Joe Baraban’s Digital Photography Blog

Using the edges of my frame to imply a black triangle

I recently had one of my blog followers send me this note:

Hi Joe,

I’ve followed your blog and website for some time now, and things are usually very clear and instructive.
In this edition, you stated:

“BTW, when you crop in front of a computer, you’ll never know where the edges of your frame are, nor will you ever be able to use the edges as a compositional tool.”

I am completely unsure as to what you mean – can you elaborate?

Thanks and keep up the great work!

I’m glad he asked because it’s a question I often get either in my online class with the BPSOP, or in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet.

First, here’s an excerpt from an interview done on Henri Cartier-Bresson, who is adamantly against cropping. He said, “We have to have a feeling for the geometry of the relation of shapes, like in any plastic medium. And I think that you place yourself in time, we’re dealing with time, and with space.

Just like you pick a right moment in an expression, you pick your right spot, also. I will get closer, or further, there’s an emphasis on the subject, and if the relations, the interplay of lines is correct, well, it is there. If it’s not correct it’s not by cropping in the darkroom and making all sorts of tricks that you improve it. If a picture is mediocre, well it remains mediocre. The thing is done, once for all.”

I’ve also read that shooting loosely and cropping in post-processing are signs of sloppy technique and a lack of discipline…that would include yours truly.

To create stronger photos, use the edges of your frame as a compositional tool. For example shape is one of the basic elements of Visual Design that I teach both in my online classes and my workshops. The four basic shapes are circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles. If you were to use one or two sides of your frame to complete the third line of a triangle, you would be making your image stronger.

I hope this post helped clears it up, and thanks for asking.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my upcoming workshops at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Taking a lunch break and a glass of wine overlooking the Old Town Square.

It’s been a while since I conducted my workshop in Prague, and because of circumstances way beyond my control (that would be misplacing the flash drive with all the student’s work on it) I am now able to finally write this post. It seems that it was in the bottom of my bag…go figure!!!

My class and I spent a fantastic week shooting in Prague, and with a little help from the weather Gods, we had five perfect days of beautiful skies and wonderful sunsets. Like with my online class I teach with the BPSOP, my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop is centered around my Artist Palette. On this palette are the elements of visual design and composition, and I show fellow photographers how to apply them to their imagery. Negative Space, Balance, Vanishing Points, Perspective, Tension, Texture, Pattern, Form, Shape, Light, and Color.

When you can go to a location,  and are able to implement these elements into your thought process, you can pretty much count on walking away with a photo that you’ll not only be proud of, but you’re sure to impress most anyone, including fellow photographers. These elements have been around for a very long time, going back to the ‘Masters’ who also were using them in their paintings. After all, are we not painters who have chosen a different medium? Have we not exchanged a paintbrush for a camera?

The letter ‘Q’

I know I did, a very long time ago!!!

I took the above photo while scouting locations for the sunset shoot. There’s nothing quite taking a break for lunch and enjoying a glass of Sauvignon Blanc while overlooking the Old Town Square.

Take a look at these photos taken over a five day period by  nine serious amateurs photographers who were using their own Artist Palette. I think you’ll be as impressed as I was…and still am.

BTW, I gave each student a letter to find as one of their assignments, see if you can pick them out. I can tell you that my favorite was the letter ‘Q’ (very difficult to find in reality) I gave to Katka the woman that lives in Prague who did an incredible job producing this workshop for me.

Check out these remarkable images shot by amateur photographers that have implemented the elements that i teach in my classes.

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Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Stay tuned for my complete workshop scheduleCome shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

What do you see?

A student submitted this to me and wanted to know what I thought of it.

He said he liked this picture because the silhouettes are the subject and they pull the eye to them. He also likes the way his friends are looking at each other and that the beams and the trees create patterns around them.

When I first saw the photo and read his description my first thought was that he was being too esoteric. In other words that all may be well and good, but I’m thinking you had to be there to see what he saw in a three dimensional reality. Trying to portray this in a two-dimensional representation, as in a photograph, is not an easy task…for anyone, myself included.  I told him what I tell everyone in my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, that he won’t always be around to explain his thinking to the viewer. It has to be able to stand on its own. The exception being an abstract. What I’m talking about is  an idea that lives only in the photographer’s thought process and not made up of any concrete existence.

