Joe Baraban’s Digital Photography Blog

When preparation meets opportunity

Although I was never a Boy Scout, I’ve always been a firm believer in being prepared. When I was actively ( until the last dinosaur disappeared) shooting advertising campaigns, corporate annual reports, brochures, or magazine assignments I made sure I had everything with me; I called it my Bag of Solutions.

Besides scouting every photo ahead of time, or at least most of the time and certainly whenever possible, I knew that during the actual shoot some extracurricular event, or in other words outside the normal routine, could possibly come up. When this opportunity crossed my path, I wanted to be prepared for it…on many levels.

This would usually be some small window when time was of the essence, whether it be a sudden change in the light, something new either entering or leaving the frame, or even needed to be added at the last minute…when I had the wrong piece of equipment on or not on and missed it by seconds, that really sucked!!!

When I’m talking to a student in my online classes with the BPSOP, I will often be asked what they should be taking when they go out to shoot for one of the lessons they’re assigned each of the four weeks. For them it’s easy, I tell then to put as much gear in the trunk of their car as they can. That way they will have a fighting chance to change something when the time is right.

When I conducting my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around the planet, I’m asked the day before what lens should they be taking. Being prepared is problematic at that point because so much of the time we’re walking around.

And so my fellow photographers that are reading this blog, when in doubt take as much as you can. To win the argument you have with yourselves, I would, as my go-to lens, start out with a medium zoom that might address a lot of the things that will be coming your way. I keep a 17-40mm lens on most of the time, and I have quick access to equipment when the time is right.

Keep your equipment clean, make sure you have a fresh card in your camera (never delete images off your camera, it could corrupt the card), and take an extra one just in case. for those of you that have a second body, be sure to bring it. Putting a tripod in your trunk couldn’t hurt in case you wind up shooting during the Blue Hour.

As Eddie Adams once said, When you get lucky, be ready.

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

JoeB

I was lucky and I was ready.

Over the years, I’ve managed to mentally acquire several quotes made by famous people in the arts that apply to my approach in teaching with the BPSOP, an online school I’ve been with several years and my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet.

These are quotes that really hit home for me, and as a result, have made me a better photographer for the past now closing in on fifty-four years, and a better teacher for the last thirty-three of those years. This is one of my favorite quotes and the first of many posts in this category that will cause you to “stop, listen, and learn”. The first quote I want to talk about was said by Eddie Adams, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer. He once said, “When you get lucky, be ready”.

For years, that has been one of my many Mantras, and it couldn’t be truer. Over those same years, I’ve had dozens of my fellow photographers ask me how I can capture some of my photos that are exposed perfectly, especially since I take most of my pictures in the camera with little or no post-processing. I tell them that when I’m just walking down the street with a camera over my shoulder I always take a few generic photos just to get the exposure down. I’ll take several different exposures, usually based on a fast shutter speed, and pick the right combination of shadows and highlights. This is when the action is happening to fast to bracket. Now I’m ready and waiting to get lucky.

The above photo was taken in the Guggenheim Museum in New York. I was coming back down after seeing the Kandinsky exhibit ( my very favorite abstract artist) when I stopped to look at this work of art. While I was wondering what the artist’s message was, this man walked up and started reading about the painting.

I always have my little Lumix DMC-LX-7 with me and since photos are frowned upon above the lobby I had it in my pocket with my finger on the trigger (Texas talk) just in case something was to happen, and for a moment it did.

Since this guy couldn’t figure out what the artist was saying, he read for a couple of seconds and was gone…but not before I got off one shot.

Although there are many interpretations of this quote that apply to my style of shooting, this one sticks out the most as it seems to happen all the time to me.

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this post. Come get lucky with me sometime.

JoeB

One step back

Besides teaching an online class with the BPSOP, and conducting my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I also do a six-month mentoring program where I work one-on-one with photographers.

Recently, I have the same issue come a couple of times which has led me to write a post on it. It’s when I’m talking about one of their photos, and there’s something that has been cut off on one of the edges of the frame.

There are several reasons why this happens. Either they’re in too much of a hurry to get to the next shot, or lunch, or that glass of wine, etc., they’re so focused on the subject that they miss everything else going on.

At best, when there is a subject worth shooting, they’re so focused on placing the subject in the best light and the best positioning in the frame, that they forget about the rest of the environment. That is, the balance between the Negative or Positive Space that’s surrounding the subject/main center of interest, or the contrast between the light and dark areas, or whether the colors complement one another…and so on.

