Joe Baraban’s Digital Photography Blog

Knowledge is power

First of all, I’m not a religious person; in fact far from it. But when I read something and it inadvertently has something that I can associate with photography, I can overcome my beliefs.

So, having said that, Matthew 7:7 says, “Seek and ye shall find”. Ok, what on God’s green earth does that have to do with photography?

Plenty, but it’s not in the actual picture-taking part of photography but having to do with research. Let me explain:

As most of you know, I teach an online class with the BPSOP, and I conduct my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops all around our (round) planet.

I’m constantly asked questions relating to just about every aspect of photography. After a fifty-three year career in advertising, corporate, and editorial photography, and teaching since 1983, I would say that I can answer most of them.

When I’m asked a question that I’m not sure I can answer with authority, I go to the World Wide Web, aka the Internet. Everything one would want to know is there if you just take the time to look.

I’m not sure why my fellow photographers won’t take the time to find out what they want to be answered. Perhaps they have never heard of the internet? Maybe they just don’t have the time to “mess with it”, or they don’t know what to write.

Take the time, there’s so much great information out there besides what you’re looking for; I have often stopped and read something that I wasn’t looking for.

When you do, I strongly suggest that you confirm the information. Never rely on just one opinion or definition…why? Because there’s a lot of bad BS out there and people who claim to be experts, are just looking for their fifteen minutes of fame. When you get the same or similar answers, then more than likely you can trust the information.

If you’re looking for equipment from cameras and lens, to tripods and filters be sure to read all the comments/reviews both positive and negative. How many stars does it have?

Take it from me, knowledge is power.

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

Into her soul

I teach fellow photographers how to incorporate the elements of visual design and composition into their imagery.

In my part I and part II online class with the PPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, one of the basic elements and probably the most important of them all is LINE. Without line, the other elements of visual design wouldn’t be elements, and worse, the world as we know it wouldn’t exist…why you ask????

For the simple reason that Pattern, Texture, Vanishing Points, Shape, Form, and Perspective are made up of Line. The world wouldn’t exist because everything around us from buildings to forms of locomotion to flowers to humans, etc. all have an implied outLINE.

When I’m photographing people, I almost always have my subject looking into the lens.  One of the most important implied lines is the imaginary line that runs from the subject’s eyes to the center of the lens. Not only does it suggest a certain intimacy and private bond between the subject and the photographer, but it also creates visual tension and intellectual energy.

As I always say, “Tension=Energy”.

I don’t mean the Tension that comes from mental or emotional strain, but the Tension that comes from forces acting in opposition to one another…as in the subject and the camera looking at each other.

At one time taking pictures of people use to be thought of as “robbing oneself of their soul”. Having said that, I’m not looking to steal someone’s soul (what would I do with it once I had it? Craig’s List or eBay?), however, I like the old adage that suggests the eyes are the doorway to one’s soul, and I do like the idea of looking into one’s inner spirit.

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Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometimes and maybe we’ll go steal some ‘souls’ together!!!

🙂

JoeB

Here’s an interesting article I found on the ‘information highway” I thought I would share with all of you. Unfortunately, I failed to write down the name of the woman or man who wrote it, and now I can’t locate the article again. I would have loved to credit it to her/him as I find it a great read. If you are the author or know who she is, please let me know so I can credit it properly.

Here’s the article just the way I found it:

“Unless you take photographs strictly for yourself, you probably like to share your images with others. What makes that dreaded slide show your uncle pulls out every time you visit so boring is that while it has tons of associations for him and your aunt, it has none for you. After all, it was their trip to Borneo, not yours. You didn’t share the experience of buying food from a street vendor or smell the smells of the urban neighborhoods. So, pictures of them don’t mean much to you.

You should keep this exclusivity in mind when editing your own pictures. Ask yourself, “Do I like my images because they have a certain emotional appeal to me alone?” A special vacation shot or a picture of your grand kids, might be an example. Or, do your images convey a more universal meaning that will inspire emotional response in others? It helps to gather feedback from a trusted friend.

REMEMBER THAT BELOVED SUNSET OR SUNRISE YOU HAVE–SO EXCELLENTLY CAPTURED, SO EXPERTLY PRINTED AND FRAMED–MAY BE JUST ANOTHER SUNSET TO SOMEONE ELSE.

