Part of becoming a more skilled photographer is developing your photographer’s eye. In today’s challenge, we’ll address a few ways you can do that by assigning you the task of photographing something on the ground.

What is the Photographer’s Eye?

The photographer’s eye is essentially his or her point of view as expressed through their photos. Think of it as the visual equivalent of an author finding his or her voice. And, like an author finding his or her voice, you will have to spend some time cultivating your photographer’s eye – the manner in which you see the world, find beauty, and envision your photographs before you ever depress the shutter.

Observe, Observe, Observe

The first task when developing your photographer’s eye is to simply observe your surroundings. In our hurried day-to-day interactions with the world around us, we seldom take the time to see what’s really there. This doesn’t mean that you need to take your entire lunch break to look intently at your surroundings, but, rather, simply be more cognizant of what you’re looking at.

A good exercise is to focus your attention on the ground – a place that usually doesn’t command a lot of our attention. Develop your photographer’s eye by looking at things that would translate well in a photograph – a texture, a shape, or a color, for example, like in the image above. Really give your attention to the task of looking down and finding that point of interest that will look great in a photo.

Look for Ways to Tell a Story

A second aspect of developing your photographer’s eye is to find ways to tell a story. Telling a story in your photograph is much more than just finding a point of visual interest. You will also need to frame the image such that the subject’s story is evident.

For example, suppose you take an image like the one above. There are loads of colors and textures to provide the image interest. But there is also a great variety of leaves that gives viewers an indication that there are many different trees in the area. That diversity is the story to be told by this image.

Telling a story also means you’ll need to ensure every element of the photo you take has a purpose. In the image above, the brown leaves serve as a nice background to make the red maple leaf stand out. This, in turn, allows the photographer to create a photo about love using completely unexpected elements.

Don’t Forget the Ordinary

When photographing things on the ground, don’t neglect everyday items that you might otherwise write off as not photo worthy. As long as you focus on color, texture, composition, and other essential elements, you can still create an interesting shot, as was done in the image above. the gum pops and is made to be more prominent in the frame because of the low perspective the photographer used when snapping the image.

Ordinary objects can also be great fodder for telling your visual story. Using gum again as the subject matter, you can see how the image above can tell a strong story. This image highlights two important issues – waste and sanitation. Looking at the image likely grosses you out, which is a product of the strong storytelling power of the image. But it’s also a really engaging photo to view with all the odd shapes and crazy colors set on the dark background.

Practice and Participate!

Training yourself to be more attentive to the visual environment will take some time, but engaging in the exercises we’ve outlined here will get you well on your way to seeing things as photographers see them.

Spend some time simply observing your surroundings, doing so without even taking a single photo. Look for small vignettes that you think will translate well into a photo. When composing your photos of things on the ground, see how your framing and composition can enhance your ability to tell a story or allow the viewer to connect more deeply with the photo. Don’t forget that you can tell a strong story and create really visually engaging images with normal, everyday objects you find on the ground.

The forum for today’s challenge is set up and ready for your photos! Upload your favorite image and be sure to check out how others have developed their photographer’s eye and tell a strong story through images of objects on the ground.