The difference between the mindset, discipline and creative process when using a view camera, exposing one sheet of film at a time and using a digital camera that captures dozens of images a second bears paying attention to. It serves us well to utilize the wisdom of creating one image at a time. There are several things to consider. These decisions can be made in seconds or minutes, depending on the situation, but they should be made by the photographer, not by the camera.

Angle of view: The angle of view can refer to two aspects when creating the image. One, the position you pick relative to the subject, particularly whether you are are eye level, above or below the subject. Two, the angle of view of the lens. The wider the view of the lens, the greater the sense of perspective (how things relate to each other in space) and the narrower the lens’ view, the less sense of perspective. Using a zoom lens is more than just changing the composition by “zooming” in or out…the change in focal length changes the sense of perspective in the image.

Perspective: For more info about the most important perspective, check my blog post on the topic here.

Shutter speed: Most people think of the shutter speed as a way to stop motion, which it does. It also provides the ability to show motion, which can be critical to convey what the photographer intends. Photography is a two-dimensional art form that represents a three-dimensional world. Creative use of the shutter speed enables you to convey another dimension: time. There is so much opportunity for creativity that most photographers overlook.

Depth of field: Speaking of three dimensions, your ability to minimize or maximize the sense of dimension is found in depth-of-field, which is affected by focal length, aperture and focusing distance.

There is, or should be, a lot of thought that goes into these decisions. Don’t expect to use post-processing tools to fix what you should have decided upon before pushing the shutter button. Over time, you will be making those decisions while bringing the camera up to take the photo. You can get more insights into these functions and how your decisions affect the final image by checking out my book, The Seeing, Not the Taking: A Guide to Seeing for Photographers.

Slow down. I hope you that you create hundreds or thousands of images, but take the time to make decisions before pressing the shutter.

Truth be told, I have only used a view camera twice, many decades ago, and did not have the patience for all the set up and viewing, but I will never forget the lessons learned about the importance and value of slowing down to make decisions when creating an image. In a future post, I will share lessons learned from the photographers of yore who were dealing with incredibly low film speeds.

All content and images (c) Dion McInnis.