Learn how composition can affect meaning. Placement of the subject within the viewfinder can have profound effects on the meaning. Placing the subject low and surrounded by a large amount of negative space sends a different message than cropping it close. The former may send the message of hopelessness or depression, the latter a message of intimacy or friendship.

It’s a challenge to create images with meaning. It’s what separates a good photographer from a mediocre one. In judging contests and exhibits, I’ve seen many prints that are technically well done, but lack depth of meaning. These may be processed to resist aging in preparation for archival preservation, but they won’t stand the test of time on anyone’s wall–except, perhaps, the photographer’s own.

For, without an emotional connection to the image, we’ll grow weary of it. It’ll remain on exhibition for a few months and then be taken down or simply ignored as part of the background blur of our lives.

Our ability to connect with an image emotionally entices us to keep coming back to an image over and over again in order to repeat the emotion. Or, what’s even more exciting, we may find new meaning in the image as we grow emotionally and experience it in a fresh, new way.

A part of the issue surrounding meaning is the controversy over whether an image should be titled. Many contests require that the photographer name her image as part of the process of entering. And I know of several professional competitions in which the title of the print is actually part of the judging process.

I can’t tell you how strongly I object. A strong print needs no title. If I have to be told what the meaning of a print is via a title, I wonder if the photographer is certain of his message.

Titles also serve to direct and/or mislead. A title given by a photographer may direct his viewer in a particular direction, but without the limitations of a title, a viewer may discover meaning which was only subliminally apparent to the photographer. We have all taken a picture and thought it meant one thing, only to find that everyone else was seeing something else– something that emerged from our subconscious.

A title, in this instance, would have served to confuse the real meaning.

And, of course, there is the issue of language and culture itself. If a title is important, what if it’s in a language the viewer doesn’t understand? Does the image cease to have meaning? Of course, not. Art, in general, and photography specifically, are universal languages. They speak to us all–regardless of our native tongues or cultures.”

Any Thoughts?

           JoeB

Gesture

The psychological use of Gesture in Photography can take our imagery what I often refer to as “Up a notch”.

A gesture is a human nonverbal movement by the hand, the face or head, or the feet to express an idea. It’s an action that conveys a person’s feelings or a deliberate act to get across a point. This point can be full of emotional implications.

Capturing this in your photography can be a powerful tool while showing a person’s personality in the process. A gesture may only comprise a very small part of your composition, but its effect can contribute more than half of the overall photograph. This is an important area we work on in my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I conduct around the planet.

The way a person smiles, holds their head, or hands, or even the way he or she crosses their legs can be a declaration of their persona. Having a man slump says something different than having him stand straight. Placing a person in the middle of the frame says something entirely different than placing him/her close to the edge of the frame. Gesture is a language unto itself, and can often be translated universally. Gesture is also a great way to tell a story without the words.

The most important thing to remember is that a gesture is a fleeting single motion and being able to freeze it in time is critical. If you want your photo to be authentic, it takes practice to capture the gesture at the peak of its action.

I use gesture all the time, but I don’t always wait for it. I like to create a scenario and stage the gesture then make it look like I caught it and then shot it more in a reportage reporting style. By the way, be sure to watch for my upcoming post on non-human gestures.

Here’s a few examples of actually capturing the gesture the moment it happened, and creating it to make it look real. Can you tell which is which?

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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

Dichotomy

When you’re walking the streets somewhere in the world looking for photo opportunities, My suggestion is to be on the lookout for what I call the ‘photo dichotomy’.

First, in case you’ve heard the word used but might not know exactly what a dichotomy is, let me give you the definition.

Dichotomy: something with seemingly contradictory qualities. mutually exclusive or contradictory.

Perhaps you’re still a little confused as to how this relates to photography. So, having said that let me show you in the photo seen above.

I was walking around the canals in Venice, looking in all four directions to make sure I didn’t miss anything when I saw this young woman sitting on the steps.

Ordinarily, I might pass on it since the visual interest is limiting. But what really sparked my interest was the small sign right behind her…a dichotomy!!

In my online classes with the BPSOP, I often talk about keeping your eyes and ears open all the time. You just never know when a photo op will rear its head, and when it does it will usually be for just a moment.

When I’m walking with my fellow photographers that are participating in one of my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops, I always point out things that in of themselves have visual interest.

Another dichotomy

Another example of a dichotomy is in the other photo pictured here of a man walking in the opposite direction of the arrow signifying a one-way street.

