Joe Baraban's Digital Photography Blog

Student Work: Online School

Cecilia’s self portrait.

Until Bryan Peterson’s passing, each month I taught a class with the BPSOP. It was an online four week class, and each month I usually get twenty to twenty five participants; and they’re more than likely just like you. That is, they’re amateur photographers passionate  about photography, and want to take their images up to the next level but just don’t know how to go about it.

Now that the school is permanently closed, I still teach a six-month Mentoring private class, and my “Stretching your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I teach students how to incorporate the Elements of Visual Design and Composition into their image making. Negative Space, Vanishing Point, Perspective, Line, Texture, Pattern, Form, Shape, Light and Color are the elements that we work together on. Each week the class is given a different lesson to work on, while taking what they’ve learned in the prior lesson with them to the next week’s assignment. At the end of the four weeks, they walk away with an ‘Artist Palette’ with all these elements on it.

As the month progresses, the level of work changes with each day. Once each student embraces a particular element they can integrate in into their thought process and “make a picture” using it.

I want to share some of their wonderful pictures with you they had taken over the course of the four weeks, so you can see how their new Palette has helped take their imagery what I refer to in class as, “Up a notch”. What you see is a small representation of the work that was created. The level of work is incredible  and unfortunately there were just too many to show all of them, so I tried to represent all the elements that they learned how to use. Can you see them?

Enjoy!

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanajoe. I’m working on my 2027 workshop schedule, so stay tuned. Come shoot all the elements with me sometime.

JoeB

Quick Photo Tip: Add Closure to Those Baby Pictures.

Let the viewer fill in the rest of mom.

I suppose I see as many or probably more baby photos as the next guy…why you  might be asking? Because I have four kids and two grandkids, and my wife has two kids and five grandchildren which would seem to qualify me as a semi-expert on baby photos.

That’s not counting the times when someone shows me their kids on their phones…ad nauseam!!

If you’re at all interested in showing off your kids/grandkids and not having the person you’re showing them to break out in hives, then here’s a great tip for you and it relates to one of the six concepts of Gestalt I teach online both in my six-month private Zoom program and in my “Stretching Your frame of Mind”  workshops I conduct around our planet…the concept is called Closure.

So, the next time you’re in a position to photograph one of your kids or grandkids, think about this concept and allow the viewer the chance to fill in the rest of the image…as in the parent. I’ll bet you a dollar to a doughnut that they will think it’s a really good photo and will even think you’re a creative photographer…besides being relieved from seeing just one more baby photo.

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. I have added a new workshop to my 2027 schedule. in Puglia, Italy. Come shoot with me.

 

JoeB

Food for Digital Thought: Playing With Your Food Is Not Wrong.

Playing with my fork.
Playing with my fork.

How many times growing up did a parent, usually your mother, tell you to stop playing with your food? How many times have you been guilty of saying those same indelible words to one or more of your children?

I don’t know about you, but I lost count way back when. As an adult I also admit to saying those words or something like them to each of my four kids…and grand kids. By the way, if you were lucky as I was, you wanted your mom to say it more than your dad, if you know what I mean.

Well, my fellow photographers in both my private six-month mentoring Zoom program and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet, I’m here to tell you to start playing with your food again; only this time with your camera.

Since I’m always carrying my little Lumix DMC-LX7 in my pocket, I’m always at the ready when that illusive photo epiphany suddenly reveals itself to my imagination. It can be just about anywhere, including a bathroom. I see it a lot at restaurants, dinner tables (mine or friends), or anywhere where food and/or utensils are served and used.

This epiphany or sudden revelation usually occurs when some form of light comes into play, and as you know by now…light rules the photo world. You find the light and you’ll find the shot.

