Don Komarechka

1/7/2014

What advice would I give photographers just starting out?

Understand the boundaries and limitations of human vision. It’s no small task, but it’ll have an impact on more than just your photography.

Human visual perception creates a completely different view of the world compared to a camera. Have you ever taken a picture and later explained to people “the picture doesn’t do it justice, you just had to be there”? Understanding this difference and bridging the gap can be a recipe for success.

When exploring a landscape with your eyes, you only look at one thing at a time. You might look at a thousand things in the scene, but you’ll never see it all. Your mind pieces together a memory of the scene and fills in the gaps; Twigs, clutter, and uninteresting elements are quickly forgotten. A photograph captures the scene completely differently, revealing every flaw and distraction that you hadn’t noticed. This is true for nearly all genres of photography. Training your eye to see beyond the obvious is essential.

It can also be valuable to step beyond the limits of what we can see to create curious and thought-provoking work. Extremely wide angles, long exposures and macro photography all offer views of the world that we cannot see with our own eyes. There is a certain sense of wonder and fascination in the world that a camera can capture but which you cannot see.

I couldn't be more proud of the diversity of the SCU faculty. Each member of the team has a different level and area of expertise, but there's a common denominator, their passion for the craft! You can check out more of Don's images on his site, follow him on Twitter and check out what's going on over at Google+. Interested in Don's new book? Check out his guest post on the SCU site.