What is there in a view finder?

Well most of us will have the tendency of looking through the view finder the moment we hold a camera in our arms even if we are not photographers! 

Even now, whenever I do professional photography assignments especially on the locations, I find people who are not connected to me or my work trying to look into the viewfinder of my camera when it is sitting alone on the tripod. In fact most of the professionals do not like others to look through their view finders! Sometimes even the assistants are denied the access to viewfinders.

What is so great about this small glass window of the camera? Can someone forget the maiden experience of looking through a camera’s viewfinder? Though I had shot millions of photos using different kinds of cameras, I am still reminded of the greatest feeling I experienced when I shot for the first time through my Yashica Electro 35, a rangefinder camera about three decades ago.

Well, for me a view finder is responsible for the ‘precise definition’ of a photograph. A view finder brings in a special frame to human vision, which otherwise is less defined, general, superficial, nonspecific and non-detailed.

The imagination of a ‘photographer' is composed and defined only through this magic window – viewfinder. Every bit of the visual information included in the viewfinder is very important to convert a subject into a great photograph. This is because you do not see anything more than the ‘frame’ of the view finder. I see this more as a connection between my mind screen and the image I capture. Hence, we cannot be casual about looking through a viewfinder.

Let us run our eyes all around the viewfinder and confirm if we see the subject right. The art of good photography starts from the way we look through camera’s viewfinder.

-KL.Raja

It is a ‘subject matter’..!

I have heard people saying that they had not found anything interesting when they went on a wild life photography tour. Yes, we aim at spotting ‘wild animals’ like, big cats, tuskers, hyenas and wild boar in a wild life sanctuary and return disappointed because we didn’t find any. But, the truth is other way round. A real wild life photographer transforms everything that he/she sees into an interesting subject.

A dew drop, a wild flower, a rough earth pattern, dried-up trees without even a single leaf, a small lizard, a fallen leaf, a rare butterfly, a multicoloured moth, a wild spider in its well spread web, a peculiar shaped leaf, a small cascade, a country dog, family of monkeys, mynas, the uphill ghat roads, tall trees, a road side tea stall, local fruit vendor are some of the interesting subjects for photography and the list is almost endless.

What is a ‘subject’ for a photographer? How important is a ‘subject’ in a photograph? 

Well for a common man, a subject is what is shown in a picture. It may be a flower, a mountain, a water fall, an animal, a bird, people or anything you relate as interesting to capture in your camera. You generally like to shoot something because it is good, beautiful, interesting, strange, important or funny. But, a creative photographer shoots to "make a subject look" good, beautiful, interesting, strange, important or funny. The ‘subject for photography’ lies only in the eyes of the photographer.

Sometimes, we travel to take good pictures or we shoot good pictures when we are out on a travel. This is because we think that the ‘subject’ for photography is always few miles away from us. When we plan an outdoor trip or a vacation, we suddenly remember about our cameras and add that in our check-list with an intention of finding ‘some interesting subjects’ to shoot.

Let us not have any preconceived idea about what we want to shoot. Our imagination is limited when we search for a particular subject. Hence, try converting anything in your balcony or courtyard as your subject. When you cannot find a ‘subject’ in your own domain, how would you find it elsewhere?

- KL.Raja