To me, the photo is closer to being in a three dimensional reality than an abstraction. Therefore, it needs to be what I call a “quick read”. The silhouettes have to stand out. There could also be a discussion about whether the silhouettes need to be easily recognized, or if they could be discovered as the viewer looks at this image. My thinking is why take that chance? Sure, it would be great if the viewer were to discover them after looking at this photo, but how long is the viewer going to give it before he just scratches his head and moves on.

Although I really like the colors as they are in harmony with one another, the fact is that the composition so busy that I get lost trying to figure out what’s going on here. His friends now that he mentions it could be looking at one another and the camera, but he had to tell me. because the body language has been overtaken by all the branches. There are so many lines going in and out of each silhouette that I can’t tell where their bodies and arms begin and where they end.

If it had been me with my friends, I might have easily become carried away with the fun I was having and forgotten to what I refer to as “stepping back and considering the scene, and its outcome”.

I almost thing it would look better without the three friends (and at least a stop brighter). This way it would just be a study of line, shape, texture, and color.

One of my Personal Pearls of Wisdom is “In a perfect world, what if”. What I mean is:  what if he could go back and could take this photo again and have anything at his disposal and be able to do anything he wanted…what would he do?

If it were me, I would go back with my camera  and put a 300mm 2.8 lens and of course a tripod. I would get back far enough to get close to this same composition and focus only on the silhouettes with my lens set on 2.8. That way, I would have the three silhouettes sharp and everything behind them completely out of focus. Then, they just might become the subject.

Thanks for your submission. It looked like you were having a lot of fun!!! I hope this helped.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this page and come shoot with me sometime. FYI, the workshop descriptions at the top don’t stay up long because my workshops fill in just a few days.

JoeB

As usually, I like to write a post and show my student’s images.on one of my workshops, and here’s one I love to show since several of therm will “stand the test of time”.

The Maine Media Workshop is the granddaddy of them all, and was founded in 1973. Since then, there’s been several that have started up and has used Maine as the benchmark to a successful and professional organization with improving student’s skill as just one of their main objectives.

My workshop is called “Stretching your Fame of Mind”, and it’s the same material we cover in my online class with the BPSOP. The big difference is that I’m teaching and working in the field, and the classroom discussion is live with all the participants interacting among themselves.

I’m proud of my class this year and rightfully so, as you’ll see in my slideshow of their work taken throughout the week. All photos were taken by my  class.

Enjoy the show.

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Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/baraban. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Look ma, no Photoshop!

Ho’okipa Beach is on the north shore on the Island of Maui, and probably the most renowned windsurfing site in the world. I was there working on another project and went up to see what we could get since the international championships was just a week away.

All the top windsurfers from all over the world were going to be there, so I figured it would be a great photo opportunity. In those days I was selling a lot of stock photography, so I thought why not make a few bucks while adding to my sports portfolio.

We arrived in the afternoon, and on that day it was overcast; rare for Maui. We had just this one afternoon off, so I couldn’t spend more than a few hours…so we waited, hoping for a break in the weather. I was set up on a pullout that overlooked the beach, with my 600mm Nikkor f/4 lens on, and was watching the windsurfers until there was just a handful of them left.

By that time all the other tourists had left, but as I tell my online students with the BPSOP, and those that take my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I conduct around our planet, “it ain’t over til it’s over”…as in dark!!

Sure enough waiting around paid off because for less than minute the sun peaked through the almost solid gray sky, and as Eddy Adams once said, “When you get lucky, be ready”….and I was.

The three remaining windsurfers came around and for a matter of seconds had formed a perfect triangle. As the sun was back lighting the sails making them glow, I was shooting…and screaming in pure joy!!!!

What you see in the above is one exposure, on one piece of film.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagraam.com/barabanjoe. Watch for my workshop schedule at the top of this post. Come shoot with me some time.

JoeB

One of my students submitted this photo of Yosemite taken in the fog. His question was, “How I would compose this differently, and how would I deal with the exposure in the fog.”

Well,  the first thing I would do is to get the notion that the Rule of Thirds will take your imagery what I refer to as “Up a Notch” out of your mind!!! Check out my past post entitled “The Rule of Thirds is not for everyone“. The essence of that post is that if you want to be a good photographer then by all means follow that rule. However, if you want to be a great photographer forget about that rule.

In my forty-two year career as an Advertising, Corporate, and Editorial photographer, I can honestly say that I’ve never…not once…thought about that rule…why?

Because it’s very hard to generate Tension when you follow that rule. Be sure to look at my photo examples if you go back and read that post.

