Joe Baraban’s Digital Photography Blog

Pass or fail?

Since humans rely on their perception of the environment that surrounds them, visual input is a part of everyday life. This is a part of what I teach in my online Gestalt class with the BPSOP. I also talk about it at lengths during my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet.

One of the six concepts we work on is called Continuance, and it’s about directing the viewer to areas in our composition while moving him around the frame.

Instead of putting up my usual photo, this time I put up a diagram that I show to my fellow photographers.  The last time I counted, no one passed the test!!!!

If you can use this concept, and apply it to your thought process, you’ll create images that not only will keep the viewer around longer (isn’t that just what we want?) but can also stand the test of time.

The viewer will look where they’re looking.

The next time you’re out shooting, think about this diagram, and try to incorporate the theory behind it into a photo. Think of the arrow as an analogy as far as directing the viewer to look in the direction you want. You can also get the viewer to look in the direction you want (or directions) by having people in your photos act like arrows and use their eyes to do the looking. If you can create two directions, all the better.

When I saw the man walking down the cobblestone street in Tuscany, I immediately saw it as a way to lead the viewer in the opposite way the man was walking. It might not be one of my best photos, but it sure does show how important the Psychology of Gestalt is.

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.

JoeB

 In the pat few years I’ve written several posts that included, to some degree, directional and leading lines and have talked at some length about the Vanishing Point. It’s time to dedicate an entire post on one of the most powerful tools in taking our photos what I refer to as “up a notch”…the Vanishing Point.

Back in the very old days (as in medieval times) when artists, or draftsmen wanted to show linear perspective, they would either overlap objects to indicate position and create a visual sensation of depth, or they might place one set of objects or subjects below each other to try to create the same effect.

In the early fifteenth century, an artist named Fillipo Brunelleschi demonstrated a method to create the illusion of making distant objects appear smaller than closer objects. It was a method of perspective that we now refer to as a Vanishing Point.

Brunelleschi had created a way to create the third dimension (depth) on paper, in a two dimensional plane, existing of only height and width.

In the modern world, describing a Vanishing Point to a person without specialized knowledge would be the point where parallel lines appear to converge.

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet, we work on ways to keep the viewer an active participant when looking at our photos. How we manage what the viewer perceives and processes is an important step in doing just that.

How we can get the viewer to perceive a Vanishing Point goes back to the principle of making things appear smaller as they move away from the lens towards the horizon. A Vanishing Point is an important tool when you’re trying to create depth on a two dimensional plane. Besides depth, it will add realism and a sense of drama; it can be coming from any direction the viewer looks.

A classic Vanishing Point is made up of three elements:

The Point: is the spot on the horizon or just past it. This is where your eye will eventually end up after you’ve composed your photograph and put whatever subject matter or objects you have incorporated into your composition.

The Plane: is the image seen through the camera in two dimensions.

The Line: refers to the parallel lines that appear to get closer together the further away they get. In fact, they remain the same distance apart as they lead to the point on the horizon. These lines are perpendicular to the lens axis and start in front of the photograph. When they reach the point on the horizon, everything you observe comes together, then seems to disappear.

There are those that say that the parallel lines do not need to go all the way to the horizon, as long as they converge at a point somewhere past the middle of the frame; and/or converge close enough to the horizon to be implied.

Here are some examples of a Vanishing Point:

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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

Andrea, an online student of mine, asked me to talk a little about her photo of a carousel next to lake Geneva, Switzerland.

The first thing I can tell you is to bracket!!! This image is a little too underexposed. Since the sky is overcast and not especially pretty, why not have it lighter? By making it brighter, you lighten up everything else from the bright spot in the middle of the frame  on the horizon to the flowers, to the lights and horses on the carousel. To me, it’s a better trade than having the sky dark and foreboding.

Speaking of the small bright spot in the middle of the frame, If I had been standing there with you as I usually do in my workshops, I would have had you place the person on the bike about ten feet behind him…why? So that his silhouette would have ‘popped’ out more. By doing that, the viewer would have gone straight to it, even before enjoying the carousel.

