I learned this approcach to improving one's vision from Michael Long. Just as an athlete or musician "warms up" before a performance, it is important for the photographer to do the same. A great way to supercharge your vision and get the creativity flowing is to cover up your viewfinder, turn off the LCD display if shooting digital, and go take pictures for an hour without holding the camera to your eye. The idea is to not worry about the results! Who cares what the depth of field is or whether the exposure is correct? Let your eyes, not your viewfinder, connect you with the environment. You can certainly guess at a starting exposure and focus, but don't obsess over it. You may find this very difficult at first. Some people just can't do it. If this is you, then this exercise is critical. For the above image I simply set the aperature to f/22 and the mode to aperature priority. I let the camera pick the shutter speed and focus. I was crossing the street behind this girl and simply raised the camera to the level of my belly and squeezed the shutter. I think I took around five frames, and actually got this one that I think works. Thanks Michael Long!