If you click on this link, it will take you to a post on paying attention to what you hear.

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and check out upcoming workshops at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

People like to see people in pictures

In my online classes with the BPSOP, I’ve been finding that so many photographers are always playing it safe. Either from always shooting at the same height, the height of the eye to the ground, zooming in with their lens instead of using their feet, or looking for a different POV.

When I’m walking around shooting with the photographers that are taking my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind”, I see it up close and personal all the time. It’s one and done, and it really doesn’t matter what the subject is.

Now I’m all in favor of my mantra…” more shots per hour”, but that’s after shooting lots of variations. I can tell you from fifty-three years of experience that taking one shot of anything and going home with a ‘wall hanger’ is slim to none. Vegas would probably put it at 50-1.

Life is too short to always be safe. Always ‘coloring inside the lines’ keeps you on the road to mediocrity. Sure, it just might get you that third place ribbon at your camera club’s competition, winning you a 16GB compact card…if that’s what you want. Hell, by triple mounting your photo with color mats that are in harmony, you might even move up to a second-place ribbon…that would be special and now a 32GB compact card.

I say ‘color outside the lines’, and take the path less traveled. Imagination keeps us young, it’s the gas and oil that keeps our mind running. Shoot with a lens you would never think of, get some dirt on your shirt by laying on your stomach, add some props, and editorialize your photo. People like to see people in photos, so think about putting them in your pictures. Don’t photograph what you see, photograph what you would like to see.

Think of yourself as an artist that has chosen the camera as your medium. To my way of thinking, a camera on a tripod is just like a blank canvas on an easel.

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshops schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Pretty clear what he’s doing

I know some of you are asking yourself what in the world could a quote from this movie have anything to do with photography.

Well, I’m always on the lookout for anything that might make an interesting quote, especially if it’s based on something from my online classes with the BPSOP, or in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our (more than likely) round planet.

I recently had a student enrolled in my part II class submit a photo that represented the current lesson Silhouettes. She submitted a shot of someone taking a picture that was in silhouette; actually one version and another almost identical.

As I always do, I put them up side by side so I could make a comparison and talk about it in a video that I create for every submission, and there was one small detail that was in one photo but not the other.

In one of the photos where the man had his camera up to his eye, there was a small area of negative space that was separating his arm from his body. It was clear that he was taking a picture.

In the other photo, there wasn’t any separation because that small area of negative space wasn’t there. As a result, the viewer would not be able to tell what the man was doing; it just wasn’t clear.

So my fellow photographers, whatever you’re trying to say in your photography no matter what the subject is, remember that you’re not going to be around to explain your thought process so it’s going to need to be…crystal clear!!

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

BTW, here’s where I got the quote, in case you don’t remember the scene: here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYqgHXFBWbg

Look ma, no Photoshop!

In the continuation of my series I call “Life Before Photoshop“, I present to you a tw0-page center spread taken for the Mazda car account.

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, the majority of my students began shooting in the digital era. Along with digital cameras came post processing, and for some weird reason, new-age photographers think that they go together; as in you can’t have one without the other.

Don’t get me wrong, I use Cs5 all the time but sparingly. The challenge for me (since I’m old and a product of the film era) is to create as much in the camera as I can. I love to see something in my imagination and be able to create it without any help. So many students of mine absolutely panic at the thought of not using post-processing, and I only have to show them my film work to convince them that they too can create good photos all by themselves.

In the above photo, the Art Director wanted me to find a gas station close to the side of the road in the desert. As usual in those days Art Director’s had no idea what they were asking for, and most of the time what they wanted couldn’t be done; no matter how big the budget was.

After a location scout looking for a week came up empty-handed…there aren’t any gas stations next to the road in the desert because there weren’t any gas stations at all.  I ask the Art Director if I could have one built there in Hollywood, dismantled and put back together in the Mojave Desert which was fairly close. He went back to the client and explained that we could either keep spending $750.00 a day on a location scout or we could have complete control and build one. The client agreed on the price and we set off to shoot the ad…without the help of post-processing!

If we were to shoot this ad now, the car would have been shot in a studio and the gas station would have been a very small model. Together with the help of CGI (computer-generated imagery), they would have had a digital artist put the two together.

How much fun would that be????? BORING!!!

Here’s a couple of production photos showing the set up.