I see it so often that if I had a dollar for every time I talk about it, I would be writing this post next to a pool at some villa I’ve rented for the year…with a blue and frothy drink (with an umbrella in it) next to me.

There’s a very easy and quick solution (although I dare tell the world as to perhaps lose my villa), and that is to just take a step back and make an adjustment. Sometimes it’s just one step that will do the trick, but you have to be paying attention.

In the above photo, I had a 17mm lens on and it just took one step back to include all the wonderful black and white tiled floor that I had cut off in my first shot.

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

Can you see the photo stand?

I’ve seen it happen all the time, and once upon a time long, long ago I was even guilty of it; as in the above photo. It’s why I tell my online class with the BPSOP and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” to check your frame for any of your equipment right before you click the shutter.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in composing our photos that we forget to take out a camera bag, a photo stand, reflector, or even the tripod that might be lurking somewhere in plain sight. It may be hard to believe, but for those of you that have never been guilty of this I can assure you that it’s not as hard to do as one might think.

Going hand in hand with this is the fact that if you’re not paying attention to said equipment, it can disappear in less time it takes to blink an eye.  I’ve seen so many of my students walk away from their camera bags to look at something from a different point of view, start shooting and forget to go back to it. Strange as it may sound, I’ve had students discover their camera bag some distance away when looking at the LED display of photos they just took with a telephoto lens.

YIKES!!!

Want a good piece of advice? When you’re shooting on a tripod keep your bag on the ground right in the middle of the tripod. That way it keeps it out of your photo and keeps it from becoming the proud possession of someone who has just stolen it. Try a photo backpack or a vest. If you’re walking around handholding your camera, keep your gear between your legs; unless it’s in a bag you have over your shoulder.

I tell my fellow photographers to buy the best equipment they can since it’s a lifetime investment. If you buy the best you can in the beginning, you’ll only have to cry once. This same philosophy holds true with having to replace a piece of equipment that vanished while you weren’t watching…that is by not having to cry when you have to buy it again.

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

Breaking the rhythm of a pattern.

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, we work on using the Elements of Visual Design and composition to take our photos what I always refer to as “up a notch”. One of the basic elements of Visual Design is Pattern.

Patterns are repeating elements of line, shape, and color that appear in ordinary ways. The four basic shapes are triangles, squares, rectangles, and circles. When lines, shapes, and colors within a picture occur in an orderly way, they create patterns that often enhance the attractiveness of photographs.  Creating your pictures around repeating elements or patterns provides picture unity and structure. Pattern repetition creates a rhythm that the eyes enjoy following.

When used as a subordinate element, they can greatly enhance your composition. They should only be used to strengthen or add to your photographs. Patterns can provide unity to your composition. They create a sense of visual rhythm that the eye can easily follow. Life is filled with patterns and once you get an eye for spotting them you’ll be amazed by what you see and you’ll wonder why you didn’t incorporate them into your photography before.

Broken patterns break the rhythm and are often more compelling than unbroken patterns. Think of a close-up of hundreds of M&M’s on a table. They are all red except for one green one. I’m always looking for patterns as well as all the elements on my Artist Palette. Whenever possible I try to find ways to break the patterns by incorporating some object or person…Why?

Because it will give the viewer one more thing to discover and think about, which will keep him/her around longer. Isn’t that just what we want?

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

JoeB

Feeling the rain

I keep saying how much I love writing for this category. Some of the quotes I write are written by photographers, while others were written by other types of artists; from singers, songwriters, and musicians to novelists and poets.

One of the quotes that have stayed with me over the years was said by Bob Marley. Yes, it’s the same guy you’re thinking of…the Reggae King from Jamaica. Bob Marley died from Cancer about thirty years ago at a hospital in Miami. He was only thirty-six, but his music and lyrics were filled with thoughts and ideas that I’ve found to be in keeping with the way I not only approach my online class with the BPSOP but in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet. One quote has always stuck with me. Bob said, “Some people feel the rain, while others just get wet”.

If you think about it, it can have a profound impact on the way we approach picture-taking. Ok, my students and fellow photographers might ask, what does that quote have to do with my ability to take pictures”?

Well, it’s all about the difference between taking and making pictures. It’s about the total immersion into your new found passion and craft. It’s about mastering light and understanding exposure. It’s about getting some dirt on your shirt or at least your knees. It’s about taking on the challenge of being a good photographer, not a good computer artist or digital technician. Let me explain further:

Determining the light and the direction it’s coming from before you raise your cameras up to their eye to me is the most important factor. Making your own decisions as to the correct exposure to use instead of letting the camera and lightroom do the work for you, scouting ahead of time and pre-visualizing your ideas in your mind then executing it, and spending more time than the “I came, I shot, I left”  frame of mind I find happening all the time, is about “Feeling the rain”.

