How To "See" Like A Camera

Why do photographs sometimes not come out the way we expect? In extreme cases, there can actually be something wrong with the picture. There could be camera shake, it could be out of focus or it could be badly over or under exposed. But even when the picture is clear, sharp and has all the right ingredients, it can still look very different from what we saw. So what's going on?

As you might expect, it comes down to the difference between the way we see and the way a camera takes a picture. The most obvious difference being that a camera has one lens compared to our two eyes. So we see in three dimensions and the camera only records 2D pictures, this makes a big difference. However, it does mean that you can get a slightly better idea of what the final picture will look like by simply closing one eye.

But that is only the beginning. We don't just see, we perceive. That means we can identify the things we see and they have meaning for us. All the camera does is to record light, nothing else. Our vision is selective, we concentrate on things that are interesting to us. Not only that, but we can even "see" things that aren't there.

For example, if we look at someone we know in the distance, we can often recognise them even though they are really too far away for us to see enough detail to completely identify them. We recognise them by their outline and general shape and then fill in the details from our previous knowledge of what they look like.

This also explains why we can sometimes not notice when someone we know changes his or her appearance slightly. We use our perception mostly to identify people, rather than to carefully scrutinise what they actually look like.

Objects in the distance are further away than you think

Because we can fill in the details of objects that are too far away for us to actually see properly, they "appear" slightly bigger to us. One example is when we see the moon low on the horizon it appears huge compared to the size it will be in a photograph. This is one of many optical illusions that prove how different our perception is from the camera's view.

Human beings have been painting pictures for thousands of years but it's only been in the last few hundred years that painters (of the "realism" school) have settled on what we now think of as a "natural" perspective. This is where parallel lines (if extended) meet at a single "vanishing point" and is the perspective that a camera gives you.

Before this "natural" perspective became popular, it was quite common for people or objects that were meant to be in the distance, not to be painted much smaller, but simply to be placed higher up in the picture. Items in the foreground were placed at the bottom of the picture. We accepted this for thousands of years without anyone thinking there was a problem with this type of perspective.

Our actual perspective is somewhere between these two extremes. It is similar to that of the camera except that, objects in the distance are slightly smaller than we perceive them. This is why wide angle shots of a landscape can often turn out much less spectacular than we expect. The things in the distance that captured our attention turn out to be smaller and less significant in the photograph.

By using a viewfinder (rather than the LCD screen) and therefore shielding our eyes from the real view, we can usually get a better idea of the camera's perspective.

Highlights are brighter and shadows are darker

In my very first art class in school, the teacher placed an orange under a desklamp and asked the class what colour it was. Unsurprisingly, we all said "orange" and he said we were wrong. At least, this it was not enough information for an artist to draw or paint it.

He pointed out that, if we looked closely, we would see that the part of the orange directly under the light was actually white because it was just reflecting the light source. The other side of the fruit, away from the light, was in fact black because it was just shadow.

The true colour of the orange was a transition from white through orange to black. This is how we needed to see it if we wanted to paint it properly. The same is true for photographers. We need to be aware of the highlights and the shadows because both can look very different in a photograph, compared to the way we see them.

Our visual perception is amazing really. We can automatically cope with enormous changes to the quantity and colour of the light around us, without even noticing. We can see equally well both indoors and outside even though the level and colour of light is vastly different. We can also compensate for changes in lighting even across the view we are looking at.

If part of our view were in shadow, we would compensate by making it brighter. Similarly, we would automatically darken the areas in bright sunlight. The trouble is that we are not really aware that this is happening, it's just the way of our perception. Only when we take the photograph, can we see just how bright (or dark) things really are.

The camera only records light and it only records the level that is actually there, which is very different from the way we perceive it. Some people find that by half closing their eyes, they can get a better idea of just how bright and dark things are, relative to each other. You could also use a light meter and actually measure the level in different parts of your photograph.

Although there are a few things mentioned here that might help you to "see" more like your camera, in the end, there is no real substitute for experience. If you return to the scene of one of your photographs with the finished product, you can directly compare it with the original view. That is, assuming that the lighting conditions are similar.

This will work even better if you have taken shots at different settings for comparison. Some may look closer to the real view than others, but each one is actually just a different aspect of the same scene. It is the decision of the photographer as to which aspect best expresses the reason why they wanted to take the picture in the first place.

No photograph will ever be exactly the same as your perception, it never could. A photograph is the result of several decisions made by the photographer in order to create an image. We use the tools at our disposal to select and emphasise what we find important in the world around us, this gives our pictures a meaning and purpose beyond just looking at something.

Unlike the painter, our starting point is not a blank canvas, but is the real world. However, we can't rely on our perception of it to see it the way a camera will. Although our visual perception is wonderful and amazing, it is also just a figment of our imagination. With practice, photographers learn how to ignore their perception and soon begin to "see the light", just like a camera.