There are many ‘rules’ in photography, all of which can be broken, but as far as
composition of a shot is concerned, the ‘rule’ of WYSIWYG is always imperative -
but it is amazing how often we forget it, and end up being disappointed with our
final result.
I am a great believer in WYSIWYG (“wizziwig”). What You See
Is What You Get! WYSIWYG works with picture-taking. It just needs one thing -
you have to train your eye to see critically through the viewfinder.
We all tend to ‘imagine’ what is in front of us, rather than
‘seeing’ what is really there. Look at drawings of houses done by young
children. Inevitably, there would be more than two walls. Children know that
houses have more than two walls, so draw houses accordingly. However, when you
look at any house, from any angle, you can only see a maximum of two walls at
one time. Small children do not use WYSIWYG.
Unfortunately, neither do many photographers. Hands up all
readers who have reviewed their images from the memory card and been
disappointed? All of you, if you are telling the truth - and that includes me!
What was wrong with those photos? Were there trees growing
out of people’s heads, giving them strange reindeer ‘antlers’? Did some have
such harsh shadows across the person’s face that you could not see the eyes, and
in fact, the face looked grotesque? Did some have the person so small in the
picture that you cannot tell who they are? Shall I continue, or since you have
probably ticked the box for “all of the above”, let’s not prolong the agony, but
get down to what we have to do to fix the problem.
The answer is very simply WYSIWYG, but you have to train
yourself to ‘really’ see. We all know what we want to see in this once in a
lifetime photo, but ignore the fact that what we are seeing in the viewfinder is
not actually what we want. It’s the child and the house with three sides again.
You have to train yourself to look critically at what is in
the viewfinder before going ‘click’. This is actually harder than it seems. You
have to scan the small viewfinder to see if there are trees growing out of
people’s heads. You have to squint at the faces and see if shadows are ugly. You
have to be prepared to put the camera down and recompose the shot before
clicking that shutter, remembering at all times that what the camera ‘sees’ is
not necessarily what you are seeing with the naked eye.
That may sound a little weird, but it isn’t really. What the
camera sees depends upon the lens you are using. The “standard” (50-55 mm) lens
gives a field of view coverage approximately the same as the human eye, but the
“wide angle” lenses (24 mm and 28 mm, are the common ones) give a distorted
viewpoint compared to that seen by you. Like wise, the “long” lenses give a very
narrow viewpoint compared to what you see with your own eyes.
This is probably one of the best arguments for the use of SLR
cameras, because when you look through the viewfinder, you are actually looking
through the lens that is screwed on the front of the camera. The compact cameras
where you are not looking through the camera’s lens have a compensation for
this, but it is a poor substitute. Who remembers which set of lines you are
supposed to use as the edge of the shot when you are taking it? Nobody.
99 percent of serious photographers use SLR’s, and the main
reason is WYSIWYG. Which brings me to the next important item. The Preview
Button. Do you use it? Do you actually know where it is and how to use it? This
is ‘real’ WYSIWYG. Did you realize that when you look through the viewfinder,
you are looking through the lens with the aperture wide open? But your shot may
be recorded at f16. The preview button allows you to see at f16 exactly what
will be on the final print. Use it! What you see is really going to be what you
get!
