Total time: GOING TO AN EXTRA LEVEL
9-12 hours
PRE-VISUALIZATION
PHOTZY.COM
Pre-visualization began in Hollywood with moviemaking and
Difficulty Level:
Very challenging
the art of storyboarding. Photographer Ansel Adams is credited
with bringing the idea to still photography. Pre-visualization is the art of seeing
Skill Points: the finished photograph, in your mind, before you ever pick up a camera. It
• Learning what
may sound easy, but it requires advanced skills in art knowledge, equipment,
pre-visualization is composition, lighting, exposure, and post-processing.
• Discovering how to break
down a scene for pre- KEY LESSON: The goal of this Action Card is to make you aware of the
visualization idea of pre-visualization, and to begin practicing it. This is not something
• Create photographs and
you will learn quickly. In fact, it’s a lifetime endeavor. However, the more
following through with the
pre-visualized ideas you practice, the better you will become with this highly specialized skill.
EQUIPMENT: Any camera including mobile | Any lens | Photo Editing Software
SAMPLE PHOTOGRAPHS
1 2 3 4
1- For a moment, change the word pre-visualization to translation. Try to complete a mental translation of a
3-dimensional scene into a 2-dimensional photograph. This photo is a perfect example. It was taken in Las
Vegas from a 12th floor hotel room. It depicts a cityscape that is semi-obscured by a window shade. What you
see here is exactly what the photographer saw in his mind before clicking the shutter. When attempting this,
imagine your scene printed huge, framed, and hanging on a large blank wall.
2- A first step toward pre-visualization is training to see in spatial relationships versus actual objects. A spatial
relationship, in art, is the ability to perceive the relationship of an object’s position within a space. In this
photo, the photographer saw the pre-visualized shape of a man, in a dark suit, within the surrounding white
space of the buildings.
3- Spatial relationship is intrinsically tied to light, shadow, color, and shape. A fantastic training tool for
developing pre-visualization is to view your scene through squinted eyes. This eliminates details and divides
the scene into spatial blocks of light, dark, color, and shape.
4- Understanding your equipment is key to pre-visualization. If you don’t know how your equipment if going
to affect the photograph, how can you pre-visualize it? The photographer saw an almost semi-abstract image
with blocks of color and little depth. Knowing this- he selected a telephoto lens to compress the scene.
ACTION ASSIGNMENT!
1- Organize a photo shoot where you will spend the better part of a day out taking pictures.
2- Do not take a picture before you spend at least 5 minutes thinking about the picture and anticipating what
it would look like hanging on your wall. Set a timer.
3- Post-process to your pre-visualized thoughts.
4- Print a selection of your best efforts. Tape them to a blank wall in your home. Leave them there for a week.
Each day, stand 5 feet (1.5 meters) in front of each photo and look at it for 1 minute or longer.
HOW DID YOU DO?
• Do your finished photographs reflect your initial pre-visualized intent?
• Were you able to follow through on your pre-visualization from beginning to end?
READY! SET! GO! ACTION CARDS
STRETCH GOALS: PRE-VISUALIZATION
