Improve your photography with Previsualisation - you'll be glad you did
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- Being able to previsualise an image before you have operated the shutter is an important part of photography. The phrase has always existed, but it was popularised by Ansel Adams who made many famous images of his native American landscapes by imagining what he wanted the final photograph to look like. Famously, Adams was an exponent of darkroom techniques to manipulate an image to make it look how he wanted, enhancing it just so under the enlarger so that it fitted his previsualised image.
Whilst previsualising does not necessarily require post processing, appreciating that not everything can be done in camera and that photography is a multi-stage process allows you to enhance scenes beyond what the camera was initially capable of capturing in that split second that the recording medium was exposed to the light.
This video explains some of the Previsualisation process and is intended to allow your creativity to flow.
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#previsualisation #takebetterphotos #previsualising
The idea of previsualisation can also potentially evolve into some sort of obsession.. I sometimes browse through topographic maps to find areas that might have potential and could be worth visiting. One such reconnaissance resulted in me finding an epic landscape, this quiet lake hidden behind rolling hills with a vast forest in the background. It's also beautifully aligned with spring sunrise direction. It's perfect, I knew it. All it needs is just the right light.... I've since visited this place between 25 and 30 times, in all seasons, arriving well before sunrise, in the middle of the day, in the night, at all times of the day. I became obsessed. It took me more than a year to understand, that what I have envisioned for this scene may actually be poisoning my mind, taking away all the joy of being out in the nature, in such a beautiful scenery. At one point I've just came to the terms with myself and decided not to pursue my vision anymore. Turned out that the best image I took there was in totally different lighting conditions, but it just works. I've since been there few more times, but with no expectations, just being in the moment.
Cheers!
🙂🙂🙂 I'm at the 7 minute mark and just have to pause to comment here. You're a fabulous, personable storyteller, Andy. Script and all.
Me too!! 😊
100%
Whatever you three are taking, PM the details pls.
@@AndyBanner They're high on Andy! :-)
As I mentioned on another vid, allied to the great content and potentially sueable arse, Andy's such a likeable person.
Excellent food for thought. Unlike other photography channels, I’ve just realised I don’t ever skip through yours. Every second is important . 👍🏻
Awesome, thank you!
I so often pre-visualise a lovely dawn shoot with hazy crepuscular rays illuminating a golden field of wheat or secluded coastal cove. then the alarm goes off, I ignore it, roll over and go back to sleep.
Ah. Yes, I know that problem. Don't think I have managed to see sunrise once this year.
I hate that this is so relateable. 😂
Encouraging video Andrew, maybe you could use the SAS motto, "Who Dares Wins" daring to be outside the box!
Wow, light house pics are sweet 👌🏽
Thanks.
And another thought of mine on Previsualization: Josef Sudek, early/mid 1900's photographer... I've seen several documentary videos of him on TH-cam and they follow him with his camera out on shoots, and you can clearly see him previsualizing and gauging the environment. He shot large format film so, like you said, every shot counted. His moody photography is highly intriguing in my opinion, and well worth the view for art and inspiration. Thank you for the video, Andy! So many good nuggets of actionable, valuable information.
Sudek is one of my favorite photographers. His images were pure poetry.
Agreed. Poetry indeed.
The advice Andrew shares is invariably very useful and quite professional. This new scripted video is on a high level of professionality from beginning to end. Andrew's former videos always tended to be a little haphazard and a trifle ad hoc. But, IMHO, this was always the charm of Andrew's channel.
I wonder what other followers think about this.
Very kind of you Simon. I don't know how many of these I might do. This one has been sitting, unfinished, for about five months. It was a nightmare for me to edit, but I think I tried to get too much in as there's a whole "live" image editing section that beet cut from it. I might work it into another video. I revisited this video primarily because I have just cancelled my Adobe sub and I have just a couple of weeks to finish anything that's in Adobe Premiere.
I have other scripts written, but I don't much enjoy the process of making the vids.
I do this to a certain degree Andy, but I do need to practice it more, great video mate.
"Yeah, too late. I know." I about fell out of my chair. Hilarious!
I previsualize how I'm going to edit a photo as I'm composing it.