The “I’ll fix it later” mentality that has come along with the digital era, has sucked the life and breath out of the right side of our brain; the creative side.  Why should I bracket when I can do it in lightroom? Why should I worry about the horizon line being straight when I can just use my straightening tool later in front of my computer? It just goes on and on, and this is all about “just getting wet”.

I’ve been following this train of thought since I first picked up a camera fifty-three years ago, in the days way before digital. It’s always been the love of my life, and I suppose that’s what has made it easier for me to caress it and “feel the rain”.

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

A quick read.

I’ve been conducting workshops since the early eighties, and over the years I’ve been known to occasionally spout out something fairly intelligent. These quips have morphed into what I now affectionately refer to as my “Personal Pearls of Wisdom“. One of my favorites that I’m always using in my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet is “make it a quick read”.

If there are those out there that shoot primarily for themselves, then you need not worry about whether or not the viewer gets what you’re trying to say-since no one will ever look at your photos. If you like shooting for the enjoyment of others, then you need to make sure that the message you’re trying to get across, is indeed getting across. In the first of my series on this Pearl of Wisdom, I want to address the importance of the use of negative space to help make your photos a quick read.

Everything that’s not positive space (areas that have mass) is considered negative space, but the area that I’m referring to is that area of negative space that borders the positive space, defines it and gives it meaning. What do I mean by that?  I mean that the area immediately surrounding the two people in the above photo is the negative space that defines the arms, legs, and bodies. Without that very important area, you wouldn’t be able to tell where one person ends and the other begins. Therefore, the negative space has defined the positive space (the two people} and has given them meaning-it has made the two people…two distinct people.

Remember that when you’re shooting, whether you’re going after negative space to define the positive space or simply trying to get your thought process across to the viewer, you won’t be around to explain yourself. Unless you’re going for an abstraction in which you want different people to get different messages, make it a quick read. Just imagine yourself in the mind of the viewer so you can see what he does.

Btw, the negative space is no accident. I have a walki-talki on the belt of the man on the right telling them what to do so I can make the two people a “quick read”. They’re about forty dollars for the pair, a handy addition to your bag of solutions.

Once again, the next time you’re out shooting, be sure to notice and use to your benefit the area that borders all the positive space in your composition.

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

coloring outside the lines

I’ve been a grandpa for a long time, but I still think back to the days when all of my four grown kids were young; young enough to be coloring in a coloring book. Well, as it turned out, none of them ever had a coloring book…why, you ask? Because I never wanted them to worry about having to color inside the lines!!!

How stifling can that be? At least that’s my opinion, and I can now back it up by saying that my kids are very creative in all of their endeavors, and for the most part have always danced to a different drummer. A definite “chip off the old block”. So what did I do for their art time?

Instead of a coloring book, I took them to the Texas Art Supply where we bought plain white drawing paper, and the biggest box of Crayons they made at that time. I can’t remember how many were in the box, but there were a lot. The only thing I would tell them was to use all the colors and to try filling in the entire piece of paper.

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” I basically tell my fellow photographers to color outside the lines which is basically what the eighties expression “Think outside the box” was all about.

I can always tell when one of my students simply brings the camera up to his/her eyes and takes a picture. It really became obvious when all the photos that are submitted for review were all taken at the same height. When they go out with me, chances are that their clothes will come back with either dirt, grass, water, leaves, or an occasional critter that was inadvertently stuck to the front or even clinging to the back of their shirt…or all of the above.

🙂

Next time you go out, take a lens you seldom shoot with, some props, and remember that you’re an artist. The only difference is that your medium is a camera and not a paintbrush, colored pencil, or pastels.. That said, look at things from a point of view you never thought of before.

Let everyone else be predictable and always come back with the same old…same old. Never walk down the already beaten down path to follow and retrieve an idea. Take the road less traveled, and I can guarantee you that it will make you a stronger photographer with images that people will spend time looking at.

Think about coloring outside the lines!!!!!!!!

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

Lots of adjustments and variations

I was just listening to the radio where they had a program that was all about bands in the fifties and sixties that came out with a hit record, then disappeared from the charts into oblivion without leaving a trace. They called the program “One and Done”.

As I was listening to the disc jockey talking about some of the bands, I couldn’t help thinking about all the times I critique photos submitted from my online class with the BPSOP, and in the daily discussions during my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct.

