Use Your Viewfinder For A Better PictureWriten by Eric Hartwell
If you have a compact camera it is quite likely that you either have not got a viewfinder, or, if you have, you dont use it. The bright LCD screen on the rear of the camera gives a real time record of the scene that it is just about to photograph. Those with SLR digital cameras will still use the viewfinder as the option for LCD preview is not available.
The LCD screen can be of use. It is easily visible and doesnt require you to peer through a small hole in order to take the photograph. So, is there a need for a viewfinder at all?
I think there is, and heres why.
Ask any photographer worth his salt what the most important aspect of photography is and he will say composition. Although other factors such as exposure, depth-of-field and ISO setting play a part, if the subject is poorly composed, the image will fail.
The LCD screen and the viewfinder are the photographers window to an image. Whilst the LCD screen has use in a number of situations, for serious photography it is too remote and instantaneous. It encourages snapshot photography and instant gratification.
The viewfinder provides the photographer with an intimate view of the world in front of him. A chance for the photographer to isolate himself within the camera and to selectively view the proposed image. A chance to focus in on the scene, to examine it, contemplate it and alter it according to his wishes.
It is this isolation within the viewfinder that gives the photographer that chance to slow down, compose the best scene and take the best picture.
Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com