I just found your channel… starting a ‘church photo’ project and you popped up! I’m hooked from one video! You’re awesome and I’m now a subber!! Thanks! 😊
Hey, thankyou Tony.
Thank you, Andrew. That was great, as usual. I enjoy all of your videos, and I'm gradually working my way back to the older videos you have made. It's all such good information to absorb. Cheers
Thank you Andrew ! I like 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽.............
Thank you too!
Previsualisation has been a forgotten tool in the advent of digital. Thanks for bringing this up. When I attended photography school in NYC back in the late 70's we were taught previsualization extensively. Btw. At 20:57 there is a shot of that house with camper trailer you walked by. Cheers!
Defo the best rewrite has been delivered. Great video Andrew, they always are.
Thank you
I don't think any other photography channel has ever talked about, previsualisation, thanks Andrew, for all the great advice.
I am quite sure I am not the first, John, but thank you. Your continued support is greatly valued
Nice video, Andy. I really liked that cabin in the woods shot in black and white. I find myself previsualizing more as I get more serious about my photography. Not as serious as I'd like to be due to other commitments and work, but getting closer to my goal. Part of the problem with previsualization for me is knowing what I want to achieve but not knowing how to achieve it. I think I need a coach to help me along, lol. Regardless, I do understand the importance of what you are saying here and I definitely see the benefits of using it! Thanks for sharing and have a great week!
I try to previsualize all the time, but my execution is so spotty it's as though I didn't. Imagine I am a basketball player about to shoot a free throw. I study the goal, the backboard, and visualize the perfect arc to hit nothing but net. In fact I hit nothing but net, but the ball doesn't go over the rim just before it hits the net. My previsualization seldom matches reality. Apparently I need more practice at both the visual and the physics. Thank you for another great video.
Andrew, always enjoy your videos. I have to think about this concept a bit - do I pre-visualise or just notice the light, texture, line, etc... of what I'm looking at in the moment and scoop a composition? I think it's all true - mostly for me driving between work and home it's mostly that random moment when things line up for the shot. On slower days, or later during processing I can think ahead to a particular place i want to shoot or re-visit in a particular weather condition. So fun!
There's all kinds of ways of previsualising I think. One of the best is perhaps on the daily drive/commute where you notice something that you feel would make a good image and pass it for weeks, months or years and never visit it for the purpose of capturing it. One day.....
Thanks again as always. But this was little different. Perhaps because of the scripture and teleprompter. And I guess a lot more work to produce. But I also appreciate the more slowly paced videos you done. Take care, Göran in Latvia
Great advice as usual, I always take an image with the phone to guide me then use my camera plus I have a couple of cardboard cut outs I use as well, as you say better to get it right first before getting out your equipment
Great video Andy. I imagine this was a lot of work, and it shows. I enjoy these kind of one-on-one talks.
It was a lot of work. It was mostly recorded in May/June time and cut together shortly after, but it was tedious for me and I shelved it for months. I only returned because it was taking up over 60Gb on my laptop and wanted to hive it off. Reviewing it, I reaslised it was worth publishing and, with my cancellation of my Adobe sub looming, I needed to finish it before I lost access to Premiere. There's actually a whole image edit that was out together for this too but it took the video to over 30 mins, so I cut it. I might put it out there as a separate video.
I enjoyed this very much, Andrew. The “previsualization” approach by Ansel Adams (whom I was blessed to have spent some time with a few years before his death) and Alfred Stieglitz’ concept of “equivalents” seem, to me, to be among the fundamentals of great photography.
Like, wow. Blown away, Morris.
@@AndyBannerI apologize for being a “name dropper” but that experience was one of the highlights of my life. That was in Monterey and Carmel, California, USA in 1982. Adams was not only a great photographer, but a very kind, humble and gracious man. I also spent some time with his lovely wife, Virginia Best Adams 🙂.
Just fantastic.
Fantastic as always, thank you. Merry Christmas.
Thanks!
Thank you so much, Bruce! Much appreciated
This was very interesting as on the odd time with my macro photos of dandelions I know what I want it to look like. Well any other photography I have not really thought about it I will have to think about it more now 😀
I often lack vision with macro. I want to experient with 1:1 or very close up more but struggle to find subjects that interest me. But, I tool receipt of some dedicated macro lighting yesterday and I have to say that its transformed some of the things I thought I had exhausted.
