Your eye is like a muscle. Just like you can train your body to get stronger, you can train your eye to see more.
A well-developed, keen eye is your best friend on the streets. It's the tool that will help you capture your best photographs. And it's the tool you should invest the most in.
Not cameras. Not lenses. Not any other piece of gear you can think of will improve your photography.
So today, we will go through 6 proven ways to develop that eye.
THE BEGINNER'S TRAP: WHY GEAR ISN'T THE ANSWER
You see… The biggest problem someone faces when starting out in photography is that they simply don't know. They don't know what makes a good photograph. Their eye hasn't seen enough visual content to form an opinion.
The beginner's perception is often that a good photo needs to be sharp, and perhaps have nice colors. And of course, that you need a good camera to achieve that.
That's why beginners always ask, "Which camera is the best?" They think it will naturally give them the best results. It's not unusual. Many beginners buy pro kits, even Leicas and Hasselblads, because someone told them they're the best.
But, after playing with their new toys for a year or so, after getting exposed to more good images, something starts to shift.
The eye begins to recognize what's good and what's not. And that's when doubt creeps in.
They think, "I have the best gear money can buy. So why don't my photos look like his?" And the mind comes up with a quick answer: "It's because he knows how to edit better. I'm shooting well too. He just knows Photoshop and how to make the colors pop."
Sound familiar?
Why am I telling you all this? Because I've been there.
I didn't buy a Leica, but I had a full set of professional gear, and I was sure I was a great photographer.
THE TURNING POINT: MYANMAR
Until one moment changed everything.
It was a few years into my journey.
I knew quite a bit about gear; I could capture sharp images and blur the background, so I thought I had it all figured out.
I was on a trip to Myanmar, in a Buddhist monastery in the Mandalay area, walking proudly with my white 70–200, photographing monks going about their daily lives.
Until a small group of photographers entered the scene. Naturally, with the corner of my eye, I checked out everyone's gear. And found out, to my great satisfaction, that my camera was the best one there. That filled me with pride. I kept shooting, with my chest high, wearing my most serious, professional facial expression.
Among that group, there was a woman, probably the leader of their team. She had some small camera; I don't even remember the brand. At some point, she walked over and asked, "Hey, can I see what you're getting?"
Full of pride, I showed her my photos.
As we were scrolling through my precious work, she looked at a few. But quite quickly lost interest. Then she turned to me and said: "You know, your photos are technically fine, but you should work on your composition more."
Man, I can't tell you how those words hit me. My ego shattered. I could barely keep on shooting that day. Her words echoed in my head like a mantra: "You should work on your composition. You should work on your composition."
To this day, I don't know who she was. But those words had a massive impact on my future. That was the turning point for me. From that moment on, I dove deep into the world of photography. Today, I'm a better photographer. And it is all thanks to that woman.
But I don't walk around so proud anymore. Because now I know there's a never-ending path ahead of me. This process of training your eye and mastering your photography craft never truly ends.
So, how do you train your eye for aesthetics?
1. TRAINING YOUR EYE THROUGH VISUAL CONSUMPTION
It has to begin somewhere. So you start with training your eye through visual consumption. The first step is to consume a lot of quality imagery. But the curse of our time is that there's just too much content out there. And with the good stuff, you're also consuming a lot of garbage.
I used to recommend having an Instagram account where you remove all your family and friends and follow only photography accounts that inspire you. That still works, to some extent.
But Instagram isn't what it used to be. The algorithm pushes too much video, ads, and accounts you don't care about. So let's go back to basics.
- Explore other forms of art.
- Go to museums and look at paintings.
- Apply the composition rules you know to the art. You'll see that painters use light and shape very similarly to photographers.
- Look at abstract art to understand how color impacts emotion.
- Look at sculptures to see how light interacts with shape.
And of course, focus on photography books. Books are expensive. So choose one or two from photographers you love. And study them. Break down every single photograph you see.
Ask yourself:
- What do I like about this photo?
- Is it the story?
- What's my emotional response?
- Is it the composition?
- The colors? The light? The complexity? The simplicity?
The more questions you ask, the more answers you get. And the more you understand the art of photography.
I have a cheat sheet with a list of these types of questions. You can download it in here.
This is the first step, but it's a very important one. Once you start understanding what makes a good photo, you will start pushing your skills in that direction.
