The Other Eye
A little mishap with a vengeful tree that left me blinded in my shooting eye (recovered now) got me thinking. And nothing is more dangerous than a thinking Zeke. What was I thinking? Well, there I was, laying on the ground, viscus fluid squirting up from my eye-hole like a fountain on a windy day and I thought…
I wonder how many of my Nice readers are left eyed?
I’m left handed. Is that why I’m a left eyed photographer?
How does shooting with my left eye change the way I take photographs?
Are most photographers right eyed?
How long is this fountain of goo going to pulse from my eye sack before I stop thinking of questions for my blog?
That was the last question I thought of before passing out as a flock of doves descended in a glowing white light and carried me off to the doctor (or perhaps it was my wife).
So, how many of you are left eyed? How about right eyed? Please comment below. Even if you just write, “Left” or “Right”, just give me an idea. Anyone regularly switch back and forth between both eyes? Even more interesting, to me at least, would be something like, “left eye, left hand” or “left eye, right hand” etc. If you wanted to also leave a link to your flickr stream or portfolio web site so the army of Nice readers can unjustly judge whether left or right eyed photogs are “better,” feel free. If we get 3 or 4 million comments we might have enough for a study.
But what about my other wonderings?
Does the eye my brain use to see what I’m photographing have an effect on the final image taken? You may think, “Nonsense!” I’ve talked about how the parts of your brain that you use might effect your photography before. The folks in lab coats have done the tests and 9 out of 10 dentists agree the right hemisphere of the brain (the side that predominately controls the left side of the body) is the side of the brain responsible for creativity. That seems to be why a disproportionate number of creative folks are left handed rather than right. That doesn’t mean that you Righties are SOL – so you can stop crying now. It just means you might have to work a bit harder to exercise those brain muscles. Besides, math is easier for you, and wiping your butt, too. (What? It’s a joke. Take it easy.)
Do the eyeballs work the same way? Left eye – right brain? Why not? I mean, what’s closer to your brain than your eyeballs. They even taste like brain when you lick them! (Warning: Nice Photo Mag does not advocate the licking of your own eye balls. Do so at your own risk!) So maybe if you are a left eyed photographer, it’s just a little bit easier to pick that creative image when you snap that shot.
I tried shooting with my right eye for a couple days. It felt very, very strange. I found it distracting and much harder to concentrate and really nail the images I was going after. That might just be because I was going against a 20 year old habit (or because my left eye wouldn’t stop dripping – joke). I guess I’ll never know for sure. What do you think?
To finish off this INSANELY useful Nice Photo Mag post, I leave you with this. As with any creative endeavor, sometimes habits are good, sometimes they stop us from taking our art to the next level. If some day you are feeling frustrated with where you are creatively, try looking through your camera with the other eye. It may not immediately improve your work, but it is surprising how much moving your head over 3 inches can change your point of view.
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Left eye – right hand
Left handed… but I use my right eye – I had to get my camera just to make sure
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Left handed – Right Eyed (left legged -> soccer
)
Right handed and right eyed. Interestingly I’ve always been more comfortable with the technical side of photography as opposed to the creative (part of the reason I read this very useful blog). I do wonder from time to time if being a lefty would help with this..
mattcope.co.uk
Right Hand – Right Eye.
Question: is there a difference in the images of photographers that use Live View or point-shoots with no viewfinders? Or those that still use ground-glass cameras and view the images upside down and/or reversed?
Left handed, left eyed. I sometimes switch to the right if I’m trying to see what’s going on around me.
You can see my stuff at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhause
I am SO Left Handed and Left Eyed. I try using my right eye from time to time and everything usually turns our completely out of focus. I like to do it with my lensbaby mostly!
Same as Tony. Left eye, Right hand.
left
Zeke: Right-handed for most physical activities, though very left-eyed for anything visual. I’ve also noticed that my left and right eye have a different sensitivity to color.
BTW, my understanding (though not confirmed) is the Joe McNally is right-handed though left-eyed.
left handed, left eyed
Left handed… Used to be left eyed… switch due to a tumor on the optic nerve…. now, right eyed.
Right handed, but switch eyes. Right eye when shooting straight ahead, right eye when twisting body right to brace a shot. left eye when twisting left to brace a shot.
Left handed, right eyed.
Left eyed, right handed.
Right Handed, Left Eyed
Flickr Stream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coinneachphotography/
left eyed, ambidextrous
Left handed, right eyed.
When I told someone that fact a long time ago, they said ‘How cool! You’re almost amphibious’. Hmm…
Right hand, left eye.
It occurs to me reading this that I’ve never even tried shooting with my right eye… I’ll have to give that a shot and see how it goes.
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/warm_warmer_disco/
Right handed, right eyed. This might be because I can’t wink my right eye. Do you Left eyed people close your right eye when looking through the viewfinder?
Hi Zeke,
Right handed, right eyed. Have tried using my left eye for photography after reading/seeing Joe McNally’s “Da Grip” which can be seen on you tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDsx3-FWfwk (if I did that right). The right eye is easier/more natural, but the left eye “Da Grip” technique does seem to allow me to control camera shake alittle more.
Left eye, right handed – tried this as well, with both eyes open, very difficult… some day hope to find something type of viewfinder adapter that will extend the viewfinder to the far right, and not break my piggy bank at the same time.
It was right eye right handed, but I recently switched to left eye. I can shoot with my left eye and keep my right eye open. However I find that my horizon is off more than usual with the left eye, but I can also follow action (like the ball in my son’s lacrosse game) more easily.
I’m right handed, but I’ve always been left eyed. I can close my right eye and leave my left wide open, but more often than not when I’m peering TTL, I keep my right eye open, and just focus my attention on my left eye’s vision. I have a heckuva time doing the same looking through the viewfinder with my right eye (whilst keeping my left eye open) – I keep seeing “lefty”. It’s akin to looking at an optical illusion where the perspective keeps shifting back and forth, but with a preference for one perspective.
Righty (hands and eyes) – I can’t even figure out where to put my left eye every time I try to look through the viewfinder with it. Though I do keep my left eye open most of the time while looking through the camera with my right. I think I’ve trained my right eye to open a bit wider, or at least I can raise only that eyebrow much higher than the left.
Left handed – right eyed.
Probably because I’m short sighted in my left eye, shooting left eyed just doesn’t work for me, which is weird because I’m VERY left sided, I can’t kick a ball right footed.
very interesting article! I’ve never thought about it that way.
I’m right handed, left eyed – tried right eye, felt very strange and unpleasant…
and like JL, I can keep my right eye open, but still focus with the left. right eye helps me in low-light condition to catch the expressions on the concert photos.