In this article, contributing author and stock photographer, Rich Legg, provides a lesson on pre-visualization in photography. You can learn more about Rich and how to connect with him at the end of this article.

One of the skills I have worked to develop that has helped my photography is to take a page from the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and “begin with the end in mind”.  How I relate this to photography is that I strive to always take time before I shoot a subject to create a mental picture of what I plan to photograph and how I will capture it.  Famed photographer Ansel Adams called this technique pre-visualization.  By taking the time to pre-think the shot, I find that I am able to create a better end result.

I make my living creating stock images that I sell through iStockphoto.  When I am planning a stock photo shoot, the first thing I do is take time to envision what I want the final images to look like.  I will generally come up with a few “signature” shots that I want to capture in the photo shoot.  Once I have the images visualized in my mind, I then make some quick notes detailing what I want.  These notes then serve as a sort-of blueprint which I use when determining what models, locations and props I will need to complete the photoshoot.

Here is an example of this pre-thinking and planning of a photograph.  This sample is one of my early stock images that began as an idea sketched out on a piece of paper late one night.

I had the idea of creating a simulated crime scene.  I was able to picture in my mind a body laying in a doorway with light streaming in through the opening behind the body and crime scene tape across the scene.  My original sketch (which I now wish I would have saved) showed a very similar scene to what was represented in the final image. [Read more…]