Joe Baraban’s Digital Photography Blog

Seeing what I’d like to see

There is a difference between looking at and looking into a picture . . . as Ansel Adams said.

It’s the difference between taking and making a photo, and as Bob Marley once said and I’ll paraphrase it ” Some people will just get wet when going out to shoot, while others will feel the rain while shooting in it.

I tell my online students that take my online classes with the BPSOP, and those that take my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct all over the place to take in the whole picture, from the foreground to the horizon.

Arranging your images this way will generate depth and by the use of a wide-angle lens, you can cheat the camera (by using all three dimensions) which has only one eye so it can only see in two dimensions.

This will initiate layers of interest, and by doing so, you keep the viewer around longer. I also speak of the importance of looking to the right, the left, and even behind you while walking. This way, you’ll be able to see in all four directions which will increase your odds of going home with a wall hanger by four.

When composing, I pre-visualize the composition before I ever bring the viewfinder up to my eyes. I don’t necessarily see what I want, sometimes I visualize what I’d like to see…but that’s another story.

So my fellow photographers, don’t just look at your picture which would constitute using the left side of your brain the analytical side, use the right side of your brain to compose, the creative side. This is the way to look into your photos and see what else is there.

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram http://instagram.com/barabanjoe. Keep an eye out for my future workshops, come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

When of the concepts I’m constantly talking about in my online classes with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around Earth is that it’s better to ask someone to do something and as a result get the shot, or not ask and wind up with a snapshot.

I realize that it’s easier said than done, especially for those that for one reason or another find it difficult to approach someone. For some, it’s even hard to ask someone they know or along the ride with them.

My background is in part, that of a photojournalist so for me it’s very easy to ask. In my way of thinking, all they can do is to say no, in which case I move on. To a large extent, this is exactly what I say to my fellow photographers.

It’s all about getting over the hump, and there are numerous ‘humps’ that we try to get over. For example, the most common hump of them all is the hump that occurs on Wednesday…the proverbial hump day. Once you get past Wednesday, the middle of the week, you get to look forward to the weekend.

It’s the same thing in photography. Once you ask someone to do something for the first time, it gets easier and easier. Once you see the potential results, as in a good photo versus a snapshot, it really gets easier.

Sometimes it’s just having your subject look out of the frame, sit one seat over, or stand to the right or left. If you’ve ever seen the difference between asking something so simple, it will really build up your confidence.

One of the best ways to get what you want is to offer to send them a copy of the photo. I always ask for their email address so I can send a copy; sometimes they say yes, and sometimes no.

While we’re on the subject of asking, remember what I refer to as the cardinal sin, never, and I repeat never, take a picture of a child without asking permission. It can get you in a whole lot of unwelcomed trouble.

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

JoeB

Look ma, no Photoshop.

Here’s yet another in my series I call Life Before Photoshop. These images are from years of shooting when the word Adobe referred to a type of house in the Southwest; years before Photoshop, Lightroom, and any other software or plug-in you can readily find in the annals of those beloved magazines called Popular and Modern Photography. I’m hoping that they’re not the only source one has for important information.

As I often tell my online students with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I’m here to tell you that I’m far from a purist. I often use Photoshop to tweak an image of mine if I couldn’t achieve what I wanted “in the camera”. The majority of my fifty-plus years as a corporate, advertising and editorial photographer were spent without any help from a computer. For me, the challenge comes in creating an image that originated in my imagination and was transposed into a photograph before I clicked the shutter…not after. I want to be a good photographer, not a good digital technician; but that’s just me.

Over the past few years, I’ve come to realize that the digital world has made my fellow photographers lethargic and apathetic; in other words lazy. “Why worry about it now when I can fix it later” is a statement I’ve heard way too many times. I always thought photography was the art of making pictures, not being a very good computer artist??????? Go figure.

I digress again!!!

The above photo was taken for Bacardi Rum…unfortunately before a lot of my readers were born.

🙁

After an initial conversation with the Art director, I decided on shooting in Sarasota, Florida. I did this for the white sand and beautiful water. We started out early in the morning, and had the company transport the pool table and set it up on the beach. As you can imagine, this took several hours to set up, while about a hundred onlookers watched in disbelief. After determining where the sun was going to set with my Sunpath program and Morin2000 (hand-bearing compass), we started setting up the shot. Right as the sun was setting we started shooting and stopped when the last rays of sun slipped into the Gulf of Mexico. Everything you see was created in the camera.

The art director checks out the composition with Rum and coke as well as Rum and soda.