I really like how you’ve created a path that goes around the carousel. It will lead the viewer right around the corner and as he takes his imaginary walk, he’ll wonder what’s around the bend. This is about the Psychology of Gestalt and when we can get the viewer to take an active role in out imagery, by giving him lots of ways to enter and leave the frame, and discovering new things as he does it (like the bicycle for example), the longer he’ll stick around…and isn’t that what we want him to do? In my online class with the BPSOP, and my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, we spend time working with the different concepts in the Theory of Gestalt as it applies to photography.

I like the warmth of the carousel and the coldness of everything else, but one thing I would change is to take a step back so all of the horse’s head is in the photo. If you knew about my “Fifteen Point Protection Plan” and were using it, you would have seen that and decided if you would like the head where the viewer could see it.

Thanks for the submission. I hope this helps.

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 realize that it sorta reminds one of a tongue teaser, but take it from me it isn’t.

For those that might be new to my blog, I have been putting out a post every five or six days since 2011. I teach an online class with the BPSOP, and I conduct personal workshops all over this perfectly round planet.

As most of you know, I prefer the challenge of getting it right in the camera with little or no Photoshop/Lightroom help. However, if there’s nothing I can do before clicking the shutter, a.k.a., moving forward, backwards, raising the camera up a little, or down to eliminate or adding an object, then as part of my thought process, and before I click the shutter I will realize what I have to do in post, and I have no qualms about doing it.

Having said that. I want to make sure that what I do, doesn’t look like I did it. So many of my students or even when they’re not, tend to over process their photos to the point of looking like some kind of cartoon. The real problem I face is that when they tell me how much someone loves their image, it’s hard to discourage them from stopping.

The general public basically has no taste and has no idea when something looks garish. It’s a dilemma that I constantly face when working with fellow photographers.

All I can do is to point something out and then rely on their photographic integrity and resolve to rise about any one sided compliments that are coming from family, friends, fellow photo club members and even to go as far as any service animals…”Oh the Horror”!!

All I can say, with years of experience, is that if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it. It will take firmness of purpose, and if I’m there to help you down the road of righteousness leading to a better world, you can count on me  to supply the backbone you’ll need for those first few steps to photo glory.

WOW, now there’s a mouthful of utter BS!!!!

:-)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Bottom line is to take a look at what you’ve done and ask yourself…Do I believe it?

In the above photo, do you believe it?

Bonnie, an online student, sent me this photo with a question. As I always do, I put the message from the photographer so everyone can read it. This way, those that have similar issues or questions can benefit. Here’s what she said:

“Joe, my question on this photo is mainly about the color.  The boat in the foreground was in shade and the one in the background was in the sun.  I like the composition (mostly), but the differences in color (hue?) between the foreground and background is extreme.  I exposed for the boat in the background, so it would be seen.  Would you brighten up the boat in the foreground?  Would you have metered from a different spot?

I did do some post-processing – increased the contrast a bit and cropped off a bit on the right (there was too much space behind the background boat).  Also, the wire lines from the foreground boat cut across the front of the background boat – I’d like some space between the two.  I’ll go back to this spot again (undoubtedly a lot more times!), so I can keep my former mistakes in mind J .

Thanks!

Hi Bonnie,

Ok, first let’s address the question mark (?) you had next to the word “Hue”. The word Hue is basically the characteristics of a color. For example one might say,” Doctor, his face had a yellowish green hue (or color) to it”.

The photo of the boats is not just about color, its mostly about exposure. Let me explain:

This is really all about Dynamic Range. The light reflecting off the boat in the background was too far from the boat in the shade. I don’t know what you use to take readings, but I’m guessing you let your camera make the exposure recommendations, and like a good photographer you believe it. Depending on what you had your meter set on, it probably was picking up too much of the boat in shadow. For me, I never let the camera tell me what I should do, which is why I use a hand held Minolta One Degree Spot Meter. If I were to take a reflected reading of each boat separately, I would know that there’s way too much difference to get a proper exposure on each one. So, what to do?

I either change my composition so everything will read the same, or I stick with what I have. If I like what I have, I’m going after the boat in the sunlight, then underexpose it a stop. That’s where I want the colors to have depth and be saturated. What will happen is that the boat in the shade will be a lot darker, so you have to decide if that’s ok. Personally, I think it would still look good. In any event, you can always open the shadow in post.

Btw, If I had been standing next to you, I would have asked you why you didn’t want the boat in the background to be sharp?????? I think it would have looked soooooooo much better. Remember when you have that much distance between the foreground and background, you should always check your DOF to make sure you’re getting what you want.

