What kind of photographer am I?

The two types of photographers

Yaquina Bay Bridge, Newport, OR

I once heard a professional photographer opine that there are two types of photographers - those who approach the art from the creative side, and those who approach it from the technical side.   She was quick to point out that a photographer could be strong in both areas, of course.  For some people, she said, composition and ideas come naturally while figuring out how to turn the idea into reality takes a lot more effort.  Other photographers, on the other hand, think in terms of how light is captured and the effect that shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc. will have on the final image. For them, the harder part is the composition.

That photographer, as someone who had formal training in graphic design, put herself solidly in the former category.  I would definitely be in the latter.  As a trained scientist, I have learned enough optics (mostly forgotten by now) to have a pretty good understanding of how light interacts with world and how the camera captures that light.  The hard part for me is to develop and continue to strengthen the photographer's eye.  To look around and see my surroundings as potential shots.  To realize that if I took three steps to the left, my foreground and background would line up much better.

That's not to say that my technique is perfect - far from it.  I still have a lot to learn and, as someone who started in film photography, I need to remind myself that I can look at a shot I just took, evaluate, change things, and reshoot.  I also have to overcome the bad habits created by a decade or so of using digital point-and-shoots.  The technical aspects are not yet second nature, but they also aren't something that I have to work hard to understand.

Composition, on the other hand, does take considerable conscious effort.  Not only do I need to make myself think about framing, perspective, etc., but I also need to figure out color.  I started with black and white film photography about 25 years ago and I still tend to think like I'm shooting black and white.  Textures catch my eye, but I'm still trying to figure out that extra content that color provides.