The most important elements in this photo are the clouds, the mountains, and of course the falls. That being said why show so much sky? In my opinion, you don’t need so much of it because it’s really not doing anything to take your photo “up a notch”. I would have cropped the photo (in the camera ) right above the mountain on the left. The reason is that by doing so, you would be creating Tension two ways: by minimizing the Negative Space between the tip of the mountain and the top edge of the frame, and by placing the mountain close to that edge of the frame.

Also, I would have placed the falls where it could create some Tension as well…anywhere but in the “Rule of Thirds”. I would place it where the viewer would discover it, not where it’s the first thing he sees.. In my classes, I talk a lot about the Psychology of Gestalt. In this theory, it’s important for the visual to become an active participant. One of the ways is to have him keep discovering new things in our photographs. The more he discovers the longer he’ll stick around…isn’t that what we want?????

I love the fog and the clouds. It’s a photo that you don’t see very often, and for that reason alone, it works for me!!!  As far as the exposure is concerned, do you ever bracket??? To me, this image is about a stop too dark. When I lightened it everything was brighter without losing the ethereal felling here.

In my online class I teach with the BPSOP, and my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind“workshops I conduct around the planet, we work on the elements of visual design and composition. Tension is a very important one. Use it to your advantage and let everyone else be predictable. Stretch your frame of Mind!!!

Thanks for sharing it with others.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come work on the elements with me sometime.

JoeB

What’s the message here?

A student photographer of  mine from California submitted this photo for me to comment on. Since she didn’t have a specific question, but just to comment, I’ll just assume that her question was whether I thought this was a good photo or not.

Ok,Texture is one of the basic Elements of Visual Design, and when  Texture is lit in such a way the viewer will want to reach out and touch your photo…why, you ask?

Because since we were very little touch has been ingrained in our every day thought process. For example:

• Don’t touch that it’s wet.
• Don’t touch that it’s dirty.
• Don’t touch that it’s sharp.
• Don’t touch that you don’t know where its been.

This old rusted out car is mostly about one of the three varieties of Texture called ‘Information’  Texture.

For photos with information texture, it is crucial to identify precisely what information the texture is to communicate and compose the image in such a way that the texture brings out the proper message. In this image the texture alludes to the history that this car was a part of. The result is a much better image, but in this image what’s the message? Is it just the history of the old rusted out car, or is it the sign in the background? Or both?

DD, I’ve always been a firm believer that if you show a sign (especially one this big), make sure the viewer can read it. In this situation the sign is very close to being as important as the car. I love the graphics and the colors and it looks like its been there as long as the car has. I would love to be able to read what the sign says. Check out my earlier post I called “The Whole Enchilada”. In it I talk about the entire environment, not just the subject, which in this case I assume is the rusted out car.

By the way, DD told me that she was aware of the pole growing out of the top of the car, but couldn’t do anything about it at the time…That’s what the ‘Content Aware’ tool in CS5 is for!!!!

Stay tune for an upcoming post on Gestalt that talks about this issue. It’s called “Proximity”, and you’ll find it most interesting. In my online class with the BPSOP, and the “Stretching Your Frame of Mind”workshops I conduct around the planet, we work on all the concepts in the Psychology of Gestalt.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

So much Visual Tension

This is one of my favorite posts to write on. Whether intentionally or just stumbling upon something that either I’ve heard or read in various publications or when I’m searching Social Media looking for ideas to write my posts on.

I’ve been doing this, teaching workshops both in person with my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” classes and with the BPSOP, since 1983.

I would strongly suggest you read “The f64 Group, as it talks about the early careers of some of the most famous photographers there ever was. One of these was Edward Weston. He once said, “Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph it.”

When I’m conducting my workshops and walking around with either one or a few students, we are looking for things that have Visual Tension or represents one of the basic elements of Visual Design.

When I see something that sticks out from it’s environment, it’s like a magnet drawing me in with it’s energy. It could be anything, dappled light on a wall, objects that create one of the basic shapes: triangles, squares, circles, and rectangles, or a person about to create the “Decisive Moment”, by altering their surroundings.

My job as their teacher is to point these occurrences out so that they can spend time creating their own POV. I love this part, watching them going about their creative business each one looking for that elusive ‘wall hanger’.

So, my fellow photographers, go out and look for those things that excite you. If it excite you, there’s a very good chance that it will excite others.  My only advice is to make sure they know what they’re looking at.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. watch for any upcoming workshops. They fill fast so they are not up on my blog for very long.

