There are 3 types of photographers:
1)A snapper
2)A competent craftsman
3)An artist
A snapper is what most of us are. We take our cameras on our holidays to Perth. We take pictures of our kids playing in the sand or our friends hugging a Koala bear. We see something we like, we take our cameras, try to get the object centered in the view-finder, when dark we turn on the flash, and we snapped.
A competent craftsman is one who is well-versed in photography techniques. Shutter speeds, aperture settings, focal length, lighting, contrast and so on. We go to them to take our wedding and graduation photos, as they have the technical expertise and the equipment to take good photos.
A “good eye” in photography is what separates the artist from the rest.
Techniques can be learned, but having a “good eye” is largely a natural ability, enhanced by lots and lots of practice.
It’s being able to see a great photographic moment, when others don’t.
To recognize that this particular object, in appropriate light, perspective, and framing, can turn from something ordinary, into a work that is extraordinary
This is important especially in the outdoors, where such moments can be fleeting. Miss it and it’s gone forever.
It’s being able to visualize in your mind how the photo will turn out, before you shoot a single frame.
You see the picture first. Then you go about creating the environment to take the picture that you already saw.
For studio shots, where you have control over the environment, having a “good eye” makes all the difference between a good shot and a memorable shot that could be your defining work.
An outdoors example:
You walk along a quiet street in Chinatown. You see an old man sitting by himself, staring at the world go by.
Something mundane to most people, but an opportunity for a great piece of work for someone with a “good eye”.
You begin to see in your mind the photo that you want to take, and what message you want to express. “Loneliness”, “Social isolation in a concrete jungle”, “The inability of the aged to cope with the modern world”.
In your mind, you see the angle, the lighting, the focal point, the frame. It’s all there in the eye of your mind.
You see the way the camera sees it, but you relate to it the way humans with feelings and emotions will.
The camera and its accessories (lens, tripod, film etc), your environment (the chair the old man sits on, the wall behind him etc), then become merely the tools with which you use to create your piece of art, the message you want to portray.
And with a “good eye”, you’ll portray it with intensity, meaning and beauty!