Mastering Photographic Composition, etc.-Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Eye and the Camera
-How do we make a photograph that matches what we saw, and also expresses how we felt? We need to become aware of the damage (caused by the camera) and know how to fix it.
-Differences between what we see and what the camera captures:

• Contrast and Dynamic Range: The human eye is able to see details in scenes with huge contrast ranges. It is able to see the details in something very bright as well as something dark in the same scene. A camera can't. It will render the very dark areas as black, and the very light areas as white.  We have never heard someone say "I cannot see this landscape because it exceeds the maximum dynamic range that my eyes can capture." Our eyes are far superior than any camera. To resolve this issue one must create (through photoshop or another editor) a contrast that is close to what we saw.
• Lenses: Wide-Angle Distortion: "Wide angle lenses are famous for distorting what nature created."Sometimes this is good and can be artistic, but other times it produces unwanted effects like a curved horizon, stretched trees, and distorted buildings. Sometimes these can be desired, but it is also a good idea to make the photo as close to what you saw as possible. The solution? Buy a really fine lens (you get what you pay for). Second way is to use software. This can be done in the RAW converter. Many RAW converters have lens correction software. Photoshop (beginning with CS2) has a "Lens distortion filter" that can be used. It is better to use the RAW editor because photoshop is working with a photo that is one step ahead in the modification process. 
• Lenses: Vignetting: Corners of the photograph are darker than other parts of the photo. Once again, it may be used for artistic purposes, but our eyes don't see vignettes. If your goal is to produce a photo that reflects reality you don't want this. You can adjust this in Photoshop by 1) using the lens correction filter, 2) dodging the corners of the image, and 3) create an adjustment curve with a layer mask restricting the density adjustment to the corners of the image. 
• Lenses: Chromatic Aberration: In other words...halo's. The shadows outlining an object. Can be fixed by using the Chromatic Aberration slider in RAW converters, or in Photoshop using the lens correction filter or by hand using the clone tool in color mode. 
• Color Changes: The colors in the world are fixed at any specific time. Colors (to a camera) are not what they are in reality, they are what they record or in fact modify them as.
• RAW conversion transformation: Using RAW conversion software, a photographer has almost complete control over the color and contrast of an image. We can change the image to match what we saw that the camera didn't catch. "In this new world, it is the photographer, and not the equipment, that is the limiting factor." 
• Film Grain and Sensor Noise: Unwanted patterns in our image (usually resulting from low light) is Noise. This can be adjusted by using a low IAO setting. It is easier to change something overexposed than something under exposed.
• Color Shifts: When the camera adds a magenta or green cast to the photo. You can take this our by using a curve and a layer mask during or after RAW conversion. 
• Out of Focus and Blurred Images: "In contrast to the human eye, a camera can only focus on a single plane and relies on a set depth of field." 

-A photographer is the soul of photography. It can be difficult to make a camera (a soulless, and inanimate object) see what we see. Here are some causes of this frustration:

• Five Senses into One: We have 5 senses and usually are using all of them to experience the world. Not only to we see something, but we hear the noise around it, we smell, we feel the heat/rain/cold etc, Sometimes we can even use our sense of taste. The camera's world is purely visual. We add the emotion. Expression of emotion must be done in a visual manner. 
• Learning How to See: Learn to see like the camera does. (For example, I look out the window at my back yard everyday as I am doing the dishes. It is so beautiful and perfect in every season. It relaxes me and gives me a sense of peace. I will be so sad when we leave this home. My eyes have the capacity to block out the screen, the power lines, and the bird poop on the window. The camera would take all that in. Even if I stepped out the door, the camera would still capture the power lines, and the yellow snow. :D) Cameras also only capture the world at a specific ratio where we can see much more. I loved this: With beauty above me I walk, With beauty below me I walk, With beauty all around me I walk.  A camera simply cannot capture everything. We need to learn to see like the camera does. 
• Capturing Emotion Behind the Lens: Keep a journal of feelings. Be able to interpret the RAW image and turn it into what you saw/felt. 

-All this takes practice, and years of hard work. Hone your technical skills. Practice day-in, day-out. "Obtaining mastery is a matter of perseverance combined with hard work, a refusal to give up and a constant search for solutions that afford you the finest image quality.