JoeB

Let the viewer fill in the missing pieces.

I teach three online classes with the BPSOP. A part I and Part II where we work on ways to incorporate the Elements of Visual Design into our photography. I also work on these same elements in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet.

I also teach a third class on the Psychology of Gestalt. Each of the four weeks we work on the six concepts in this theory. The one I want to talk about today is ‘Closure’.

First of all, here’s a brief description of Gestalt:

By several definitions Gestalt comes from the German/Austrian word meaning shape, form, or the whole . It is stated that Gestalt is the theory that the ‘whole’ is greater than the sum of its parts. It is also stated by others that the ‘whole’ is different than the sum of its parts. My thinking is that when you use the “Elements of Visual Design” in your imagery you are basically working with and structuring these ‘parts’ that will eventually make up the ‘whole’; the ‘whole’ being your finished composition.

The methods we use to gain attention to our photography will vary, but what’s important is how we manage what the viewer perceives and processes when looking at the information we lay out to him in the form of a photograph. Visual input is a part of our everyday life, and as photographers it is our prime objective to present this visual information in a way that takes control of what the viewer sees and when looking at our imagery.

In our reality, making the mind work harder is not necessarily a good thing, but in photography it is.  By leading the viewer’s eye around our composition, having them discovering new things as they go, or having them consider the scene, they are now participating by taking an active role, and when we can accomplish that our images will definitely be stronger.

When we talk about different ways to keep the viewer involved in our photographs, one of several ways is to have them “complete an image, or a form, or an idea”. The brain has the ability to complete an unfinished form or subject, and this ability in the theory of Gestalt, is called closure.

Closure is all about sparking an interest in your photos. to give a little taste of what the entire message your presenting to the viewer. The key is to present to the viewer an interesting composition that makes him or her want to stick around to see what “the bigger picture” is…so to speak!!!

When he fills in the rest of the pieces to create the finished idea, he’ll feel a sense of satisfaction. Of course this idea is predicated on the notion that he knows ahead of time what it is he’s filling in; at least to some degree.

In the above photo, I was sent to East Texas by an in-house magazine for Champion Paper to do a photo story on East Texas Pine Seedlings. The company owns several hundred acres of Pine Trees and a lumber mill. The designer asked me to create a photo he could use on the cover. He wanted it to suggest Texas, the day to day operations, and Pine Tree Seedlings.  I decided to create an image using the concept of Closure.

Here are a few more examples of closure:

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Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on  Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Watch for my new workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

A student sent me this photo and asked me, “If an unknown person was to see this photo for the first time, how will that person judge this photo?”

How would you judge this photo?

My question to you is on what level do you want it judged? Do you want it judged on what I refer to in an earlier post as “The Whole Enchilada“? In other words, do you want it judged as if it was a real photo? If this is what you want judged, then I’m not 100% sure it is. Of course, this is going to be predicated on the assumption that the viewer knows what he’s looking at. If he’s a competent photographer, he’ll know that it could be two photos put together. If he’s not, he might think that it’s a pretty cool photo. I think I might show it to non-photographers to judge this image…why you ask?????

Look at the image in the camera, then look at the environment the camera is taking a picture of. They don’t match!!! First of all, the way the camera is pointed down would distort the vertical lines of the train. I also don’t think you could capture the bottom and the top of the train at one time with this angle. This isn’t happening in the display. The light is different as well as the color, and if you look at the foreground in the camera’s display and the real environment, it’s also completely different.

Why is the train in the display in focus and not what the camera is seeing? If it was about to be taken, the display wouldn’t be in focus????? Hummmm!!!

Is that a reflection of a flash in the top right corner of the camera’s display????

In both my online class with the BPSOP, and my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I conduct around the planet, I often use my “Pearl of Wisdom” …consider the scene and it’s outcome. In any event, right before you pull the trigger (that’s Texas talk) be sure that you’re message is getting across to the viewer. In the case, if you wanted the viewer to believe he was looking at a photo of a train at the back of your camera, make sure the two dimensional representation (the finished photo) of the three dimensional reality look the same.

Now, this is just my initial feelings. To be fair, I want to include a conversation I had with my web designer who thinks that this just might be a real photo and not a composite. He had some valid thoughts I sort of agreed with and we both did agree that it’s an interesting puzzle???

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this page. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Lots of elements from the ‘Artist Palette’ are in this image.

