A warm welcome to everyone who is receiving my newsletter for the first time and a huge thank you to everyone who has been part of my journey over the last 6 years of writing it.

Just a quick note to say that this issue is a little different to previous issues in that it takes a really deep dive into quite a narrow aspect of bird photography. It is a bit of an experiment and I will be led by your feedback to determine whether I should do another one of these down the line.

A few months back I joined Ray Hennessy on his show to talk about how to achieve good portraits and then move them to great.

One of the first things we talked about was being eye level and achieving eye contact. At the end of a short discussion Ray made a statement, which begged an interesting question. He said something along the lines of “I know it works and is really powerful but I am not sure exactly why.”

So why does it work? And why is it so important?

Intuitively we get it. It is obvious. Eyes are awesome. But like many things in life if you rely only on gut feel alone it can become a liability when the circumstances change. It can easily box us and restrain our growth. For example, when does eye contact not make sense? Or what type of eye contact do we want for different stories? What happens when one bird is looking at the camera and another away from it?

I have found that when we understand the theory and can see how this applies in the field, then we are far more intentional in making images (versus taking images) and indeed, far more confident in our choices.

In this newsletter I want to help answer this question in a way that will hopefully give clarity, but also excite you to delve more into the world or study of art, visual perception and experience.

Where composition meets perception and reality?

The third part of my 18 hour, online mentorship programme is called “The Essentials”. It covers the importance of light and how to use it, the pivotal role that understanding and predicting bird behaviour plays in photography as well as what I call my 4Es and 3Ps.

The 4Es speak to the 4 key essentials that help us take consistently good images; especially portraits. These essentials are:

• Eye level
• Eye contact and catchlight
• Edge and eye distractions (… you don’t want these in your images), and
• Equally good backgrounds and foregrounds.

(Disclaimer: There are no “rules” in art and therefore there are always exceptions to the essentials. And there is one more “E” I cover in part 5 of the programme that looks at post processing do’s and don’ts)

When you understand these 4 essentials and how to achieve them, you can confidently go about taking “good” images. And my programme aims to provide this understanding through case studies, practical application and one-on-one analysis afterwards (i.e. the things social media and entering competitions don’t help you with). Click here to read more about what some of my mentorship participants have said.

Given my heart to help build confidence in other photographers (and my desire to learn more about a subject I love), I have been excited to expand my knowledge. And lately this has meant studying the intersection of three fields that impact how we as photographers communicate with and influence our audiences; composition and design, visual perception and the establishment of feeling and meaning.

Call me curious, but the more I have studied and tried to grow as an artist/photographer, the more I have wanted to understand how the technical and compositional choices I make in the field (i.e. applying the principles and guidelines of art) impact how people perceive my work and indeed, how they derive their own experiences i.e. the feeling and meaning from it.

My photographs are no longer just about the bird or what the bird is doing. I am hoping to influence the way my audience absorbs my stories, feels what it was like to be there and indeed, takes away something truly meaningful and impactful.

Before I answer the question about why eye level and eye contact is important let me describe what I mean by these 3 fields of interest.

Composition and design is the engineering or construction of my image. It speaks to the visual architecture  and what my image is doing. For example, it says that if I arrange lines and pointing devices in a certain way this arrangement will help direct my viewer’s eyes. Lines move the eye. They help establish where the eye enters, where  it travels and where it stops. They help the image become intentional and hopefully tell the story in the order and way I hope it to be told.

Visual perception (which includes areas of study like Gestalt psychology) speaks to the perception engine i.e. how the viewer organises the image into what they actually perceive. It is the bridge between the technical and design side and what the viewer actually experiences. It explains why my design works. For example, design says to use lines and pointing devices to direct the viewer to your subject while visual perception explains why this happens. It explains how our eyes prefer to move along smooth, continuous paths even when they are not explicit. It explains how it is not the line that matters but rather the movement it produces in perception. We like to connect visual elements into motion. And these connections direct us to the subject, making it obvious and inevitable.

Experience (which includes areas of study such as phenomenology) is the output i.e. what the viewer actually feels and what meaning they take away from the image. It speaks to what it is like to encounter the bird and what it feels like in relation. For example, strong diagonal lines can feel like an invitation to go somewhere at speed. Horizontal lines can feel calm and restful while vertical lines can feel rigid, authoritarian and tense.

When we are able to connect these 3 fields more consciously and intentionally, we gain a much better understanding of how are images may be received by those viewing them. Indeed, it gives us a much better chance of confidently achieving the desired result.

Why is eye level and eye contact important? And how can we use it in our stories and to express ourselves?

The best distillation of compositional theory that I have come across is Dan Scott’s simplification of it into two simple questions:

• What do you want to say as the photographer/artist?, and
• How do you want to say it? (In that, how do you want to arrange the visual elements to tell this story?)

With the above as context, let’s consider two different stories we want to tell and what we want to say with both of them. Story 1: We want to tell a story about a specific bird’s personality and its finer details (and nothing about the habitat) and we want our audience to connect deeply with it, feel a level of intimacy and notice its unique features. Story 2: We want our audience to connect with the bird but also notice its habitat and surrounds. We want them to feel the bird is relaxed and get a sense of what it feels like to be in its space.

Now let’s take the eye level and eye contact question for a spin and use the 3 fields outlined earlier to explain why these two things are important and how they can be used more intentionally by us to tell these two stories. I don’t think you will take eye level and eye contact lightly ever again? 😊

What does composition and design say about eye contact and being eye level?

Composition has 7 principles and 2 key concepts (which some consider part of the principles). One of the principles, which is very relevant to eyes is contrast. Contrast is used by artists to create drama and impact, to define the visual structure of an image and to achieve a compelling focal point. And focal point or emphasis is one of the key concepts in art, as it ensures the audience knows who or what is the main protagonist/key character in your story.  Another important principle of art is movement. Movement directs where our audience’s eyes go and gets them more engaged and/or interested in your image.

When design looks at eye contact it very quickly identifies that eyes carry incredible visual weight as well as directional force.

The eye in and of itself carries very strong contrast. Its round shape contrasts with other shapes. The lighter iris contrasts with the darker pupil, the high key catchlight contrasts with the iris. Often white or lighter skin or feathers around a bird’s eye adds another layer of contrast. Consequently when a bird is looking right at you and there is good eye contact, the eye becomes an incredibly powerful focal point.  It stops your eyes wandering and creates what designers call a strong visual anchor. In fact, it is one of the strongest anchors we have available as artists.

The directional force of the eye is another important design consideration as it points your audience in a specific direction. For example, when two eyes look directly at us, the navigation is bird, back to us, back to bird. The composition is closed and self-contained. When only one eye looks at us and the beak and body produce another directional design force, our movement through the image is different. We will look at the bird, notice that it is looking at us but also notice that it is interested in something else. And we look there too!

Eye level on the other hand changes the entire geometry of the image and how forms relate. It helps scale relationships become more authentic and coherent. It gives the bird more visual importance and helps achieve greater focus. It also helps create depth by having fore, middle and backgrounds, which makes the image more lifelike.  It places the viewer in the bird’s world and makes the observation feel equal rather than observational.

But why does this design work from a visual perception perspective?

Visual perception looks at how the brain interprets the design i.e. how we perceive eyes and eye level and the implications this can have on what we then experience.

Gestalt psychology has around 8 to 10 major principles of which I am going to outline five that are particularly relevant to eyes. “Figure-ground” tells us that we automatically try to separate what we perceive as the figure (i.e. the main subject) from the ground (i.e. the background or everything else). The easier this is for us the clearer the interpretation of the image. “Good continuation” tells us that our eyes tends to follow smooth, continuous paths and lines rather than abrupt changes. Closure tells us that the brain tends to complete incomplete shapes or forms to create a whole. Proximity says that when we see elements close together we perceive them to belong together. And “Good form” tells us that our minds tend to organise what we see into the simplest, most stable and coherent interpretation available.

Visual perception explains how eyes are incredible at creating effective “figure-ground” separation. We are wired towards detecting eyes. Our brain is designed to see eyes (before consciousness even kicks in) and it naturally gives eyes priority. Eyes tell us whether someone see us, where someone is looking, whether they are a potential threat and whether connection is possible. When a bird looks at us, we immediately think that the bird is aware of us. And this immediately changes the experience.

The strong visual design of eyes further enhances their ability to create this separation. Our own eyes are constantly searching for changes in brightness (tonal value). And eyes, as we saw above, carry this strong contrast in spades. Our visual perception is also designed to notice sharp edges, interesting shapes, symmetry and secular highlights. Given that the pupil has one of the cleanest boundaries in nature, that it is made up of concentric circles (uncommon amongst the variety of irregular shapes we normally encounter e.g. leaves and rocks), that it is highly symmetrical and that catchlight is often the brightest point in the image, the eye was made for us to notice it. All this helps the audience know what you want them to focus on. It makes the separation of the “figure” from the “ground” obvious. This provides clarity and enables easy interpretation.

Visual perception also tells us that eyes enable “good continuation”. They create implied lines that we are designed to notice and follow. Where they point our own eyes move.

Eyes also connect us to the head and body of the subject, which we quickly perceive as a coherent whole and belonging together.

Given that we are always looking to create the simplest, most meaningful interpretation, this is all very helpful.

When we consider being eye level, this helps the figure/subject separate more easily from the ground. It also makes the birds gaze more powerful, as we are on the same level and this makes the implied line extend directly towards us. We also feel in closer proximity to the bird making the interaction more immediate and intimate.

When we bring this all together how does this influence what we experience?

Although I have not delved the depths of either design or visual perception (even though it may feel like it 😊), we can see from the above that eyes and eye level have big implications for how we effectively tell our two different stories and indeed, what someone is likely to feel and experience as a result.

We can see that to tell story 1 it is more effective to have both the bird’s eyes staring at us and have the bird at eye level. This image has stronger figure ground separation i.e. it is very clear that we are meant to focus on the bird, its eyes and the nearby details. It is more direct, closed, symmetrical and face centred. It says “look at me” while “I look at you”. It makes you feel like you are the sole destination of the bird’s gaze. The experience is more intense, vulnerable, intimate and encapsulating. Our focus locks for longer. The details and colours of the eye, the interesting feather patterns that surround it, the colours and patterns of the head become more noticeable and more intriguing. We notice more than we ever noticed before. We have a deeper appreciation of the bird and emotions related to “awe” or “bewilderment” or “joy” become far more likely.

Equally, story 2 is far better told with the bird at eye level but with only one eye looking at us and the posture and beak of the bird directing us into the habitat that surrounds the bird. It is more indirect, asymmetrical and direction centred. It says that “I see you but I also see my surrounds”. We are likely to explore and discover the birds habitat and how the two are connected and consequently our emotions may be less focused on how incredible the birds is and more about how the overall environment and connection with the bird feel; possibly peaceful and calm or unsettling and dramatic (depending on the overall scene).

Conclusion

I realise that this is a lot of information around something as simple as “eye contact and eye level” and some internal monologues may be going “It just works and why can’t we just leave it at that”. Why all the analysis? And you can.

But I hope this article has piqued your interest into these different worlds and made you curious about how they may be incredibly helpful when designing your own visual stories, especially when the complexity of the story increases and there are more elements to arrange and consider.

Indeed, if we are both photographers and story tellers the elements we arrange can become the vocabulary, the principles can become the grammar that objectively points us to beautiful writing, perception can become the language we speak and meaning can be what the viewer ultimately hears.