We Don’t Take Pictures.
We Create Images.

The idea for this story came to me during our Sunday afternoon walk at Fort Funston. Our Labradoodle Max loves coming here because he can run freely without a leash. We love it because we can watch the sunset, enjoy the ocean, and see so many people walking with their dogs. And, of course, I photograph all the time. After looking at one of the pictures I took that day, I realized that making a picture like this requires a certain skill.

I have studied photography for many years. I have taken courses, read books, and looked at thousands of great photographs by great photographers. I am confident that I am a good photographer. I have even published four books of my photographs. But when I see somebody else’s picture—just a quick snap—I often don’t even know how to explain to the person what could make it a better image.

In my mind, we are not taking photographs. We are making images. I call myself an artist, not a photographer. When I see something, I try to see the image in my mind before I press the button. Then, after I take the photograph, I may crop it—often into a square—and that becomes part of the creative process.

The three images I am sharing with this story are a good example. They were all created from essentially the same spot and the same subject. In one, there is an umbrella and a person standing on the beach—or perhaps on top of the cliff—with the sunset behind them. In another, from almost the same place, I noticed two pelicans flying by and created a completely different image. Same place. Similar subject. Different images. So how do you make a good photograph? I think there are a few simple rules.

First, you have to see the result before you take the picture. This is probably the most difficult part. You have to develop the ability to visualize what the final image could look like. Second, you have to see the light. Where is it coming from? What is it illuminating? What is it hiding? How does the light change the feeling of the picture? Third, you have to see the subject. What is it that you want to say? What caught your attention? What do you want the person looking at your image to feel? And finally, you have to compose. Composition means deciding where everything belongs in the picture so that the final image looks the way you imagined it.

It is easy to say. It is much harder to do. I believe the only way to develop this ability is through practice—taking many pictures, looking at them afterward, asking yourself what worked and what didn’t, and trying again.

Can you learn this skill? Absolutely. But why would you want to? Most of us simply take pictures because we want to remember where we were or what we saw. We take pictures like tourists. But some of us want something different. We don’t just want to record what we saw. We want to create what we saw in our mind.

That is why I am sharing these images with you. They were all created from the same place, looking at almost the same scene, but each one tells a slightly different story.

I hope you enjoy them. And if you do, share them with a friend.