Of all the skills and knowledge photographers must absorb in order to master the craft, learning to see is undoubtedly the most challenging.
One can discover a great deal from instructors, or from books, articles, videos, and - last but not least - the owner’s manual: everything from how to operate the gear to principles of composition. But when it comes to developing the eye and cultivating your vision, that’s entirely up to you.
Certainly, there are tips and exercises that can help improve and sharpen visual literacy, but ultimately, you have to find your own subject matter and interpret the scene. Unless you want to make identical postcard shots from the exact same locations as everyone else, you must learn to “see” independently.
Nobody can teach you your unique vision.
Of course, that’s easier said than done.
The Mind-Traps Blocking Your Vision
If I point to a cumulus cloud formation and say, “I see a ballerina dancing,” you’ll spot the same thing almost immediately. After that, it becomes almost impossible to unsee the dancer, or to discover other objects hidden in that same cloud. This is known as visual priming: our brains take the cognitive shortcut, stop looking for anything else, and exclusively see the shape that was already identified.
Copying a famous photo or visiting an iconic location and seeing only a single (well-known) composition is analogous to your brain being locked in to identifying only the "dancer." It strips away your creative autonomy and leaves you dependent on someone else's vision.
You can also consider this bias in the context of “groupthink.” Maybe you’re out shooting with some other people, and they all make a beeline for the same spot. Their cameras are all pointed in the same direction. That must be where you should set up, too, right?
Unless you want to photograph the ”ballerina dancing” along with everyone else, don’t be afraid to see for yourself. Rely on your own artistic vision.
At the risk of forever altering how you see beautiful Mount Moran in Grand Teton National Park, consider the phenomenon locals refer to as the “Lady of the Mountain.” I’ve outlined her shape in the photograph below.
Never had I seen her in the snow – until someone pointed this out to me. Now, it’s impossible for me not to see her.
Visual priming. It's real!
Literal Thinking
As adults, our brains are optimized for efficiency. We see the obvious: for example, a tree. We instantly label it as such and quickly move on to the next scene. The tree’s shape, texture, and other subtler characteristics barely register.
To find unique compositions, remove the labels and consider them as shapes. How do they relate to one another? Look at light and shadow. Look for lines, patterns, textures and repetition.
Childlike Wonder versus Utility
Reclaim your visual curiosity by thinking more like you did as a child. Developing the eye isn't about learning a rigid set of rules; it's about unlearning the adult tendency to label, categorize, overlook and/or dismiss much of what we see.
To a young child, a cardboard box is a fort, and a tree root looks like a sleeping dragon. Children interact with pure form, scale, and feeling, completely untethered from utility or literal definitions.
Slow down and free your imagination. See forms, shapes and geometry instead of literal subjects. Shift your thinking from nouns to adjectives and verbs.
Notice how objects relate to one another.
Overcome the Documentary Impulse
Developing a photographer's eye requires shifting from merely documenting scenes to interpreting them. Altering your mindset from "I want to capture this whole valley" to "I want to extract this specific relationship of shapes" or “I want to convey the tranquility I feel here” is a leap that takes deliberate practice.
Practical Exercises to Let Your Imagination Go
Fixed Position
Step into your backyard or go to a local park. Make ten completely different photos from a single spot. Abstracts are fine. You can change your height (bend/kneel), turn your body, adjust depth of field, and change your lens, but don’t move your feet.
180-Degree Look-Back
Select a backyard “landmark” (i.e. a tree, a fencepost, a bird feeder). Turn around and look at what’s directly behind you. Find a way to make that view a compelling composition. Move closer to it if you need to, or feel free to switch lenses – but find an interesting way to capture it.
One Subject, 10 Photos
You can do this anywhere – even inside the house. Select a single common object and make ten different photos of it. Use different angles, different lenses, change your physical relationship to it, capture it in different types of lighting, depict it abstractly or realistically, or both.
Go For a Walk
Take your camera with only one lens. Select a pace count (e.g., 25 steps) and stop every time you reach that number. Find something interesting to shoot in that general area before moving on. Take your time, and have fun.
There’s no Shortcut
Creative vision doesn’t just “happen.” You can’t expect to improve without practice. If you only pull the camera out of the bag once every few months, progress will be slow.
Developing your creative vision isn’t about discovering a secret rulebook—it’s about unlearning the habit of visual shorthand. By stepping away from the crowd, stripping away literal labels, and looking at the world with playful curiosity, you reclaim control over your own unique style.
Seeing independently is the secret sauce. It’s what transforms a generic snapshot of a location into a deeply personal piece of art. Try the exercises, give yourself permission to experiment, and stop looking for the "dancer" in someone else’s sky.
The landscape is waiting—go see it for yourself.
Next week: We’ll take a look at some real-life landscapes and examine how to look past labels to find visual elements such as shapes, lines and patterns.
Missed last week's post? Follow the link to read it:
The Visual Echo: Emotion and the Camera