whatever captures my attention.
I don’t aim for Instagram worthy images or for subjects that might appeal to others. I simply take pictures that I want to take, and I enjoy taking them.
Doing regular Shoot What You See sessions has several advantages.
Firstly, they give you a great sense of freedom to do what you want to do, and to learn more about yourself as a photographer. Free from expectations, either from yourself or others, you can experiment, discover what you like, and play around with different compositions and styles of photography.
Secondly, the images you capture will not necessarily be images that you will show to others (although they might be!) but you won’t always delete the images either. As mentioned above, there may be images that will help you learn about yourself as a photographer; about the subjects you like to shoot, the focal lengths you prefer and the conditions that best suit your photography.
There may be images that you can work with in an editing program to help you refine your editing skills, or there may be images that you will save to a folder that can be revisited at a later stage when you may even discover a hidden gem!
A third advantage of doing regular Shoot What You See sessions is that you will begin to see images where you may not normally see them and you will begin to capture subjects that you would normally ignore. You can be as creative as you like as you are only pleasing yourself.
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I recently engaged in two Shoot What You See sessions. The first session was on a bright morning in my neighbourhood, the second was during a short break in a small coastal village.
Here are some images from the two sessions with comments on why they caught my attention.
I like the way the light behaves in these scenes. I think it turns a regular suburban street into something worth photographing.
I came across this communal greenhouse on the edge of a housing estate. I like the idea so I took a photograph.
The bright primary colours caught my attention here, as well as the contrast between light and shadow on the left of the scene.
A simple image of a branch but the shape stood out for me against the green of the hedge.
I just couldn't ignore this subject, especially because of how it was lit by the early morning sun.
I am often drawn to shadows on walls. I like the abstract nature of the images they create.
This is an image taken on while on holiday. I went for a walk with the intention of capturing anything that caught my attention. In this case it was the boy sitting in the sand. I think that the image is balanced by the people in the water who are placed at a diagonal from the boy's position.
I also think the image conveys a strong story.
I tend to be drawn to examples of natural framing. I usually find that there are a few examples of these from every outing.
This is another image from my holiday walkabout. The image is nothing special but I tend to photograph fishermen's ropes whenever I see them. They provide a good visual example of human activity in a coastal area. Also, I like to look back on these images and be reminded of summer days.
I am particularly drawn to taking photographs of huts, sheds and all kinds of interesting structures. I think the wooden shelter makes a nice foreground in this coastal image.
Shooting What You See helps you to learn and improve your photography skills but it is mostly about freedom and enjoyment.
Why not take your camera and try it for yourself?
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