How the eyes read photography. Things to consider as you compose your next shot.
Not everyone sees a photo in exactly the same way. We are all influenced by the world around us in very different ways, and in particular, photography can be influenced by that world. We all have our personal views about the world that can be influenced by our up-bringing, cultural or social-economical status or even religious beliefs. How we see images can also be determined by a reaction in the brain and the eyes stimulus to light.
All of these things are important to think about as you're framing your shot. What elements of interest are in the shot that would have the greatest impact on your audience? After all, we shoot to share photography with the world. If you are going to shoot pictures only to have them remain on your memory card, then why shoot at all?
Well here are a few things to remember as you shot. Some things you have control over, such as shot composition, content in the shot, lighting and perspective. Then there are those you don't have control over such as the viewers background and biological factors, so lets touch on those.
In an article called, "Anatomy of a Photography", written by Reg Morrison he explains why our eyes react to different lighting sources and colors. Morrison is a well-known Australian photographer whose pictures have appeared around the world in newspapers, books and magazines.
In his article, he explains how our eyes see and read images in different ways. He explains, "The retina at the back of the eye is made up of two kinds of light sensitive cells called rods and cones. Both react to light in very different ways. Cone cells, are concentrated in the center of the retina, and only react to relatively strong light. Most eyes register the full spectrum of wave- lengths that make up white light."
"Rod cells are scattered throughout the cone cells but are densely concentrated toward the edges of the retina. In contrast to the cone cells, Rod cells work well in dim light but shut down entirely whenever they are blasted by strong light and may take several minutes to fully recover. They respond poorly to all colors except red, and see only in monochrome", thus why black and white photography is extremely popular.
Morrison states this is because our ancestors first evolved more than 3.5 billion years ago when the Sun was a very young star and its light was much weaker and more red than it is today.
This retinal structure ensures that as we look at a photograph, our eyes naturally gravitate towards the lighter tones. They also tend to gravitate towards the warm red-yellow end of the spectrum in preference to the short-wavelength blue-violet end.
So as you can see, how you compose your shot as well as edit it is extremely important. Having these factors in mind each time you shoot or sit down to edit you photos can greatly increase or decrease the effectiveness of your photography.
The photo featured in this post was taken by @larkandsparrow. Her outstanding macro photography as well as other genre's can be found on popular photo sharing networks.
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