I struggle to previsualise images still, but through the lens and manipulating heighly positionable lights, I am discovering new compositions that were not possible before. Way more experimental at the moment, but once I train myself more in the techniques, I am sure I could previsualise better.
Thank you Andrew. This was great 👍
Glad you enjoyed it
Love the meta narrative orientation intro! I spent some time with a box this week, a unique type of box representative of my perspective- aka style - more or less the imposition of the built world upon the un-built world. The box marks the location of one of 13 sunken villages in the 'Royal Townships' of Upper Canada- these were among the first 20 or so settlements in Canada (not disparaging Quebec which is much older, just using the correct terminology), now long forgotten and out of sight though millions pass each year. In this area, among the old families, the event is known as "the inundation". I think I accomplished what I pre-visualized, including the manner in which I filmed the undertaking. It's dedicated to you Andrew, it'll be up tomorrow if you are interested, I tagged you in the description .
That's very kind. I am out or busy most of tomorrow, but I will try to look it out. I don't always check my tags in YT, so maybe you could email me a nudge? Thanks
Excellent video thank you
Very welcome
I only really got into photography with digital. Even so, I have trouble getting behind the 'spray and pray', 'digital photos are free' attitude. No matter how tedious previsualisation and planning might seem to me, it'll never match the mind-numbing horror of the thought of sorting through hundreds, or even thousands, of slight variations of a subject.
The tedium of looking through slightly varying images is indescribable, for sure. I do a lot of focus stacking and that's bad enough when you know there's a tiny difference but also know at the same time that every difference matters!
Another way of looking at the garage picture is to think historical. Come back in 20 or 30 years. Has it been taken care of? Is it still there but in disrepair?
It seems to me that digital photography kills previsualisation. With film, previsualisation is an excellent skill to practice, especially since it's days, if not weeks, until you see the photo you've taken.
I don't think it's digital per-se, more our worsening concentration skills and the lack of any real "cost" to not getting it right.
I disagree. I think you're putting the effect before the cause. Concentration skills or long attention span are useless in the age of 60 second videos and instant gratification everywhere. You can spray and pray, then chimp all you want with digital cameras. You wouldn't be able to do it without advancements in technology.
Wanted to buy you a coffee but didn't see the link, though I'm not sure if you should have any caffeine. LOL let me know where to buy you that cup of Joe.
That's so kind, thank you. Good spot too: I had forgotten to include the link. It's there now and also ☕ www.buymeacoffee.com/AndyBanner
As for caffine. I don't find it affects my alertness - i drink the stuff more for something to keep my hands occupied and it stops me biting my nails. But don't worry too much, I will probably spend any money far more frivolously on the mortgage or the electric bill. :-)
Great video, your a card
Frankly I never heard the term regarding photography.
It's not an uncommon term and has been in use for decades across many creative arts.
Not everyone has the same aptitude for visualization. In fact, 3-4% of the population cannot visualize at all; that's called "aphantasia". As an "aphant" interested in photography, I've found that, instead of previsualizing, I need to be reactive, i.e. look around for a composition that I like and then photograph it. It's a bit more work, and more hit-or-miss, but it gets the job done.
Although I do wonder what it'd be like to be able to visualize... anything, really!
I did not know that. But analysing the statement, perhaps I should have an idea as I struggle to make something out of nothing. What I mean is that I can't draw or get given a bunch of crafty things and just make something as I lack the vision to see what I could make, ignoring the fact I lack the skills. Whereas, present me with a scene and I can find things to photograph. Present me with a house and I can find ways to renovate. Somehow, I need there to be something already in existence that I can work with. I have mentioned this in my Art of Subtraction video from late 2023.
@@AndyBanner That's how I create things (like a machine I'm designing) - start by putting something simple down on paper, so that it's in front of me; then I can modify it. Just can't do it in my head. That's how, for example, an aphant can be a graphic artist (there's a TH-cam video on this). Sounds like you may have aphantasia!