It seems to be a common thread that ties all my fellow photographers together. What I’m driving at is when I’m walking down the street either next to or behind one of my students and see them raise their camera up to take a photo, it’s one and done.

In other words, they take one shot then move on. Maybe it’s just me but I find it to be mindboggling to think that someone can take that quick a photo and expect it to be something worthwhile; something that can stand the test of time.

I can tell you that Vegas would give it at least twenty to one that it would be. For me, that’s just not good enough odds…why? Because I rarely like the first photo I take. It’s a series of adjustments and variations before I’m satisfied and would be proud to show it.

I also see these same people raise their camera up without considering where the sun is and how their subject will react to it; it’s still the mindset of one and done.

The first shot should be the one that gets the creative juices going. It should segue into a stronger image by looking at from a different POV, perhaps a lens change, including or eliminating people, increasing or decreasing your aperture., etc., etc.

This is how you come back with a photo that you’ll keep, instead of scratching your head while looking at your monitor wondering why in the hell you shot it in the first place.

FYI, I spent a lot of time working on the photo above. I would say maybe a dozen different variations.

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.

JoeB

We danced, and danced, and danced.

One of my favorite posts to write is about all the funny stories that have happened to me during my fifty-three career as an advertising and corporate photographer. During that time I also shot a lot of Pro Bono photography for various organizations. I was always eager to help out if it could make people’s lives a little better by taking these photos either for ads , brochures, or magazine articles for the specific charities.

I was asked to shoot the Annual Report for the Salvation Army in Houston. As I tell my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet. The best thing you can do for yourself is to scout ahead of time. Going to a location in advance is just the ticket in taking your photos what I always refer to as “up a notch”. I call it pre-visualization, and it’s on my “did it do it list” for good composition.

One of the photos they wanted me to represent was the activities that were offered to all the people that relied on The Salvation Army for part of their daily lives. when I went to their offices they sent me to a small building where they held a dance every Friday night. Of course it was empty and fairly devoid of any useful photo opportunities; I was sort of stumped.

They wanted a photo that talked about the dance, and how so many people that didn’t have much in their lives to look forward to, came dressed up and ready to swing!

I asked my contact that was escorting me around what kind of people came to the dance and was there anyone special that came to mind. His eyes immediately lit up and said, “Of course, Josephine comes every Friday, and loves to dance.” “Great,” I said, “I’ll be back at seven the day after tomorrow. Don’t tell her anything because I don’t want to alter what she wears or does in advance.”

It was in the summer when it didn’t get dark until well after the start of the dance. I went a little early to try and find some way to light her using available light. I found the perfect room that had a large window that faced North, and as luck would have it an upright piano.

I set up and waited for Josephine, and I didn’t have to wait very long. My contact brought her into the room. I immediately fell in love…how could you not? It was the way she dressed every Friday and it could not have been more perfect; especially since I’m a sucker for women in a red dress, red dress, red dress.

We started talking and it didn’t take long for me to realize that she was very shy (believe it or not) and hesitant to be photographed. We made a deal!!! If she would let me take her portrait, I would stick around and dance with her.

So we danced, and danced, and danced…the night away. I had a great time.

Btw, after we danced she gave me a goodbye kiss, and it was sweeter than honey!!!!!!!!!!!!

🙂

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

JoeB

Look ma, no Photoshop!

For those that are new to my blog, I teach an online class with the BPSOP, and I conduct my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops all over our (round) planet.

I was shooting film a million years ago when the name Adobe was a type of house in the Southwest part of the US…in other words before Photoshop when everything had to be done in the camera. Here’s one of my stories:

I was hired by Leo Burnett Advertising to shoot a series of ads in Scotland. One of the ads featured two fishing buddies exchanging their secret fly-fishing locations.

While we were shooting the others, I sent a location scout out to find an authentic Scottish Pub…a location I thought would be easy considering where we were; I was so wrong. After spending a couple of days, the scout came up empty.

At that point we extending the search to find a room that would fit the layout. We found a back room in a private boy’s prep school that would work but would require a lot of stying.

We all went out looking for stuff that had a fishing theme and found exactly what we needed…we began to convert the room into a ‘Scottish Pub’. That’s when it went downhill.

The headmaster came in to see what we were doing and at that point said that since the wood paneling was over seven hundred years old, and we weren’t allowed to touch it, he just wanted to know how we were going to do it. It was like being run over by the business end of an Amtrak train (express with no stops).

Acting quickly and purely out of desperation, an idea came to me. We ran over to the nearest fishing store and purchased enough twenty-pound monofilament line to reach across the entire country.