The above photo was taken during the beginning of breakfast on the terrace at the Royal Hotel in San Remo, Italy. While waiting to be served, I noticed the early morning light casting a shadow on our two-top. I began moving around the fork and silver tea service until I had the composition I wanted. By the way, all this was happening while Mikki was patiently watching…waiting until I was through “playing around” so she could pour herself a cup of coffee.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Come shoot with me sometime in 2027 in Puglia, Italy.

JoeB

Anecdotes: Bicardi Rum Shoot

A Wonder for the World
A Wonder for the World

I first talked about this shoot in a previous post that was called “Life Before Photoshop” where I said that the behind the scenes story would come out at a later date.

I love all the categories I write for my blog, but the one that brings back the funniest memories and moments is the category I call Anecdotes. These are stories that actually happened over the course of my forty-eight years as an advertising, corporate, and editorial photographer; the names might have been changed to protect the innocent.

Looking back over the years there’s been some pretty amazing things that have happened on a shoot. Some are downright unbelievable because no one could possibly say or do some of the things they do. I’m here to tell you that at my age I’ve seen enough to boggle the minds of both young and old alike.

I was shooting a national advertisement for Bacardi Rum, and the Art Director wanted me to put a full size pool table on a white sand beach. From experience I knew that Sarasota, Florida had some of the best beaches in the country, and had a totally un-obstructed view to the setting sun.

As most of you know by know, Light is everything to me, and it’s what I stress both in my private mentoring six-month zoom  and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet.

I called the producer I had worked with over the years and had her start assembling all the pieces that are always need to pull a fairly large production. From shooting the different beaches to show to the client, to renting a full size pool table and having a company deliver it, set it up, and take it away.

Then you have the usual details like hotels, car and van rentals,  assistants, and anything else you can think of as far as aiding in the production. In this photo, a hand model was needed so agency photos were also sent to the client for approval.

Last but certainly not least was taking care of all the needs for Miss Bacardi, who came with her own entourage.

From the outset, I knew there was something special about Miss Bacardi but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Perhaps it was her question as to why someone would put a pool table on the beach????? Why only one instead of the several you would find in a pool hall???

There’s no denying the fact that she was beautiful and had a near perfect figure, but I could only figure that God ( in his omnipotent wisdom) forgot all about what to put on the inside of her head.

The day of the shoot happened to fall on the day of the Super Bowl, and we finished up in time to go to the bar of our hotel and watch it from the beginning.

Right before the game I went to a phone (no cell phones in those days) to place a small bet with a friend back in Houston. The game was being played on the West coast which was on Pacific time, which meant that it was starting three hours later for those on the East coast. It was being played in Houston two hours earlier than the East coast. Keep in mind that the game was actually starting at the same time from coast to coast.

When I returned and told my crew who I had called in Houston to place a bet, Miss Bacardi told me that it was a dumb idea to bet with someone that would know the final score before I did.

True story…they are all children dressed up in their parent’s cloths!!!

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. I will be putting one together in 2027 to Puglia. If you’re interested send me a note through my contact info on my website.vCome shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Student Work: BPSOP Classes

She used her "artist Palette".
She used her “artist Palette”.

Besides my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet, I teach a four week class with the BPSOP. Actually I teach three classes: A part I, II, and a class on the six concepts in the psychology of Gestalt.

My part I and II classes are centered around the basic elements of visual design, and how to incorporate these elements into your photography: Texture, Pattern, Shape, Form, Color, Light, and the most important of all the elements…Line.

Without Line, none of the other elements would exist; in fact you and I would cease to exist since we have an outLINE. What about planes, trains, automobiles? Those as well would come to an end.

We learn all the ways to generate Visual Tension, a week on just shadows (your best friend), silhouettes, and the ability to “see past first impressions”. We work on ‘making’ not taking pictures, and basically seeing with new eyes.

The following slideshow is made up of a couple of months of my part I and II classes work. These photos were all shot by my fellow photographers, students that have begun to look at the world with the right side of their brain…the creative side.