Btw, the model was Miss Bacardi for the year and was flown in from LA. Great looking but apparently dead from the neck up.

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

JoeB

I constantly see my online students with the BPSOP and those that attend my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” standing too far back from their subject. Most of the time it’s because they just don’t think about it. I’ve also been told that they are afraid or intimated to get too close. Then there are those that have admitted to being a touch on the lazy side.

There are two ways to look at it: If you’re content in making your goal to become a “halfway decent photographer” (as is the case of one of my students I talked to), then by all means continue on the path you’re currently on; you’ll be fine! On the other hand, if you’re goal is to become the best photographer you can be and work hard at taking your photos “up a notch”, then you’re going to have to get over the ‘hump’ concerning getting toooooo up close and personal.

Here’s what it can do for you: first, by getting up close and personal, you’re anchoring your subject in the foreground which in turn will create “layers of interest”. This is a key ingredient in Perspective by creating Depth. This is just one of the items you’ll find on the Artist Palette that I share with my students.

Second, by getting up close and personal, you can generate Visual Tension (another item on my Artist Palette) in one of two ways: Putting your subject close to the edge of your frame and minimizing the Negative Space between the subject and the edge of the frame. And last but certainly not least, by getting up close and personal you can hide the fact that you might be shooting on a gray day.

All these suggestions will keep the viewer looking at your photos longer by taking control of what he or she processes and perceives while they’re hanging around.

Andy, one of the students that took my workshop was shooting along with the rest of the class on a fishing pier, It was right after sunrise and the light was not very strong as it was hidden by clouds filled with water vapor. The water vapor that makes up the humidity is usually not a photographer’s friend.

 Andy was taking a photo of a fishing rod and reel, but was too far back to create anything worthwhile…by his standards, not mine! Just too much gray and uninteresting environment. I walked up to Andy and reminded him of our discussion back in the classroom about getting close to his subject. He took my advice and was able to walk away with a fairly interesting photo. By getting close he was making pictures, not taking them.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram www.instagram.com/barabanjoe come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

The greater the conflict, the greater the tension.

As I tell my fellow photographers that either take my online classes with the BPSOP, or participate in one of my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops, we want our viewers to stick around as long as possible. The goal is to make them active participants when looking at our images.

I tell them that the greater the conflict, the greater the tension. Tension as in Visual Tension.

In my class on Gestalt, one of the six concepts is Figure-Ground. This is the way to separate the Figure, the subject, from the Ground, the background. If both the figure and the background each carry the same visual weight, it can create tension; as each threatens to overtake the other.

This happens the most when either the subject is dark against a lighter background, or the subject is light against a darker background. A great way to achieve this is to have the negative space as important as the positive space.

Contrast is also one of the ways. Putting bright highlights adjacent to the shadow area. Bright areas against very dark areas.

Diagonal lines have more energy than horizontal and vertical lines. The conflict is in the fact that diagonal lines are perceived as less stable and the feeling of the lines falling forward.

Having the subject either very close to the edge of the frame or partially out of the frame. It creates an uneasiness and draws the eye to it.  When we generate Visual Tension, the viewer feels like there’s something going to happen.

As I said, all these examples will make the viewer stick around longer…exactly what we want him to do.

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram  www.instagram.com/barabanjoe Come shoot with me sometime in one of the workshops I have listed above.

JoeB

Anticipating the action

No, I’m not talking about the song Carly Simon sang in 1971…for those old enough to remember it. I’m talking about how the word anticipation plays a key role in “Street Shooting”.

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I often talk about being aware of your surroundings at all times. This is when it will happen…that shot that could make your day!!!

I’m usually talking about keeping an eye out for the light, and how important it is in coming home with that elusive OMG photo. That keeper that will either go on your wall or in your portfolio…or both.

But in this post, I’m talking about anticipating the action. The action that can occur at any moment when you’re walking down a street looking for photo opts.

A good sports photographer knows the sport he’s covering backward and forwards. He knows it well enough to be playing in it, and at some level sometimes does. A good street shooter has that same instinct, or he at least should if he’s going to be successful.

I watch everything when I’m walking, and even have those proverbial “eyes in the back of my head”. If I see someone that’s sticking out of the environment around him for one reason or another, I’ll watch him/her for several minutes…with my camera halfway up my chest. If nothing happens, I’ll move on to someone else. Sooner or later I’ll see something that makes me focus in tight. I’ll watch and anticipate their next move. A move that I would maybe make myself. It’s people watching at its finest.

