How to Practice ‘Visual Exercise’ and Become a Better Photographer

There is no shortage of technical photographic advice out there on the Internet—buy this camera, read this book, and memorize these rules of composition and you’ll be great! But the process of becoming a great photographer is more subtle than that.

That’s the subject of photographer Sean Tucker‘s latest video, titled “How to become a better photographer through ‘visual exercise'”. In it, Tucker tackles something vastly more important than your gear or post-processing style: your eye. He talks about learning to “see” like a photographer, engaging with the world and developing both “light awareness” and “life awareness.”

“The following video gives some of my thoughts on how to ‘exercise visually’, how to open your eyes to the world around, and how to become photo-aware,” writes Sean in the video’s description. “I hope it inspires you to shoot more often, with more abandon, and to develop your photography as art, not science.”

A photo posted by Sean Tucker (@seantuck) on

Sean encourages you to stop worrying about your camera for a second, and instead make the conscious decision to try and really see and experience the world around you day-in and day-out. Notice light. Notice composition. Notice life. Exercise your visual acuity.

This advice, paired with some of Sean’s beautiful Instagram photos as visual aids, is indispensable … particularly for beginners.

(via YouTube via ISO 1200)

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