Vaughn, nobody here tells you what to do
My goal is to get Back to the Future
ASAP
but my vehicle is in deep storage
web Wormhole Coffee Shop by TIN CAN COLLEGE, on Flickr
Tin Can
If we back up from having fun with grammar and Deloreans, I think that most of us "visualize" simply from experience. The majority of us spot meter scenes, place high or low values, and know that if we over-expose and under-develop we reduce contrast, and if we under-expose and over-develop we increase contrast. Similarly, those of us with experience know that if we encounter a scene of red, green, and grey, on B&W film everything will photograph as grey, so we either use filters, or simply by-pass the scene. Much of this required explanation in the days of Adams, Weston and White, but by now it is what I call "accumulated knowledge." And finally, the majority of us recognize an image that, to use phrases from earlier posts, "catches us," or "resonates with us," or shouts, "take me." This is not to say that all of the above does not need to be learned, either through workshops, books, or experience, but it does suggest that it does not need labels such as "visualization" when "Photography 101" would do the trick.
I'll have to disagree with most of that, Peter. Visualization is just a small portion of Photo 101, and we use language as a tool for learning...so words are important in teaching. "Most" of us here are still working on the reconition part, even tho we do tend towards older photographers here.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
Just in nuance, probably. Visualization and the Zone System do not operate on the concepts of over/under exposure or development...rather, to determine the desired amount of both to create a negative that will yield a print that echoes one's experience or desire of tonality for the image. Most photographers (or users of cameras) have rudimentary visualization skills, and many do gain greater skills with experience, most do not. Practice only makes perfect if the practice is perfect and learning takes place.
Visualization can be an important tool in one's photography -- used as part of the whole process from seeing to print. But after being around students of photography for most my life, visualization does not come naturally to all -- perhaps the equipment we on this forum use and our experience level seems to indicate otherwise. White was teaching -- once one learns the lesson, one can move on...but the lesson still needs to be taught to others and we can't toss out the word, 'visualization'.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
Yes, Tin Can.... Back to the Future. Hasn't anyone besides me noticed how the wacko scientist in that movie strongly resembled Minor White? And that's the answer! If we have a DeLorean time machine, we can change pre to post, or post to pre, provided we don't crash it somewhere in between.
What did James Russell Lowell say about Poe . . . something like, three-fifths genius, and two-fifths shear fudge? I learned the Zone System by studying Minor White's (et al) book, which is reasonably practical. But, I sure didn't get too wrapped up in his more philosophical writings.
Did you see Alan Ross' announcement for a visualization workshop... not too expensive as far as workshops go.
Is that a pre- announcement, or a post- announcement?
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