We are not typically aware of our entire range of vision. When we walk into a room, we don’t notice all detail equally. The mind picks out items within visual range on which to focus. Knowing how awareness operates can improve the ability to see and make better images. A camera-less exercise follows which requires fixing the gaze on one spot while moving awareness around within the visual field. That is, moving awareness into the periphery without moving the eyes. When doing this I found my awareness creating an almost physical feeling of pulling on the gaze. When awareness moved top left, for example, I felt the mind pulling me to move my gaze in that direction. It was not difficult to resist, but it was very noticeable. By slightly relaxing the intensity of the gaze, more of the periphery fell into sharper focus and became part of a bigger picture. Increasing the intensity of the gaze reduced peripheral sharpness.
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Chapter 13: Forming the Equivalent I
This is a chapter on technical aspects of making images, including types of lenses, focal length, aperture, and depth of field. Knowledge of these is relevant to the process of forming the equivalent of perception. For example, if the object that has arrested your attention is surrounded by other objects, a shallow depth of field will help isolate your subject by making all the other objects blurry. Knowing how to create this using your available equipment is therefore useful knowledge. One important point here is the distinction between framing and composition, which the authors distinguish thus: framing is choosing what elements to include, composition is the arrangement of the elements to aesthetic effect. Framing is important in forming the equivalent of perception; composition is largely irrelevant.
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Chapter 15: Forming the Equivalent II
This chapter covers shutter, ISO, and white balance and concludes by recommending photographers take the time to become familiar with these concepts to go beyond Auto mode.
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