When you’re first starting out in photography or videography, the sheer number of things you have to learn and simultaneously apply to be successful can feel a bit overwhelming. This great video talks about an important skill that we often overlook. 

Coming to you from Basic Filmmaker, this helpful video talks about developing the eye for detail in the frame. When we’re just using our eyes normally, we tend to focus and think about one thing at a time, but when we’re looking through the viewfinder, we need to learn to take in and assess the entire scene at once: not just the subject, but the background and any potentially distracting elements. It’s important to make a habit of reminding yourself to turn on your “photographic eye” when shooting, lest you may sit down to your computer and find things you didn’t even notice in your images. Such a skill is particularly important in fast-paced genres where you don’t have control of a lot of elements in the frame, such as wedding photography.

Although the video is geared toward video work, it’s just as applicable to photographers. And if you’re really serious about video, be sure to check out “Intro to Video: A Photographer’s Guide to Filmmaking.”

Lead image by Huy ProShoot, used under Creative Commons.