I had the gas station built after I took readings with my Sunpath software and used my Morin 2000 hand bearing compass to find where the sun would set on the horizon. I wanted to get a glow on the side of the car by placing it with the grill facing the last moments of sunset.

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com., and check out my workshop schedule. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Creating a mood

Photography is most definitely the love of my life, but right under it is fishing and then cooking. I love to look through cookbooks, especially ones with great food photography and find interesting things to serve when entertaining…which we love to do. Having said this, I’m really into recipes, and I’m always using some kind of recipe when talking with my online students with the BBSOP, and my fellow photographers that take my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the hopefully round planet.

I often like to create an atmosphere where the viewer is drawn into my photo whether he wants to or not. I want to induce a feeling in his psyche.

Creating a mood is a good way to not only deliver your message visually but editorially as well. What do I mean by editorially? By using a certain mood to tell a story, which incidentally doesn’t have to be controlled by light.

According to the dictionary, the definition of mood is: “A temporary state of mind or feeling”. It also means “The atmosphere or pervading tone of something, especially a work of art”. This is where photography comes it since we’re all artists, our medium is a camera instead of a paintbrush.

So how do we achieve this atmosphere, this state of mind?  Well, first you have to determine what kind of mood you’re after. Do you want your photo to ooze with a bright and happy feeling of tenderness and warmth…or a dark, melancholy and introspective mood? Do you want the viewer’s eyes to well up with sadness or the proverbial grin from ear to ear?

If this is the way you’re after, then it’s all about how you manipulate the light and color. Darker colors for somber pensive moods or rich, bold, and vibrant colors for a more cheery look. Although color is a big factor, the use of light transcends everything.

As I said, the use of light doesn’t always factor in. If you look at the above photo, light isn’t that important; it’s all about the story I was telling.

It’s hard to create a somber mood on a bright sunny day. It’s all about the emotional environment. Since I shoot early in the morning and late in the afternoon, the light is going to be softer and the shadows longer. An overcast, gloomy day is a good way to create a type of mood, as well as the placement of your subject.

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me some time and I’ll get you in the mood.

Who are these people?

Since my background comes from a degree in Journalism, I’ve always liked to tell stories. Whether it be in my writing or my photography I like to entertain people, and I’ve been known to spew a few yarns here and there. I especially like to create a visual mood where I allow the viewer to take an active part in my photos.

That will certainly keep them around a little longer.

I’ve written about this in previous posts, and it’s all about the effects the Psychology of Gestalt has in taking our imagery what I refer to as “up a notch“. I want the viewer to stick around, and one way to do that is to imply the presence of people nearby, or maybe just barely out of the frame so they wonder who they are, what they look like, why they left, and when are they coming back?

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I conduct around the planet, we work on the elements of visual design and composition and how to incorporate these elements into our photography; storytelling is also an integral part in taking our pictures to a better place.

When creating these kinds of compositions, they’re like a still life, only it’s not always in the studio, or on a table in your house. Think about these types of images as icons that are a representational symbol of mankind. A time capsule for people of the future to ponder and possibly wonder what on Earth they were ever for!!!

Take a look at some examples of just what I mean:

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Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule. Come share some stories with me sometime.

JoeB

See, Think, Compose, shoot

If you really think about it, there are four steps one needs to go through to ‘make’ good pictures: See, Think, Compose, and Shoot; the last step is obviously the easiest…why? Because clicking the shutter is the easiest part of photography, and it doesn’t take a lot of artistry or talent to do it.

So, let’s take it step by step:

See: I’ve talked about this maybe a million times to both my online classes with the BPSOP and during the daily critiques in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct all over the probably round planet.

When you’re walking around, whether it be street shooting or whatever else you like to shoot, don’t just look straight ahead; I witness people doing it all the time. When you do that you’re only seeing 25% of the possible photo ops. Each couple of steps look to the right, then the left, then look behind you as well. This will cover 100% of the playing field that will greatly increase your chances of going home with the ‘good stuff’. I call it 25X4=100.

Think: When you do see something interesting, try to pre-visualize the composition as far back as you can so that when you get to what you were thinking about, there won’t be any time wasted. Light and those ‘moments’ are so fleeting that you can miss either or both in the blink of an eye.

