Joe Baraban’s Digital Photography Blog

Not a true Vanishing Point, but close.

Years ago, when the now Maine Media Workshop was just called the Maine Workshop, I took a group out looking for the elements of Visual Design and composition. Now I call it my Artist Palette, and these elements are placed on it so your imagination can easily get to them. We work on this same Artist Palette both in my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of mind” workshops I conduct around our planet.

Probably twenty plus years ago I was taking a group out late in the afternoon, driving in the countryside outside Rockport (where the workshop Homestead is located) looking for Vanishing Points to incorporate into my students composition. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a man sitting on the railing of his back porch. I quickly noticed that the railing contained parallel lines that were almost converging to a point on the horizon.

I couldn’t tell if it was a true Vanishing Point (which it wasn’t) , but the man was great looking…a true Mainer. I turned around and drove back to see what if anything was worth having my fellow photographers shoot.

We pulled up next to the house and I began talking with this man who turned out to be very warm and friendly, and a great guy to boot. I asked him if I could take a quick photo to show the students how to combine a Vanishing Point with an environmental portrait; as seen in the above photo.

I then had the class take over and just stood back to see what they could each come up with individually while the light was beautiful. I went to put away my gear while thinking that they would try their hand at incorporating a Vanishing Point and a portrait. When I returned, I was surprised (to say the least) that they had positioned this man in a chair and proceeded to photograph him. I couldn’t imagine what they were seeing or trying to see, but since they were having fun, I just let them be….and then I quietly snickered, then a giggle, then I laughed, and laughed.

Not sure what they were seeing.

I still smile when I see this photo I shot of them.

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

Look ma, no Photoshop

In 1983 I was hired to shoot a series of ads for IBM. One of the ads featured a class of young students painting a mural of the United States. I wanted strong window light coming in from 9 o’clock to side light providing depth to the room. The clock is one of the most important topics I talk about in my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet.

In the old film days, the days when the word Adobe meant a type of house in the Southwest part of the US, I couldn’t rely on post processing to help create the illusion of depth.; for that matter, for anything. I also couldn’t rely on finding a room that would give me nice sidelight on the kids; let alone count on a sunny day. There was too much money involved for the advertising agency and client to reach a level of comfort in my ability to arrange for everything needed..for example late afternoon light at 9 o’clock.

So, what do you do? You bring out the “big lights”, 12K HMI’s, the lights I often used both in print and when I was acting as a director/cameraman on TV commercials. These lights were 12,000 watt daylight balanced lights that needed a big generator and ballasts to operate…and a package that included a gaffer, assistant, truck and portable generator would run about $2000.00 a day for just one light, CTO gels (warming gels since the light was on the blue side) and barn doors.

An all day shoot.

In order to create an even exposure from one end of the kids to the other it took six lights and several hours to set up and shoot. It was the “good old days” where it was fun creating the look on one piece of film and one exposure.

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, what do you think?

I just love it when one of my fellow photographers submits an image for me to take a look at and critique. If I can help out by making suggestions that will ultimately have an impact on the way they approach their next photo, then so much the better.

As always, I like to let people read what the photographer had to say. The reason being that so many out there have had a similar experience or have had identical questions. Here’s what Greg had to say:

“Joe,

In your SYFOM II class we worked on silhouettes and you said one of your “favorite ways to show a silhouette is to combine it with an environment that isn’t a silhouette”. I didn’t quite understand this at the time but as our class was ending I was at a local park trying to get a photo of this covered bridge that wasn’t just another documentary photo, like the ones in the park brochure.

I framed the bridge with the trees in the foreground and then this girl walked by with her dogs, as she walked through the covered bridge, I realized she would be silhouetted in the opening on the far side and fired off several frames before she was gone. I chose this angle to show the inside and outside of the bridge and the diamond shapes at the top of the walls, I also like the light coming through the trees. There’s two dogs but only one is visible. I also had to straighten it a little. So, what do you think?”

Harry talks about one of the three classes I teach with the BPSOP. I also share a lot of the same information in my “Stretching Your frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet. One of the lessons in my Part II class deals with the silhouette, and how to incorporate them into our imagery. The silhouette, among other elements on my Artist Palette, is a powerful tool in helping to take your photography what I call “up a notch”.

Here’s what I have to say:

Harry, you have done well ‘grasshopper’. It’s a wonderful photo that will definitely ‘stand the test of time‘.

The reason that the silhouette stands out from the environment around her is what’s called “Figure-Ground“, one of the six concepts that we work on in my third class on Gestalt. By having a dark object against a lighter background, it stands out in the composition. You also have created another concept in Gestalt, this one is called Continuance.By showing the road leading up to the bridge, you have made the viewer an active participant by moving him around your frame.

You have also framed her within a frame, one of the ways to generate Visual Tension that we also work on in my part II class.

You should pat yourself on the shoulder for creating a photograph that will indeed stand the test of time.

By the way Harry, I forgot to mention that I also love the little dab of light in the trees and on the structure, and actually wrote a post about it.

Well done!!!

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

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