Turned up-side down in my mind to check for balance.
After forty-two years of taking pictures, I can turn the composition I’ve created in the viewfinder upside-down in my mind, without having to physically rotate my camera to see my photo inverted on the display. So, you’re probably asking yourself why in the world would I want to do this?
To make sure my photograph has balance, that’s why!!!
In my “Stretching Your Frame of mind” workshop I conduct around the planet, and in my online class I teach with the PPSOP, students submit photos that (hopefully) represent the assignment or the discussion of the day. In my workshops, I teach photographers how to use the Elements of Visual Design to make their photos stronger. I also incorporate the Principals of Design into their thought process, and one of the basic principals is Balance.
Images submitted to me will often have a strong subject or a point of interest on one side, leaving the other side empty, or areas of color or light that aren’t compatible with one another. A good photograph will have an equal amount of color, shapes and areas of light and dark. Each one needs to have a certain amount of value in relation to all the other elements in your photo, and be placed accordingly to create a sense of balance.
In my classes, I deal specifically with the balance between Negative and Positive space. If a student submits a photo that is obviously out of balance, I’ll turn their photo upside down and show it to them. Why you ask again?
Because when the student views his or her photo upside down, they’re now using a different part of their brain to process information. When they’re looking at it right side up, they’re looking at it with the right side of their brain. It’s the creative and visual side. They’re looking at the whole first, then the parts that make up the whole.
When I turn their photo upside down, they’re using the left side of their brain. They’re now looking at the parts first then putting them into a logical order and drawing a conclusion.
In other words, their image is no longer a photo that has a subject, meaning, or tells a story. It’s simply shapes, colors and areas of light and dark; it now reads only as Negative and Positive space. The student immediately sees that their photo is out of balance.
Try it yourself sometime.
Check out my 2012 workshop schedule and my website at: www.joebaraban.com. Come shoot with me and together we’ll look at your photos upside-down!!!
Also, check out my new addition at the top of this blog called “dearphotojoe”.
JoeB
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