One last note: If you ever want to become a really good photographer, I strongly suggest you do your cropping in the camera. If you use the computer to do your cropping, you’ll never know where the edges and corners of your frame are. Use the edges of your frame as a compositional tool.

Since I know you took my online class with the BPSOP, and as I tell the students in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops, you probably forget to use your “Fifteen Point Protection Plan“. Otherwise you would have left some space between the cables on the boat in the foreground and the bow of the boat in the background; making it a “quicker read” and not so confusing.

Oh yes I forget to mention that I really like your composition!!!

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. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Working on the silhouette.

I’ve been teaching an online class with the BPSOP for just about three years, and I’m always amazed and impressed with the level of work that’s generated over the course of the four weeks. I had started out with just one class, and like my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, we work on incorporating the basic elements of visual design and composition to make  fellow photographer’s images stronger.

Several years ago I began teaching a part II class that extended these elements to include shadows, silhouettes, some interesting assignments, and some of the principles of Gestalt. When you put all these elements and concepts together the results are memorable photos that the viewer will mentally enjoy long after he’s stopped looking.

Here’s some examples of how these elements that they’ve  learn over the month made their photos look as good as I believe they do. These are amateur photographers with all different skill levels since everyone can benefit from my classes no matter where they are in the scheme of things…photographically that is!!!

The following slideshow is from both my Part I and Part II…enjoy and see if you can pick out the different elements and concepts.

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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 the elements with me sometime.

JoeB

Lumix DMC-LX7

First of all, I still have a spot open for my next trip to Cuba. This time we’re going to Santiago and Baracoa, the end of January and it’s a small group of seven. With these trips you don’t have to be a photographer, you can just come for the historical and cultural aspect. We always have a Cuban Historian with us and you can just use your iPhone if you want. Click on workshops at the top of this blog for the complete description.

If you’re interested and have questions, you can email me at: joe@joebaraban.com.

Ok, back to business! For those new to my blog, I have been writing these posts since 2011; one coming out every six days…that’s lot of posts. I teach an online class with the BPSOP, and I conduct workshops all over this completely round planet.

Photography is not about the camera. A camera didn’t make a great picture any more than a typewriter wrote a great novel. What’s important is the ten inches behind the camera that really counts.

Take a moment and think about all the famous photographs that were shot by: Alfred Steiglitz, Margaret Bourke-White, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, just to name a few that immediately comes to mind.

These photographers and their photographers have stood the test of time and their cameras were antiquated and archaic compared to the sleek new mirrorless cameras we use today that can do everything except snap the shutter…and they can ever do that for you!!!

So, my fellow photographers, don’t worry about the camera you use, although at the very least I would recommend a full frame camera so what you saw looking through the viewfinder, you got.  Concentrate on your composition and incorporating the basic elements of design. Shoot on manual, get rid of those insidious blinking lights. Also, you don’t need a Histogram. Learn the light all by yourself. I’ve been shooting for fifty-three years and I’ve never even thought about it…and my pictures have come out pretty good.

FYI, the above photo was shot with my little Lumix DMC-LX7. If you look at the photos on my website, you would be surprised how many were shot with this camera.

I would also highly consider taking my classes!!

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshops at the top of this blog and come shoot with me sometime. How about coming to Chicago with me September 4th to the 11th for a great workshop in a great city.

JoeB

I was invited to bring my workshop to the Julia Dean Photo Workshops in Hollywood, California. It was my second time, and it’s always a special treat to teach there because after all it is LA, and the weather can’t be beat for shooting pictures; not to mention the great staff at the workshop who are very professional and accommodating to me and the students.

I teach an online class with the BPSOP, and I also conduct my workshops all over the world. I took one of my workshops to the Getty Center to photograph the wonderful architecture, and once we were there they spread out looking for the ‘elements’ of visual design found on their new ‘Artist Palette‘ (they began working on it the first day of the workshop), as well as ways to incorporate the Theory of Gestalt into their photos.

The Getty Center

While working with Rina, one of my students, this is one of the shots she took. Not only is it about Line, Texture, Pattern, Negative Space and Perspective (all of these found on her ‘Artist Palette’), but it’s also a great example of one of the concepts of Gestalt I also teach called “The Law of Common Fate”. I’ll be sharing this concept with you in a coming post, so stay tuned.