… But you're not a photographer yet. For now, you have learned how to become a photo critic. And just like a food critic isn't a chef…
To become a photographer, you need to expand your practical experience. You need to learn how to create those well-structured, story-rich photos with your own hands. And for that, you need to train. Give yourself challenges. Make a "Challenge Day" or a "Challenge Week." Every time you go out, focus on one thing.
2. DEVELOP THE EYE FOR MOMENTS
Let's say you want to develop your eye for moments. Then spend entire sessions outside observing and anticipating human interaction. Look for:
- Affection between couples
- Parent-child relationships
- General daily street life
These are there. But I bet you don't normally pay attention. Training your eye for storytelling means training it to be aware of these gestures and emotions. And the most important part is: Slow down. Don't rush. Look at a scene for a few minutes. That's how you learn to anticipate and recognize the start of an interaction.
3. DEVELOP THE EYE FOR COMPOSITION
Now let's talk about composition. Developing the eye for composition takes years. Because it means paying attention to all the elements in the frame and organizing them. That's hard. It's easier when you shoot tight with a telephoto lens and minimize elements. But if you want to shoot wider and show context, composition becomes critical. And much more difficult. You need to consider:
- Angles
- Lines
- Shapes
- Distances
- What enters the frame… And what stays out of it.
So, to train your eye for composition, it is very similar.
Challenge yourself with different exercises. One day focus on searching for Leading Lines: Find lines (roads, fences, shadows) that guide the viewer's eye toward your subject. The next day try to find Frame Within a Frame. The next challenge: search for objects surrounded by negative space. The next: work on your Symmetry & Balance. And so on… Until you run out of composition techniques.
THE POWER OF ONE FOCAL LENGTH
One of the best ways to train composition is to commit to one focal length for two years. Yes. Two years. Well, you can go with one, but I really recommend two. Someone commented on one of my videos recently, doubting that anyone would actually do it. So let me tell you, I did. I used a 35mm for two years. Some of my students did too. And we all greatly benefited from that imposed limitation that pushed us to explore our ability to compose. One of my students still mostly shoots with 35mm. And always tells me that it was the best advice he got.
So yes. People do it. And it works.
4. DEVELOP THE EYE FOR LIGHT
Then comes light.
Developing an eye for light means learning its language. Light creates mood. Hard light looks and feels one way, soft light another. You need to learn how to integrate light into the composition. A favorite exercise of mine: Take a bus during golden hour and watch how the light changes as the bus turns. See how it hits people differently. It's a great way to learn effortlessly. You can also walk the streets and look for light and shadow interplays. Find these different shapes created by light. Spend 5–10 minutes a day just watching how light falls. Observe the direction, quality, and color. You don't even need a camera for this. Just use your eyes.
5. DEVELOP THE EYE FOR COLOR
Now let's talk about color.
This one is hard for me. I'm partially colorblind, and I still don't pay enough attention to color. But if you want to train your eye for color, try this: Choose one color. Spend a shooting session searching for it on the streets. Then find that color in two places at once. For example, on your subject and some element on the street.
When you are comfortable with that exercise, look for specific color combinations. Try to find color combinations that create contrast. Similarly, try to find combinations that create harmony. This is the way to work with color. You use color either to create contrast or to create harmony.
6. DEVELOP THE EYE FOR SPACE
And finally: space.
Train your eye for space. Even empty space matters. Space defines distance between objects. It surrounds them and creates invisible framing of sorts. Emptiness pushes the eye toward your subject.
PUTTING IT ALL INTO PRACTICE
So you see, there are many areas to develop. If you break it down into weekly exercises, it can easily take you a year. And if you had trouble remembering everything, don't worry, I made a free download with these exercises. You can find it here.
But most importantly: Shoot. Theory means nothing without practice.
Reading a list of assignments won't train your eye. You have to do the assignments. You need to search for those visual elements again and again. That's how it sticks. Not by watching YouTube. Not by reading books.
So schedule your photography time. Make it a habit. Even 15–30 minutes a day. You can use the time after work. Or just when you are on your way somewhere.
The more you shoot, the more your capacity to see rises.
STAY INVOLVED & LEARN FROM OTHERS
And last tip: Stay involved in photography, even when you're not shooting.
- Analyze your work.
- Organize your photos by theme, light, style, technique.
Join a community. Find friends who are into photography.
Go on training missions together. But don't walk together, you'll just chat. Split up. Shoot for two hours. Then meet up and compare your findings. You'll learn a lot.
Okay, I think I gave you enough to keep busy for a while.
Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe.