From the course: Photography Foundations: Composition

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Understanding the photographic impulse

Understanding the photographic impulse

From the course: Photography Foundations: Composition

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Understanding the photographic impulse

Earlier I mentioned that the study of photography can be divided into two domains, artistry and craft. These two skills sets mix and combine to create photographic ability. All photos though begin with a single impulse, that moment where you have an idea that there's a photo to be had in a particular location. Sometimes it's very obvious that there is a good picture to be had in a particular location, say a lion has escaped from the zoo and its charging at you down Main Street. Now of course a normal person would think they need to runaway, but you're a photographer, so at that moment you feel a strong impulse towards an image. In that case it's pretty easy to recognize that there's a good picture to be had, but it isn't always so easy. In the last chapter we talked about seeing and about how much your brain is involved in the visual process. Now I don't have any data to support this next idea, but in my experience the subconscious part of the brain is often a decent photographer…

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