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

A really good photo Rina!!!

JoeB

One exposure on one piece of film.

In the film days, the days when the word Adobe meant a type of house in the southwest, we had to create all our images in the camera. One piece of celluloid, one exposure was all we had to work with.

I would say that the hardest subject matter to shoot during those times were automobiles, and actually anything that had wheels and moved was difficult. These were big budget shoots, and if you didn’t nail it, you didn’t work on that account any longer; you didn’t work at all with that agency. You were “persona non grata”, which basically meant that you would be through getting work from them. Worse, if that art director you just made to look bad wound up at another agency (and they moved around all the time), you were done there as well.

Scary times? you bet!!!

I loved car shoots because the day rates were the largest and you always stayed at the best hotels, flew first class, and ate at the best restaurants. Believe me when I say it was great times, but hardly worth whatever consequences there were if you screwed it up.

I was shooting a big campaign for Volkswagen, and one of the ads was going to have a local buy…as they referred to advertisements running in just one or two cities. The budget couldn’t support a camera car so when this occasionally came up, we would rent a Lincoln Town car because they had the smoothest ride. As in the photo above, we would get in the trunk and shoot car-to-car from there.

After determining the Sun’s position using my Sunpath readings and my Morin2000 hand bearing compass, we decided on this urban street in LA. My assistant and I were in the trunk of the Town Car, and another station wagon with a large piece of foam-board taped to the rear door to bounce light back into the grill, was right next to me.

We hired two cops to block the street and a water truck to give the road a wet-down…so the reflection would add to the visual interest. Although the car looks like it’s speeding down the road, in actuality we were only traveling ten to fifteen to twenty miles maximum per hour. As long as both cars were moving at the identical speed, I could shoot at 1/4th of a second) to create the illusion of speed while keeping the car sharp..

As I tell my online students with the BPSOP, and the ones that take my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, in the digital age, the age of CGI, most car photography is now done in the studio, often times the landscape is bought separately, and the illusion of speed and the blending of the car in the landscape is handled with Photoshop….so sad, so very sad!!!

🙁

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/baraban/joe. Be sure to check out  my workshop schedule at the top of this post. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

One of my students sent me this photo and as always I like to copy exactly what each photographer had to say. I’ve found that there’s a lot of folks out there that have had similar experiences at one time or another.

Here’s what was said:

“I wanted to ask you if you thing that the attached picture makes a statement on its own, without any explanation required. It is called “Whatever the Dusk or the Dawn ” because I entered it in a Can Geo photo contest called “Whatever the Weather”.

I took it because I liked the colors and the multiple layers in the sky. I did not want to include the sun or other silhouettes in the frame, because I liked the simplicity of the colors alone.
I find that people don’t have the reaction I expected towards this photo. I believe that they take it as another pretty picture of a sunset that everybody can point and shoot.

This is one of those that does not scream the center of interest at you, but definitely has the visual interest through colors. When I look at it I see an abstract painting on canvas and all kind of other things, but as you say I am not there to tell my story.

Any critique will be appreciated.

Thank you very much.

I immediately wanted to send you a link to an article I read some time ago and have repeatedly show to my BPSOP and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Workshop” I conduct around the planet. It’s called “Giving meaning to photographs”. I think you’ll find it the answer to all your questions.

Remember that you’re not always going to be around to share your thought process or emotions at the time you created your image; it has to stand on its own merit. The feeling you had and the thoughts running through your mind were important to you. Unless the viewer was standing next to you, he can’t sense the same ethereal qualities just by looking at a pretty sky that he might have seen before.

So many times I’ve been driving down the road or walking on the beach and had the pleasure of witnessing a beautiful sunrise or sunset. The first thing I do is to look for anything else I can put in the photo to add what I refer to as a “layer of interest’. If I don’t see something I may shoot anyway just because I’m a photographer and like to take pictures of pretty things. There’s just as much chance as me not shooting it and just standing there smiling while I enjoy the forever fleeting moment.

Reason being that I’ve personally shot a million pretty skies and my files are crowded with them!