Make sure of your message, and be ‘crystal clear’ as to how you want the viewer to perceive and process the information you’ll be giving him/her in the form of a photograph. Remember that you won’t be around to explain what you were thinking so unless you’re going for an abstract, letting people decide for themselves what it is, make it a ‘quick read’.

Compose: There are three things that I tell my students to remember if nothing else they get from me when they are in my classes or workshops. The first one I call my “Fifteen Point Protection Plan”…click on the link.

The second is called my “Border Patrol”...see the link. The third is what I call the 4 corner checkoff.

If you are diligent about using these tools for stronger photos, I can guarantee you that your photography will go up to what I refer to as ‘up a notch’.

Shoot: Once you’ve clicked the shutter your not done yet. If you take just one photo, one POV, the odds are against you to go back home with a ‘wall worthy’ image. Unless you’re street shooting and that one moment in time allows you to get off one shot, shoot as many variations as you can, with slight adjustments for each one.

I rarely shoot just one idea, It’s a series of shots from different angles, different light, and shutter speed exposure combinations that segue to what I consider the last shot that I’m comfortable with.

So, my fellow photographers, there are a lot of things you need to be thinking about before you click the shutter. Remember what I said about clicking the shutter is the easiest part of picture-making…even a caveman can do it.

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

Shadows as part of the subject.

In the past year, I’ve written a couple of posts on the importance of using shadows to create drama in our imagery, and as a result, leave the viewer with a memorable experience.

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I’m always stressing the use of shadows in their photos. Shadows are our best friend, and the sooner my fellow photographers embrace them the sooner their photos will go what I always refer to as “up a notch”. I’ll occasionally be writing some additional posts about the use of different kinds of shadows, starting with this one.

This first post has to do with the type of shadow that’s the center of interest and it can often tell a story on its own. In the above photo, the shadows are from a group of photographers that were taking one of my workshops. We were down next to the Charles River at sunset and there were several young kids that were climbing up the wall of rocks. As I walked up to them, I immediately noticed their shadows on the ground and the fact that they led my eye to the kid climbing on the wall.

To me, the story is obvious as it clearly shows the shadows as the center of interest, and they also become directional lines leading the viewer to the kid.

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com and check my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoots some shadows with me sometime.

JoeB

Real, or artificially contrived?

Cartier-Bresson is one of my most favorite photographers. I think I’ve talked about and quoted him the most in my online classes with the BPSOP and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct all over the place. I guess one of the reasons is that he has been quoted so often and his quotes can be found in so many places.

For me, it’s because so much of what he said, and the way he composed his images hit home more than most other photographers I’ve studied throughout my career.

I’ve said on many occasions that I don’t often photograph what I see because I don’t often see what I want (being somewhat impatient by nature), so I photograph what I’d like to see. Which takes me to the reason for writing this post.

Cartier-Bresson once said, ” The greatest thing to fear is the artificially contrived”.

When I’m talking to a student, I encourage them to move something out of the frame if they don’t like it and can’t compose differently. Conversely, I also say to move something into the frame if it will add visual input and a layer of interest.

It’s important to remember that we, as photographers, are artists who have chosen the camera instead of a paintbrush.

The difference between a painter with a blank canvas on an easel and a photographer with a camera on a tripod is in the fact that as a painter you fill in the canvas until you finish with a ‘work of art’. Photography is the art of subtraction whereas you remove objects until you achieve a ‘work of art’.

Here’s where the quote comes in.  If you do decide to add a prop, or some element, or even a person, make sure you believe it. Make sure the viewer will believe it instead of thinking that you put it there yourself.

When I’m composing (painting), right before I click the shutter, I always ask myself do I believe it. Case in point, I recently had a student take a closeup of a hubcap and decided to put a flower into of the holes. Well, it just would never happen that way and looked completely contrived. A similar occurrence was a rose on a manhole cover…what is it with flowers?????

There’s another way a photo can and usually will appear contrived, is when photographers shoot through something. Again, I encourage that because “framing a subject with a frame” is one of the ways to create Visual Tension.

Having said that, if you intentionally put your subject in let’s say between two spokes on a bicycle, or two trees close to one another, or posts on a pier, etc., there’s a good chance that it’s going to look weird…especially if the POV is too difficult for the viewer to have seen for himself.

Have fun out there and always try to “color outside the lines”, but be sure that people believe it.

BTW, the photo at the top was shot just the way I saw it….maybe?

Visit my website at www.joebaraban, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB