Which eye do you use ...

[grant_w]

... in the viewfinder?
Following on from a thread in Airshow Photos I just want to find out people's reasons for using that particular eye in the viewfinder of their camera.

I use the right, always have done, I assumed that was the one you used as it felt the right place to held the camera when I first picked one up many moons ago. Now it comes in handy for me when taking shots of crossovers as I follow the aircraft on the right with the camera, open my left eye and I can see the aircraft from the left coming and time the shot (usually )
I tried looking through the viewfinder with the left eye and it just didn't feel right (are you keeping up:hypno:)

Comments?

[Agg]

I use my right eye, mostly because it feels more "right", but also because it's slightly better than my left.

[Big Eric]

I use my left now, my right eye hasn't been the same since it was hit with a stale breakfast roll - it's a long story !

[Trevster]

Left as it's my stronger eye

[Cimmerian]

I actually had to get the camera out to answer this. I use my left, although I am right handed. Might be why my pictures are never level.

Now...back to that bread roll story?

[vandal]

Left Eye.

Don't know if it's because I'm Left handed, but I do know that my Left eye is just marginally stronger than my Right one.

[F-86]

Both.

[LN Strike Eagle]

Left.

[Mictheslik]

Left, because I like to hide my face behind the camera

Also it's the better of the two ( though I think that may be because I've been using it with the viewfinder so much!) fewer distractions from the other eye too.

.mic

[Thumper]

Right eye, given the 2 it has the better vision! I'm also right handed.

[grant_w]

Just realised I thought I would do the proper thing by moving the discussion out of the Photos section and then still put this in the wrong section. Maybe this should be in the Photography Hints and Tips. Sorry if it's wrong

For the people who use the left eye, how do you take cross-over shots as you can't see the other aircraft coming?

[The Big Cheese]

Left but that's probably coz I'm left handed

[aceyone]

Middle

[Danny]

I'm right handed but I use my left eye, because that's the eye I used when I first picked up a camera as a child.

[duxfordhawk]

Left as right eye is lazy eye, I am also left handed, In interest do you close the eye you are not using when taking a photo? I don't and the wife thinks its odd.

[wallace]

Left but sometimes I open both eyes if I want to see where the subject is in general.

[Maisie]

Both.

[AlexC]

I actually had to get the camera out to answer this.

Same here! Right eye. No idea why, just feels natural.

[Rockhopper]

Everyone has a dominant eye which they will use for taking photos and aiming a gun without even realised they are doing it.

http://vision.about.com/od/contactlense ... inance.htm

[lrv890]

I think this discussions follows on from a comment I made about my photos of crossing planes and that I always seem to follow the wrong one
If there any display pilots or crew on here , can you answer a question
If you have 2 planes running in to do a cross over , when looking from the crowd line which one would normally be nearer the crowd ( the front one in a photo ) is there a rule or is it up to the display team
I use my left eye ( but use my right for shooting clays !!!! ) so tend to follow the plane coming in from the left
At the last few shows just my luck it has been the back one , so I a perfect ish cross over with a beautiful out of focus plane in front and the sharp one hidden
Do I need to start following the one coming from the right ?



or

[phreakf4]

I use my right eye to look through the viewfinder as it is the strongest and also feels more "natural". I also very often (not just when shooting aircraft) have both eyes open as this allows me to see much of what is going on beyond what is visible in the viewfinder. For example, particularly when tracking a subject from right to left, one can get advance warning that a PA speaker is about to obscure the target (very common at motorsport events where the speakers tend to be quite low down), or when shooting a static subject one can see when another person is about to walk into the frame. When (trying) to shoot crossovers at airshows I track the aircraft coming from the right through the viewfinder and use the other eye to see when the crossover is about to occur. This technique feels quite strange at first since one is viewing two different-sized images simultaneously, especially when viewing through a long telephoto lens and one tends to concentrate on only one image (usually the wrong one), resulting in very poor tracking of the intended subject, but with practice it becomes more familiar and success rates rise.Since I do not use the "machine-gunning" or "spray and pray" technique, my success rate is quite low, but at least I know that when the result is acceptable it is down to my skill as a photographer and not blind (pardon the pun!) luck.

As I understand it, the aircraft which is closer to the crowd is often flown slightly lower than that which is further away to counteract the effects of parallax and to give the impression that the aircraft are closer than is actually the case. This does not, unfortunately, tell you which aircraft is going in which direction until it is too late......

[PhilEAF92]

I shoot with both eyes open with the right eye dominant, same as I do with telescopic sights for target and shotguns for clays.

Its always worked well for me, shooting aircraft is very similar to clay shooting.

This method produces stuff like this.....

[Stan]

Everyone has a dominant eye which they will use for taking photos and aiming a gun without even realised they are doing it.

http://vision.about.com/od/contactlense ... inance.htm

Exactamundo. The master eye. Remember this from pistol shooting days. That's why I've always gone to the right and never thought about it further.

[vandal]

If you have 2 planes running in to do a cross over , when looking from the crowd line which one would normally be nearer the crowd ( the front one in a photo ) is there a rule or is it up to the display team
I use my left eye ( but use my right for shooting clays !!!! ) so tend to follow the plane coming in from the left
At the last few shows just my luck it has been the back one , so I a perfect ish cross over with a beautiful out of focus plane in front and the sharp one hidden
Do I need to start following the one coming from the right ?

Funnily enough, I follow planes in from the Left too, but after giving it thought as to why, I think it is because of where I am on the flightline. With the Reds for instance and using Leuchars as an example, if I am more toward the Eastern end, then I'll follow the aircraft running in from the sea. East Fortune has trees to the Right (South) on the display line, so it is easier to follow aircraft coming in from the North which would be the left on the display line. Might be coincidence, or that I just got used to shooting like that, but judging by some recent efforts from the camera, it looks like I had both eyes shut when shooting.

[capercaillie]

I use my left now, my right eye hasn't been the same since it was hit with a stale breakfast roll - it's a long story !

Was that some kind of bun fight?