Here’s a post written my a very famous photographer who once said, “If you don’t have anything to say, your pictures aren’t going to say much. http://joebaraban.com/blog/my-favorite-quotes-gordon-parks/

Having said all this, it is a pretty sky with great colors…but just another pretty sky.

Sue sent me this photo to talk about and as usual I like to copy exactly what fellow photographers had to say. It is often the case where others have experienced the same situation or might have a similar question about one of their photos. Here’s what sue had to say:

Medusa?

“Hi, I was thinking this has to be the best head of Medusa Hair in a long time. I wanted to get close and see what it would look like””.

Sue

Ok Sue, first of all I agree with you that it has been a long time since Medusa was around in Greek mythology.

Getting what I refer to as “up close and personal” was a good way to bring out the differences between the green and white “Lines”. I say lines because when you “see past your first impression”, that’s what they are.  In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I talk about Line. It’s the most important of all the elements of visual design, for without Line, none of the other elements would exist. As a matter of fact, nothing in this world would exist…you and I, planes, trains, automobiles, etc. all have an outLine.

Having said that, this is a study of green and white lines and so if I had been standing there I would have suggested to things to you: The first would have been to take out the dead (brown) blades of the green lines. They really aren’t adding anything and to me they take away from the pretty green ones.

So many of my students just don’t think about things like that. The main reason is because they’re out “taking pictures” instead of “making pictures”. It’s ok to change the way things look in your frame, if it will help it look better. Taking out the dead blades of the green grass is what I mean by “making pictures”.

The second thing I would have mentioned to you is that the bottom half of your photo looks more interesting than the top half. The top half is not as clean, graphic, and is somewhat distracting. Look at how simple the relationship between the white and green Lines and how much better the viewer’s eye can flow.

BTW, I would have suggested that you not show the area in the top right or left corners as they take away from the center of interest. Either “use it or lose it”. Next time, be sure to check the four corners to see things like that and be able to decide what to do in your next adjustments.

Thanks for the submission Sue and did you know that Medusa was beheaded? I’ll bet that left a mark!!!

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. BE SURE TO CHECK OUT my NEW workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Look ma, no Photoshop.

Every time I write one of these posts it takes me way, way back to the days when Adobe was the name of a style of house in the Southwest part of the US.

The good old days when you had to do everything in the camera, and as a result got the occasional ulcer for doing it. Yes, those do-da days where it took just one screw-up and you became persona non grata at not just the agency you were shooting for, but if that Art Director that picked you went to another agency, and they often did, your name went with them. That’s just the chance you took because the money was so good. In those days car shooters (the good ones) were getting $5000.00 per shot (plus all expenses) and up, and that day sometimes meant one shot at sunrise and one at sunset.

In my online classes with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, we work on incorporating the Elements of Visual Design into their photography. We also work on getting as much in the camera before the shutter is clicked so that my fellow photographers can become better photographers, not better computer artists.

That’s not to say that I don’t use Photoshop because I do with just about every photo; not to do anything except minor tweaking. For me, getting it in the camera is a great challenge, and as a result I fell good that I’m a good shooter that relies on my eye and imagination, not Histograms, blinking lights, and that insidious bane of existence that’s called…HDR!!!.

In the above photo, the Art director and I choose The Bonneville Salt Flats for the location because of the simplicity, the great light, and all that wonderful texture.

It may look like a simple set-up but I can tell you that it was anything but simple. The car company that brought the new-never been seen before Alpha Romeo got their huge van and trailer stuck and after hours of trying and a twenty foot hole, we were able to rent a back hoe to get the tractor out that got stuck trying to get the trailer out in the first place…what a mess!!! This took a day. Then, we had to fill in this giant crater so it looked like it never happened…another day of expenses.

Simple set-up????????

The placement of the car was extremely important since as a prototype it came without a motor and had to be manually placed (by hands) to get the right angle of the light. When seconds counted, there wasn’t enough time to move it again (and keep those tire tracks out of the shot. To do this I determined the degrees of both sunset and sunrise then I used my Morin 2000 hand bearing compass to decide on which one to shoot and to get it at the exact angle to eliminate unwanted hotspots and glare, and the shadow that was important as well. I knew that the shot had to be taken right before the full sun was visible on the horizon. After that the car was subject to those elements that couldn’t be taken out since any thought of post-processing was years away.

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