The greatest satisfaction that I’m getting with photography is developing my skills to observe my surroundings. Before I started taking pictures and reading about photography, I was like a blind person. Let me explain what I mean by that. I was looking at my reality but I wasn’t seeing it.
Now, when I go out, I make a conscious effort to observe simple things like clothes lines, my neighbor’s flowers, the trees in the park, fountains, buildings, roads, tubes, railroads and so forth. I take time to observe patterns, textures, colors, shapes or lines of the subjects I see. It’s like recreating my reality again.
I know that my pictures are long way from being what they should be, but at least they are the means to see the world in a different manner. For this and many other things, I feel a great satisfaction in learning about the fascinating world of photography.
Panama is full of new buildings being built everywhere. When I ride through the city, I’m always trying to find the new ones and their contrasting architectural styles. Some I like, others I don’t.
Below are a couple of pictures of a building that caught my eyes because of its lines. Let’s take a look together. Here we go.
Photograph of a greek-styled building in Panama City, Panama. This is one of its multiple metallic entrances. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
In this picture you can enjoy the multiple lines of the structure. I stared at this building for a long times following the lines with my eyes. It's a great building to watch. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
As Panama’s skyline becomes more and more complex, I’m sure it will become a tourist attraction similar to Miami, New York or São Paulo. Good Day.
OK, NOW you are officially “hooked”!
One thing that I find myself doing always is looking at the background of a photo first. Many times there is little that one can do about backgrounds but with practice it should be possible to choose another angle or elevation.
Thank goodness for digital photography! The old days of dodging, burning, etc are now done at the comfort of the keyboard. Even removing the troublesome background is possible but usually the result is worse.
One feature that I am “hooked” on is cropping the shot after it’s taken. With digital, it is easy to shoot a wider angle shot and recrop it for better composition.
Keep shooting, I love seeing the photos!
jim and nena
fort worth, tx
Hi Jim & Nena:
Your words of encouragement are great. It sure gives me a big push forward.
Yeah, I’m hooked to photography alright. With digital dark rooms there’s nothing you can’t do. When the time is ripe, I plan to get my feet wet with PhotoShop.
Tomorrow I will include several shots of a picturesque park in Panama City—Parque Urraca.
Cheers,
Omar.-
Funnily enough, I AM a blind person, at least, what you’d call in the US “Legally blind”, and what you describe is pretty much what I get from photography too. I’m sure most people in the everyday rush of things are about as blind as I am in the sense that they don’t look in detail at what’s around them. I’ll point out some feature in my environment, and the reaction is often, Darn me, I didn’t even know that was there.” Photography doesn’t only exercise your powers of visual observation, but if you’re like me, you have to use your other senses as well to a greater extent. It’s certainly addictive getting the results. Interesting too that my photos look different from other people’s even if the venue is the same. Whether better or worse I can’t say, but different.
I recently came across a really simple but neat idea – walk a familiar route, taking a picture every 30 paces. The exercise suggested 36 shots, but I don’t know why – sounds like old-tyme 35mm film. Anyway, you’ll notice all sorts of things you didn’t see before. I even noticed a nearby house had been sold, and the path I was on had a “cycling permitted” sign. Just small things, but they give you a pretty acute awareness of where you are.
You’ll be building up an interesting portfolio of the way your area is developing. Don’t forget to look at the tops of buildings – we’re all too busy scurrying around the bottoms, and the tops may have surprising features.
Hi Vince:
Let me tell you that I really appreciated your insightful comments about the way you “look” at the world with inner eyes. Your idea of taking shots every 30 paces is very original and the results are thought provoking.
Yep, I echo with your words that most people are blind. They are only aware of what’s inside the walls of their working environment. Everything else is blurred. That’s they way they view their circumstances when they drive to work—blurry images.
I’ll follow your advice regarding taking shots of the tops of buildings. You’ll notice that detail in the future. Wrote it down on the palm of my hand.
Once again, thank you for commenting here. I invite you to return and become a daily reader.
Best Regards,
Omar.-