When I was younger and shot primarily B/W on the streets, I was always looking for that one shot, and if I was very lucky, and I mean very lucky, I might capture someone in a moment where they are expressing their thoughts in some form of body language or gesture. In the above photo, that’s exactly what happened. I was shooting and writing a story for a local Sunday supplement on Mardi Gras day and what the locals had to deal with as far as the crowded streets and sidewalks were concerned. I watched her for some time and just had a feeling that something was going to happen. In a brief moment she had summed up her day to me and because I had waited and anticipated I got the shot.

Btw, this photo is now in the permanent photography collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

One of my favorite things to do is to put on my longest lens and then put the camera on a tripod. I’ll position myself in a crowded area and in a 360-degree movement I’ll pan the people. An analogy for you old movie buffs is watching Robert Mitchum in The Enemy Below when he’s in a submarine panning the horizon at periscope depth looking for targets…Ok,  not actually an analogy, but for me, it’s mighty close.

I could literally do that for hours, and on occasion have come close.

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, and come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Sal and Judy.

Years ago, I was asked to shoot a brochure for a printing company in New Orleans. The theme of the brochure was “something’s cooking at Upton”. The designer had me go to five of the best-known restaurants in and around the city; best known not to the tourists, but to the locals. I was to take a portrait of the owners and had received a free hand to approach the portraits in whatever manner I wanted.

As I tell my online students with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, if you want to take your photography what I refer to as “up a notch”, scout your locations ahead of time. Know where the sun is going to be so you’re not somewhere at sunrise when you should have been there at sunset.

The fourth restaurant on my list was Sal & Judy’s Restaurant on the Southside of New Orleans. I went there the day before to meet the owners and to determine when the best time to shoot was going to be. I pulled up in front and the pink building hit me in the face. I was ecstatic!!! A pink building…wow!!! That faced West!!!

As I stood there an idea started to form in my mind. I tell my fellow photographers that if I can visualize a photo in my mind, given the time I can re-create it on film.

As I stood there I saw in my mind three bands of color spreading across the frame from left to right. I saw a band of blue (the sky), a band of pink (the building), and I needed a third band of color. something that would tie it all together…including the portrait of Sal and Judy…an idea leaped out from my mind.

I introduced myself to Sal and told him I was the one sent to take his and his wife’s portrait. I asked him if he knew anyone that had a green convertible, thinking that the odds were not in my favor. He looked surprised and said, “Well hell yes, I have one”. This was way tooooo good to be true I said to myself.

“What do you own?” I said to Sal. “A 1966 Oldsmobile Cutlass Convertible”, Sal replied. I thought I was hearing things!!! I asked him if he would bring it the next day, and explained my idea. I told Sal what to wear and to have his wife wear something that would go with the green car. When they showed up driving the car, I knew I had struck pay dirt…a portrait for my portfolio.

As I started shooting, one of the waitresses came out to tell Judy something. I immediately saw her black and white striped uniform and knew what I had to do …to add a “layer of Interest”.  I had all three women come out with a screwdriver on their trays to add yet another splotch of color.

It was great fun and it reminded me of the days before photography when I was an art major studying painting and design. I was still painting, only I had changed the medium from a paintbrush to a camera.

🙂

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram. check out my workshop schedule and come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Shot from the front, and with a red tractor.

I teach my fellow photographers how to use the Elements of Visual Design to create stronger compositions, as well as images that have strong visual interest. Unfortunately, it’s more than every once in a while that someone in my online class with the BPSOP, or someone that’s with me in one of my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet tells me that a friend told them not to do something.

Just the other day, one of my students said that a friend of hers, that’s a “professional” photographer, told her to never shoot buildings from the front. WHAT?????

Moreover, I’ve also been told that friends (more professionals) have also said to never shoot anything that’s red. Someone, please shake me because I must be in some kind of twilight zone episode. How about this one from a friend to another friend…”Why worry about it now, you can always fix it later”. “Always have people walking into the frame so you can give them room to walk into”, is another ridiculous statement; by yet another professional photographer.

Let me digress for a moment by saying…by definition a professional photographer is someone that at one time in their life got paid for taking a photo. All it takes is one photo to qualify for this ubiquitous title so…I’m just saying!!!

My standard answer is…’Well, I guess if they told you to follow them while they jumped off that bridge, you would? If you do, leave your camera on the ground before you take a dive so someone might get some use out of it “.

I find it interesting that a lot of photographers, especially those that haven’t been at it long don’t have faith in their abilities and creative ways to make good photos. It’s hard to be objective when looking at our work, and so we sometimes rely on what others tell us, and we take it in good faith to be the way it is. After all, they want to sound as if they know what they’re talking about when in reality you probably know more than they do…at least as much!!!

Follow what you feel is right, and stop listening to your friends that just might have an agenda other than helping out. Take workshops from people whose work you admire. More than likely they’ll lead you down a better path. Read books like Freeman Patterson’s, The Art of Seeing. It’s one of my all-time favorites.

BTW, I guess I really screwed up when I shot this building straight on and put s red tractor in front!!!

🙁

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

Look ma no Photoshop.

For all my fellow photographers that fell in love with taking photos in the digital age, there was actually a time when you had to create everything in the camera. A time when you had to take a roll of film out of a canister and load it into your camera; compose, then focus all by yourself.

Now, you don’t have to do anything but bring the camera up to your eyes and click the shutter. If something ain’t right, well don’t worry because you can “fix it later”. I’ve heard this exact quote a lot in my online classes with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet.

Don’t think for a minute that I’m some old-fashioned, medicare card-carrying gray-haired old man that has not kept up with the times. I might be old and gray, but I assure you that I’m fairly good with Photoshop and use it all the time; on just about every photo I take.

I like creating as much in the camera as I can because to me that’s what a good photographer does. If there are things that I have no control over, or can’t fix before I click the shutter, I have no problem working on them in post-production.

In the photo above, I was hired by a man who collected Cadillacs. He wanted a poster to put up in his office, and he wanted to show the cars in his front yard. I scouted the location to determine whether it received morning or evening light, and determined that a late afternoon shoot would provide me with the best and latest light.

I set up my camera on a tripod and arranged the Cadillacs while looking through the viewfinder. The hard part was arranging the cars so they would reflect light, but not be blown out. It took the entire day to do it. I brought out a hose and we wet down the driveway to catch any reflections I could while creating a sense of depth. Knowing that I had a small window of light, I waited until it was the way I wanted then took the shot.

All this was created on one piece of film.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule, also follow me on Instagram www.instagram.com/barabanjoe/ Come shoot with me.

JoeB

Just one white reflector.

When I’m teaching either with my online class with the BPSOP or with my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, students are always asking me the best way to use fill flash when shooting portraits outdoors. I have a simple and quick response to them.

I tell them that in my fifty-two year career, I’ve never, and I mean not once used fill flash outdoors. I don’t even like to use it indoors. I can honestly say that I’ve never missed it because my portraits do just fine without it. So, you’re thinking, what do I do?

Here’s my set-up. How much simpler can you get?

I use a collapsible reflector with white on one side and silver on the other. 90% of the time I use the white side. I’ll occasionally use a larger piece of Foam-board when I have a larger area to cover, as in a full length shot. All I ever need is a stand that won’t fall over, an A-clamp, and a reflector. It’s a hell of a lot easier than figuring out ratios when I’m losing the light. Why complicate my life? There’s enough things I have no control over that does a good job messing with my head. Why cloud it up even more with something that I love and have control over.

It’s unbelievable how many times I see an outdoor portrait lit with a flash. It’s a look that’s been beaten to death, and usually the photographer doesn’t know what he or she is doing which makes it worse. I realize it’s a matter of personal preference, and for me I like a natural look. The kind of look that has never gone out of style and never will.

Take a look at some of my portraits lit with only a white reflector or a larger piece of foam board:

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

JoeB

It’s all about the light

For those new to my blog, I teach an online class with the PBSOP, and I conduct my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around our perfectly round planet. Now, before I get into my post, I wanted to explain exactly what light is all about:

LIGHT: “Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation within the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400-700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750-420 terahertz, between the infrared (with longer wavelengths) and the ultraviolet (with shorter wavelengths).”

For those that understood this definition, you are way above my pay grade…and probably, for the most part, left-brained thinkers. However, for those like me, we are right-brained thinkers. For those that are switch hitters, I’m always impressed when I meet one of you.

To me light is everything. There are two reasons why light is not necessarily everything. Humor can replace great light, and street shooting when you’re trying to capture a moment in time.

Other than those, light is what makes or breaks an image. To get to that point, it’s important to know where to stand in relation to the light source, when, and how long to stand there.

Don’t just stand there, bring your camera up to your eye and ‘take a picture. Take a look around and see what direction the light is coming from.

I have seen images that were submitted to my online classes, and I have seen it firsthand when watching a photographer in one of my workshops. As I constantly tell my fellow photographers, before you do anything, think about whether you want to sidelight, backlight, or front light your subject?

My favorite form of light is when it’s available…I just love North light softly coming into a window, etc. It’s also important to comprehend the phases of natural light.