So everything you see on the wall is not actually touching, but is suspended down from hooks mounted on the ceiling and is approx. 1/8th to 1/4 of an inch in front of it. It’s what you had to do when Photoshop was years away from being invented. You had to shoot everything in the camera.

The men had never seen each other before that day. We went out in the street and recruited these two you see in the photo. The reason that they look like old friends exchanging their secret fly-fishing spots was that being realistic, I had them actually drinking Dewars. In this photo, they are so drunk that we had to hire private cars to take each one of them home.

FYI, this photo was lit with one 12K HMI out the window and a large roll of white seamless between the camera and the men.

Here’s the room before we started:

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

JoeB

Rob’s color blue!!!

In my online class with the BPSOP, We work on a number of assignments over the course of four weeks. In week three, after my students have had a chance to accumulate most of the elements of visual design and composition and begin incorporating them into their imagery we work on color and light.

I gave each participant a color for each of them to go out and find; making the color the subject. The reasoning behind this particular assignment is to get them to “see past first impressions”. I want them to begin “focusing their eye”, and start discovering things as a result.

Rob, one of my students in my January class was assigned the color blue. Since it was winter, he didn’t have much hope. This is what he said:

“I was assigned the color blue, and during a walk, I came across this house. I walked around until I found some trees to frame the doorway, and laid on the snow to get the stream. I then decided on a vertical shot with vertical trees for added tension and also to tightly crop the house. I spent a lot of time trying to get the white window completely visible, but it would not fit between the trees. If I moved closer it would have cut off the stream. I was definitely a bit bummed about that.”

What an incredible find and because of Rob’s perseverance, it paid off. He swears it was real, and I have no reason not to believe him!!!

Here’s what Rob was trying to do: He wanted to show all the window by providing some Negative Space (the lesson in week one is to use  Negative Space to define the Positive Space) between the right edge of the window and the left edge of the tree. He didn’t want to move closer because we had been discussing ways to lead the viewer around the frame and the concept of ‘continuance’ in the Psychology of Gestalt.

He wanted a vertical photo because I pointed out in an earlier discussion that Vertical formats have more energy than horizontal ones…why, you might ask?

In a vertical format, the viewer will start out as he usually does from the bottom to the top. It will take him longer to get to the top in a vertical and that time it takes created more energy. When you put vertical objects in a vertical format it increases the energy even more.

I reminded him to only shoot in a 3:2 aspect ratio for the class…which, as you can see, in this photo he didn’t!!!!!!!! The only reason why I’m showing it is because he was ‘thinking’.

Tension=Energy. I’m talking about visual Tension, not the Tension that comes from mental or emotional strain.

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

Here’s a really quick tip that will help you take your photos what I refer to as “up a notch”. It may be written as a quick tip, but I assure you that it’s anything but quick. I say that because it’s one of the biggest problems my online students with the BPSOP and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet have. My fellow photographers will invariably concentrate on the subject or center of interest and forget about everything and anything else…especially the horizon line.

Line is the most important of all the elements of Visual Design. Without line, none of the other elements I teach would exist. In fact, without line, planes, trains, automobiles, and even people wouldn’t exist as well. Why? Because we all have an outLINE. That said, the most important line is the horizon line, and when I see a horizon line that’s not straight it’s a sure sign that a novice took the picture. Don’t get me wrong, It’s not a judgment, merely an observation. In my opinion, the only time the horizon line wouldn’t appear straight is if you were in the Space Shuttle.

You would think that it’s an easy fix, and you would be partially right. If you’re on a tripod, like I am early in the morning or very late in the afternoon, you simply straighten the horizon right away and then forget about it. It will continue to be straight right up to and including the part when you actually take the photo. Of course, if you want to be a tad on the lazy side, you can always fix it later in front of a computer monitor. It won’t make you a better photographer, but it will keep your Lightroom and Photoshop skills honed as far as post-processing goes…if that’s your cup of tea!!!

However, most people don’t like being in complete control so they persist in hand holding their camera. The inherent problem is in the fact that you have to look at the horizon line while you’re composing, and then again right before you take the photo. That’s going to make it hard to concentrate on a host of things like capturing the moment, human and non-human gesture, body language,  the peak of any action, etc., etc.

I’ve been shooting for fifty-three years and I can count the times on one hand that I forgot to look at the horizon line….and would have enough fingers left over to hold a martini glass.

The next time you go out shooting, look at the horizon line and remember these words. It will take your photos “up a notch”.

🙂

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

JoeB