Poolside

From Freeman Patterson's book Photography and the Art of Seeing:

(You won't hurt my feelings if you don't read this stuff.)

Imagining

"Imagining is mental image-making... producing abstract thought and picture images in the "mind's eye."

The creative process of making photographs often involves three steps. First, conceive or imagine a theme. Second, find or conceive subject matter that expresses the theme. Third, conceive to organize the subject matter." (Sounds like rules here.)

Abstracting and Selecting

"Abstracting is recognizing both the basic form of something and the elements that make up that form. It is an important skill because it helps you to spot the visual elements (line,shape, texture, perspective) and to understand the role they play in composition.

Selecting is choosing those parts of the subject matter that will best express the character of the scene or the meaning of the event.

Think of making a stew. Abstracting is recognizing the basic ingredients- meat, vegetables, herbs, and liquid. Then you select the particular ingredients that are necessary for the kind of stew you want."


Of course there is much more in this little book. I don't mean to discourage you from investigating it by spilling the pearls. It is helpful for me to synthesize his ideas by extracting the pertinent text.

Next and last is Expression.