When you’re looking at all the photos (and I know there’s a lot), you’ll be able to see just how they’ve used the elements to create strong images; they now use my “artist Palette” whenever they go out shooting. Now, they’re not just looking, but seeing.

Enjoy the show.

My next class starts this Friday April 8th. Sign up for my part I, and I can guarantee you’re work will rise to a higher level in four weeks.

The July 31st. marks my twenty-eight year at the Maine Media Workshops. It’s a wonderful way to immerse yourself for a week and think about nothing but photography. It’s the same week as the Lobster Festival down the road in Rockland, and offers a completely different set of photo ops than the beautiful Maine coastline, amazing lighthouses, and quaint fishing villages. The full description is at the top of this blog.

I have added a new workshop to my 2016 schedule. On September 21st, ten photographers will get together with me at my evening “meet and greet” to begin a fantastic five-day workshop in New York, New York. Check out my description at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me.

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

Keep those photos and questions coming to: AskJoeB@gmail.com, and I’ll create a video critique of your photo.

JoeB

Food For Digital Thought: Ways to create Visual Tension

Framing within a frame.
Framing within a frame.

Ok, I know what a lot of you are probably thinking when I say the word Tension, but it’s not what you’re thinking. When you hear the word tension you more than likely associate it with mental or emotional stress since that’s the most popular definition. After all, how many commercials have you seen or heard where they talk about “the tension headache”, and that their pill works better than all the rest to get rid of it?

I’m talking about the kind of Visual Tension that’s comes as a result of forces acting against one another; which creates energy and visual interest. When Visual Tension is present, it’s the feeling that something is going to occur that will change the dynamics of the message we’re trying to get across to the viewer.

In the psychology of Gestalt, we want to make the viewer an active participant when looking at our photos, and generating visual interest is a good way to keep him around longer looking at our imagery. I don’t know about you, but that’s what I want.

In my  online classes, my six month private mentoring, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, we work on several ways to create Visual Tension, and one of the ways is called, “Framing within a frame”. This happens when we place a frame of some sort around our subject or centers of interest. This can be anything, including one of the four edges that surrounds our composition. BTW, it’s one of the reasons why it’s best not to crop your photos, so you can use the edges of your frame as a compositional tool.

The frame directs the viewer’s eye to not only the subject, but the environment it sits in; giving it a frame of reference. Framing within a frame adds depth and it’s the feeling of the frame closing in that also provides tension. Also, when you put a frame around your subject or center of interest, it will lead the viewers eyes directly to it and the energy it generates to focus his/her attention takes work and work takes time, which requires energy, and energy equals tension.

Here are some examples of “framing within a frame”:

More examples to follow.

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

Quick Photo Tip: Pet Portraiture

Make a weird noise to bring out Gertie's personality.
I made a weird noise to bring out Gertie’s personality.

Until the passing of Bryan Peterson, the founder of the BPSOP, I taught classes with the school. I also conduct my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around the planet. I’ve occasionally been asked how do I photograph pets, so since there’s a million links to this genre, I’ll put my two cents in and make it brief.

I’m not a pet photographer per se, I was an advertising and corporate photographer that periodically would get a project that included shooting animals; specifically dogs…why? I’m not a cat person, I’m a dog guy so I guess it was just one of those reasons that no one ever called me to shoot cats. So what I know about shooting pets is mostly about shooting dogs.

What advice I can offer is first and foremost, get it sharp! Make sure you’re shooting at a fast enough shutter speed to freeze any action, and above all make sure you have a comfortable F/stop to get the nose to the eyes in focus. This is not a rule because there’s always going to be times when having areas out of focus is more important; getting it sharp is  just generally a good overall suggestion.

