I took the shot
Here’s something to think about next time when you pick up a camera and go out shooting. Is your approach to taking pictures more of a objective nature or are you more subjective in the way you see things?
Let me explain by giving you an example: If you’re out shooting and you see two dressed up women standing side by side, and all of a sudden one of them picks her nose, do you take the shot?
If the answer is yes, then you’re being objective…why? Because you’re not being influenced by any personal feelings; you’re merely representing the facts.
You also probably have an ulterior motive, that being you caught someone in an act and you’re after some recognition for being ‘quick on your feet’; and the forthcoming laughter from the viewer(s).
Conversely, if you’re somewhere and you see two women all dressed up standing side by side, and all of a sudden one picks her nose…but it’s your favorite aunt, do you take the shot?
If the answer is no, then you’re being subjective…why? Because you’re being influenced by personal feelings; you don’t want to represent the fact that your aunt picks her nose.
I will often get images from people that take my online class with the BPSOP, and my “StretchingYour Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, that may or may not show something like that happening.
During the critique they will tell me that they have other variations where the subject isn’t doing something embarrassing. The problem is that they’re not as interesting.
Part of my answer is in the form of ways to create Visual Tension. Visual Tension gives your photograph strength and intensity. Tension equals energy, and it’s a psychological force to be reckoned with and used correctly can take your photography what I refer to as “up a notch”.
When you hear the word tension you more than likely associate it with mental or emotional stress since that’s the most popular definition. After all, how many commercials have you seen or heard where they talk about “the tension headache”, and that their pill works better than all the rest to get rid of it?
I’m talking about the kind of Visual Tension that’s comes as a result of forces acting against one another; which creates energy and visual interest.
When Visual Tension is present, it’s the feeling that something is going to (or has occured) occur that will change the dynamics of the message we’re trying to get across to the viewer. There are several ways to do this and two of them fits this post: body language and gesture.
In the above photo, I was walking around New Orleans during Mardi Gras, and stopped to take a picture of this couple. At that moment the man turned around but the woman, through her body language, told me that she was very old and very tired from being on her feet all day for countless years.
Do I become subjective and not take the shot, or do I transcend any personal empathy and take the shot; I took the shot and now it’s in the permanent photography collection at the Museum of Fine Art in Houston.
So my fellow photographers, it will be a tough choice…do you go for the gold and become objective? Do you sell your aunt down the proverbial river, or do you protect her by waiting until she’s through picking?
For me, it all depends on whether I’m in her will.
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
JoeB