Learn to distinguish the Golden Hour, the Blue Hour, and the twilights of daytime and nighttime. Explore the ways each can be used to create varying degrees of warmth and saturation in our images.

I assure you that if keep all in mind when you’re out shooting, your work will show it.

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

I’m always ready for anything that comes my way.

In my famous quotes category, they don’t necessarily come from well-known photographers, writers, or musicians. They are quotes I’ve heard over time that have stuck with me for one reason or another.

Yes, in order for me to identify with them they need to have some bearing on what I happen to have been doing for the past forty-eight years…and that would be taking pictures.

Louis Pasteur once said, “Chance favors the prepared mind”.

Photographically speaking, that refers to being mentally ready to take on whatever is coming your way…either from behind you or straight at you.

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I’m constantly pointing out that light, among other things comes and goes so fast that it’s easy to miss out.

Sure, it takes talent, but it takes fast reflexes, being alert to the forever changing light, and a very good knowledge of your camera. I sometimes just scratch my head when a fellow photographer signs up for one of my workshops and shows up with a brand new camera and an assortment of lenses he or she has…and bought and so very proud of.; without ever reading the manual or shooting with it before the workshop.

I specifically remember being at a location in Paris at sunrise. Not just a typical beautiful sunrise, but one that was anything but typical. It had a perfect mix of a glorious sky and beautiful warm light. So beautiful, that one could just stand there and admire it…which incidentally was exactly what this photographer wound up doing.

She had purchased a new camera system and four lenses, and had no idea how to use it; since I didn’t shoot with the system, I could not help…a sad lesson learned.

I digress.

When you put your camera over your shoulder, you are basically going out hunting that wily-rouge OMG photo, that keeper that you can put on your wall and be proud to say you shot it…when asked.  You need to be ready and alert mentally for anything because that’s what’s liable to come your way…anything and everything. That also includes always looking over your shoulder.

A well-known pool hall expression is…”When you snooze, you lose”. One example is if you had just been shooting on the Aperture mode and suddenly something happened that would require a fast shutter speed, you would probably miss it if you hadn’t thought about it (very quickly) and changed your setting. This is one of many reasons I always shoot on manual…but that’s another story.

In the photo above, I was returning back to the San Juan airport after shooting the coastline from a helicopter. I looked to my far left and saw this incredible sky, and for a moment it had mesmerized me.

To my right, I saw a jet taking off and quickly got myself into position to shoot the jet as it headed towards the clouds and before the jet was gone…which took about ten seconds. As a result, I was able to capture this amazing (un-retouched) image that has always been one of my favorites.

Btw, imagine what it must have looked like to the pilot and co-pilot.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/barabanjoe/

JoeB

Pretty weird man.

I suppose it comes from the old days, my youth, when I worked for UPI and then AP as a stringer. I was given assignments where I had a chance to roam the streets of Houston. Naturally, I also had to cover the Houston Rockets, the Astros, and the Oilers. That was fun as well, but not like being in the position to capture something weird. I just adore weird!!!

I like for my photos to be remembered and shooting predicable subject matter just won’t do it for me. I’ve learned to either smell something weird that’s either happening or about to happen. I’ve also learned how to create weird as well.

In my online class with the PPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I tell my fellow photographers that they need to look for that which is different. Something out of the ordinary. Something that even scares you or puts you off a touch can lead to those kinds of photos that people will remember. If it’s weird people, I like to get “up close and personal”. If the situation comes up, be ready for it. Go for it and take the photo plunge. You’ll love what you get.

In the photo above, this man had a weekend business set up in a tent on the side of a small highway on Highway 59 North of Houston. As soon as I saw the red stripes a half mile ahead of me, I knew that there might be weird lurking around.  Sure enough the owner fit the bill. I asked to take his portrait, and he said yes but insisted in wearing some of his merchandise. Who was I to turn my back on weird? I wanted to get close to get the full impact of this very strange man, and I think it worked!!!

I just love the weird in life.

In the photo of the two steel workers, I created the weird look. I simply had them sit together and had them raise and lower their heads until I was able to get the reflections of the sky in their sunglasses.

So, my fellow photographers, next time you’re out shooting, look for weird things. Scary as it might seem, it’s all around you…all the time. you just have to look for it.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my new 2014 workshop schedule. I have some great ones coming in this year. how about my 26th year at the Maine Media Workshop the very end of July, Cuba in November, Jerusalem in September. Come shoot with me.

Don’t forget to send me a photo and question to:AskJoeB@gmail.com.

JoeB