  • Get on their level. To me it makes for a stronger connection, especially the implied line between their eyes and the lens.
  • Always use natural light. The obvious reason is that the light will be softer, but another reason is that electronic flash could either distract or scare them…or both.
  • Choose a background that’s familiar to your pet. A backyard (depending on the light) is desirable so he won’t be distracted by a new environment.  If it’s a portrait I’m after, then I like to have the background out of focus. A medium telephoto shot at it’s widest aperture will usually make this happen. Just don’t put Fido in front of something or close to anything that will look like it’s growing out of his head.
  • If you’re dog is dark put him in front of something light. Conversely, if you’re dog is light, put him in front of something dark.
  • If you use a small zoom, you have the option in filling the frame with just their head to quickly pulling out to reveal some kind of out of focus environment.
  • Remember that you’re dealing with an animal, so patience is going to be rewarded. If you need to take a Valium beforehand…then just do it!
  • Feeding your pet ahead of time is always a good idea as it will keep them relaxed…especially if you didn’t take your Valium
  • Having someone to help you can be a Godsend. If you have a large pet, getting someone to lay down and hold their feet in position has worked for me.
  • If you’re after their personality and that can mean getting an inquisitive look, try making some type of weird sound. Be sure to have your finger pressed firmly on the shutter release because more than likely they won’t hold the pose for you.
  • If you’re taking a portrait of a family member with their pet. Get the pose you want from them then tell them to keep looking into the lens and ignore any and all commands you give to the dog. This will help tremendously since you’ll only have to concentrate on one of them.

Well that’s about all I can think of right now. I can tell you that if you follow these guidelines you’ll have an excellent chance in walking away the winner of the joint meeting or friendly confrontation!!

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. My workshop descriptions don’t stay up more than a couple of days before they’re filled.

JoeB

Quick Photo Tip: Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition at it's finest
Juxtaposition at it’s finest

Here’s a great photo tip, but you’ll have to really be looking for it: juxtaposition.

Juxtaposition is when two elements are placed side by side to one another. They are usually in contrast to one another, unlike things, but can also can share certain ideas.

In my six-month mentoring program, and during my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around our planet. I show my fellow photographers how to incorporate the element of visual design into their imagery.

To do this takes more than just looking around the environment that surrounds you, this takes seeing things that also surrounds you; there for the taking.

I love to look for things that when placed side by side creates a sort of dichotomy. Things that either have nothing to do with one another but merely exist together, or things that do relate in one form or another. In any event creating an image that stirs the viewer’s interest.

In the above photo, I was in the Guggenheim Museum in NYC, and because of the way the architect designed the space, I was sort of spiraling my way down from the top to the ground floor. I had my little friend with me so I could go relatively unnoticed among the ever present security ready to toss me over the railing if I was seen taking pictures.

By happenstance, I stopped in front of a large black and white painting (the artist names escapes me right now), and was looking it over for some sort of meaning, when this man walked up. The juxtaposition hit me right smack dab in the kisser and before he could take a step in any direction, I had my camera up to my eye and captured this wonderful relationship that I suspect no one else was paying any attention to.

That’s one kind of juxtaposition.

The second and more traditional definition of juxtaposition is in the photo of the woman selling tamales from her truck, i.e., sharp contrast. While walking in front of a construction site in Houston, I came upon this food truck and immediately saw this fantastic juxtaposition of an Hispanic woman selling tamales for five dollars a dozen, and about as prominent as an American flag could ever hang, there was the red, white, and blue…Old Glory at its finest.

A more traditional juxtaposition
A more traditional juxtaposition

Only in the US of A, I thought to myself, then took the shot!!!

And so my fellow Americans, go forth and seek out your own photos that are all about juxtaposition, it’s a lot of fun when you see them.

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

Quick Photo Tip: Bokeh

Good Bokeh going on here
Good Bokeh going on here

Bokeh, usually pronounced Boo-kay (but that’s incorrect) refers to the artistic quality of the out-of-focus parts of a photo created by a lens. The correct way to pronounce this word is bo (like the bow in bow and arrow), and ke (like the ke in kettle)…in case anyone’s interested in saying it with enough confidence that you’ll never be questioned or challenged. As much confidence as a four year wearing a Batman costume. In any event, I love the look whenever I’m in a position to create it.

