Jan19 2

The Lazy Eye

Posted by Philip in Photo Philosophy, Photo Technique

I have an advantage over most photographers. It’s not dashing good looks or superior technical skill. My advantage is a vision issue. I see the world two dimensionally and have nearly all my life. This “problem” means I’m not very good at sports or anything that requires an exceptional handle on depth perception. There is a parallax (distance between images) in your two eyes that allow you to see objects in 3D and give you important distance information. I don’t have that ability, however I don’t have a problem walking or driving since there are plenty other cues to gauge distance. So how can my vision problem help you?

You need to see the world through one eye before you photograph it. I’m not saying you have to go out and get a pirate’s eye patch. But when you are scouting a location, direction, composition or anything you want to photograph, actively use one eye. I recently found I wasn’t the only photographer with a vision problem. Trey Ratcliff of http://www.stuckincustoms.com/ happens to be blind in one eye and has similar views on the matter. I know this sounds like a no brainer, but I have worked with other photographers who don’t think about this beforehand and have to make constant, albeit slight, adjustments to hide background elements, affect lighting. And in some cases they realize that their 3D perception clouded their judgment on how to shoot the scene.

Doesn’t looking through the view finder do the same thing? It does, but only as far as you are looking through the lens and you take the time to see the scene. I’ve seen many photographers go from using one eye in the view finder to standing up and positioning a model or other elements and using two eyes. Just to realize they have to adjust things again. This gets much worse close up. The distance between your eyes of 6-7cm can be a big difference in close-up photography.

Should you go around winking at your models/subjects all the time? Most people would have a difficult time viewing the world through only one eye long term. So, just be aware of the parallax between your eyes when you are shooting. And when you are setting up before you start looking through your lens, look at the scene through one eye.

2 Comments

Vickey | October 18, 2010 at 8:09 pm

I am looking for any ideas on how to disguise a lazy eye in being photographed.I don’t like my pictures taken because of my turning out.I would appreciate any suggestions.Vickey.
Name | March 22, 2012 at 8:16 pm

patching the good eye will help strengthen the lazy eye. quick tips using makeup: apply more eyeliner to the lazy eye to make it appear bigger and more even with the other eye. lots of mascara helps too to enlarge it and draw attention away from the lazy eye. but other than that, just embrace it!

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The Lazy Eye

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