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I teach my fellow photographers how to incorporate the Elements of Visual Design and composition into your photography. While Line, Texture, Pattern, Form, Shapes, Balance and Color are the basic elements, we also work on Negative Space, Vanishing Point, Perspective, Rhythm, and Visual Tension.  All of these are found on the ‘Artist Palette’ the students walk away with after the four week course.

I like to present my online classes work to show how their new ‘Artist Palette’ has taken their imagery to new heights…Up a notch” is what I always refer to it as. As you enjoy the slideshow, you’ll see all these elements in each of the photos and as you’re drawn to these images, you’ll begin to understand why they’re as strong as they are.

Enjoy the show:

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Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Standing just inside the building.

I always try to be at a location either very early or very late in the day so the light is softer and warmer, and the shadows are longer…The Golden Hour. That’s not always possible especially when you’re somewhere that’s just a small part of the overall shoot. You just have to weigh all your options, then decide what’s the most important location to be at during the best light; providing the most photo ops possible in a short amount of time.

While working on a project for a company that raises crayfish in Louisiana, I was given a shot list that had to be covered in the three shoot days that was budgeted. As always, I sit down with the client and designer ahead of time in a pre-production meeting and talk about their wish list. What’s the most important photo? What will be on the cover? To me, it doesn’t matter as I will spend the same amount of energy for a photo that will be small and one that will be a full page.

In my forty plus year career, I think that the expression I disliked the most is when someone would say to me, “It’s not that important of a shot, so don’t spend too much time on it”…Really? I shouldn’t care what it looks like?

I digress!!!

Since we shot all day, there were times when the sun was high in the sky, rendering everything hot, harsh, and lots of contrast. The above photo was shot during that time of day. So what do you do, especially when you’re taking a portrait of some local workers and you don’t want “Raccoon eyes”? You know those eyes that have deep shadows from the sun being almost overhead?

You place them just out of the sun, where the light is just missing their face and the reflections coming off the ground help bounce light evenly on all their faces.

Works like a charm, and it’s what we often talk about in my online classes with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Be sure to check out  my workshop schedule at the top of this blog.

JoeB

I’ve always been a fan of the Beetles every since they walked off that plane landing in the good old USA in 1964. That was sixty-four years ago, so I’m not sure how many of you out there saw it happening in real time like I did!!!

Let me digress,

I’ve been writing a blog since 2011 and a post has come out every six days since then!!

Getting my ideas for these posts come in all flavors: in my sleep when I wake up and write the idea down, watching a movie or TV show, eating my meals when I envision them while swirling around my Campbell’s Chicken Noodle soup, or spelling them in my alphabet cereal, or while listening to music in my car. This particular posts came to me while listening to Paul McCartney sing, “Let it Be“.

I teach an online classes with the BPSOP, and I also conduct my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops all over the (perfectly round) planet.

When walking around with one of the photographers during one of my workshops I’m always noticing that they will tend to raise their camera off their chest or hung over their shoulder, bring it up to their eye, and in one innocuous movement click the shutter…and as a result, over-process the hell out of it later while sitting in front of a computer.

I will tell them to not worry about the first shot being the one, you know the one that will go on the wall, a.k.a., wall hanger. I’m not saying that the first one couldn’t be ‘the one’, what I’m saying is that Vegas wouldn’t take those odds. That said, there is one exception, and that is if you’re street shooting and you have that one in a hundred, or thousand, or million chance of getting it, but that’s better than no chance; as in the submitted photo above.

Case in point, I was walking down one of the narrow streets in Shanghai, China and out of my left eye, my right eye in the viewfinder looking straight ahead, I saw this scary somewhat sinister looking man, his gaze fixed on what I was doing, the thought quickly racing through my mind that I could disappear without a trace in a country of over one a half billion people.

I had a 17-20mm lens on and was aiming the camera down the street panning the crowd for a shot, so he didn’t realize that he was my subject. In the proverbial blink of an eye I took the shot, and in the next blink of the (same) eye he had moved out of the light lost in a sea of Chinese.

Except for that, my chances of one of those ‘OMG’ shots lies somewhere in the second, third, fourth, or even fifth adjustment or variation.

So, my fellow photographers, what happens is that you take that first go at it (British talk) and then kill it with over-processing to make it appear as if you had spend time on it. In my respectful opinion it never works. I have seen photos that look like they just came out of a Disney Movie…and then there’s always AI to really f**ck it up.

Take your time, smell the roses and as Bob Marley once said, “Some people feel the rain while others just get wet.”

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog, or follow me on FB. Come shoot with me sometime.