develop your intuition my dear watson
Documentary photography has long been an interest of mine. I did not start out being interested in this area but somewhere along the line I fell into it and I am happy that I did. I was teaching myself photography, slowly I might add, and for the first years of my development I was more of a landscape type photographer. I think that many people fall into this path. I liked to travel. I liked to hike. I had a camera. So it became a natural progression that I would travel, hike, and take photographs. In fact, photography became a good excuse to travel. Most of my work was not in the Ansel Adams traditional landscape style. It was more about detail, abstract, nature. Somewhere along the line I discovered the work of Sebastaio Salgado, the brillant documentary photographer from Brazil. And my photography life, and regular life, was changed. I was moved by the sublime use of light in his images. I loved the raw emotion that he captured in his subjects. I was entangled by the exotic places that he visited. I have mentioned him before in my posts ‘Why We Photograph‘ and ‘10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Photos (Part 2).’ So you can see how important and influential another photographer can be on you and that is why I always tell me students to have a photo hero.
In the wedding photography business I mix in my documentary, photojournalism style with my fine art background. Bake for 30 mins at 350 degrees and you have a delicious treat. I have been asked many times about my images and how I was able to capture that perfect moment, or what Henri Cartier-Bresson called ‘the decisive moment.’ A great deal of it is being able to predict what is going to happen, when, and where. Some may think that this is blind luck. It is more like intuition and the only way that I know how to develop it is through continued practice. It is like a chess master memorizing the moves from classic games and then using the right move in their own games. It is intuition, but it is more about putting in the time to really master your craft. Life is somewhat predictable. If I find an interesting location I know that sooner or later someone interesting is going to come by. As you practice this skill of photography more and more you really do get to the point where you feel like you can predict the future. It is hard to explain, but there are many times that I know exactly where to stand and where to look to capture that great moment in time. I guess that is a form of intuition. One of the definitions of intuition is “…a keen and quick insight.” There is nothing magical about that.
So if you want to develop the seemingly impossible skill of intuition know your game really well. Practice over and over and suddenly situations will not look so unfamiliar. There is really no other way that I can explain it. You must become aware. Once again you must see.
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
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[...] documentary wedding style in the posts ‘Becoming a Fine Art Photographer‘ and ‘Developing Your Photography Intuition.’ For the photographers it allows us to get to know our subjects’ likes and dislikes, [...]