It also has to do with the Gestalt concept of Figure-Ground; ways to separate the figure, the subject, from the ground, the background. I teach this concept to my mentoring students, and also in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet.

You might be thinking that Bokeh is the blurry area behind the subject when you use a shallow DOF, making the subject the only area that’s sharp; this is not the Bokeh that I’m referring to. What I’m talking about is the out of focus highlighted points created by light. Although the blurry area is considered Bokeh, to me the quality of this Bokeh is what creates the visual interest and sometimes visual tension.

Most lenses will create interesting Bokeh. Prime lens comes to mind as probably the easiest way. They are usually very fast, i.e., F/1.4 so the DOF is very shallow at this aperture. If you are at the minimum focusing distance to your subject, and the background is several feet away, you can shoot at F/1.4 and create Bokeh. The type of Bokeh depends on the kind of light and its direction.

I like using medium to long telephoto lenses to create Bokeh. By getting as close as you can to your subjects while still being able to make them sharp, will result in visually interesting Bokeh.

In the above photo, I used a 200mm F/2.8 lens and I got as close as I could and still get the boy sharp. I was also cognizant in having his yellow slicker in front of the yellow flowers, as I’m always thinking about the use of color to communicate ideas; as well as colors that are in harmony with one another.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my 2017 workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Food For digital Thought: Do you remember your first photo?

Shot with Kodachrome 25
Shot with Kodachrome 25

As I tell my online classes, my private mentoring programs, and also in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I didn’t pick up a camera until I was twenty, going on twenty-one. That’s not counting the Brownie Hawkeye I won on the boardwalk at Asbury Park, New Jersey. It was one of those machines where you move a metal claw around and drop it on something you had little chance in getting. I was thirteen.

No, I’m sorry to say that I was not a child photo prodigy who took that Brownie and went on to becoming the youngest photographer to have a one kid show at MOMA. My background was centered around painting and design, with areas of study in Art History, water color, figure drawing, printmaking, and color theory. My first 35mm camera was my twenty-first birthday present from my parents. A Pentax Spotmatic with a 50mm lens.

It didn’t take me long to decide that photography was instant-gratification. While It took me hours or days or sometimes weeks to create a “work of art”, it only took as long as to bring the viewfinder up to my eye, compose and click the shutter to create a photo.

The first trip I went on with my new camera was to Mexico with some friends. I can still remember walking around snapping pictures and absolutely loving it. Of course I had no formal or informal training whatsoever and barely knew what all the buttons were for. I just applied everything I had learned from the years of taking design, drawing, and composition classes.

I guess it didn’t hurt, as the above photo was one of the very first that I can remember taking, or at least it’s one of the few I can still find.

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

JoeB

The “Springtime in Sicily” Workshop.

Photograph by Nick DePasquale
Photograph by Nick DePasquale

A location that had always been on my bucket list to conduct a workshop was held in Sicily. We based out of Palermo for three days, then Catania for another three days.

While shooting in Palermo, we took early morning and afternoon trips to Trapani, and Cefalu’. After a leisurely private motor coach ride to Catania, we spend the day relaxing and shooting around the city center. We also spent time shooting in Ortygia and Taormina.

The workshop was once again full, many who have taken my online courses, and I can speak for everyone when I say that Sicily was everything we all expected. The food was always an interesting dining experience, the people were warm, friendly, and didn’t mind their picture being taken; right out of central casting. The villages we shot in were all by the sea, and as picturesque as one would imagine; just like the postcards.

As usual, I select hotels that are centrally located with photo opportunities virtually right outside the door. Many were no more than a twenty minute walk. The group always traveled to the other locations by a private bus, comfort being one of my main concerns.

Each day during the critiques, I was always looking forward to seeing how people were seeing things so differently when given the same subject matter. So many of the photographers have taken one to seven other workshops with me and as a result I love observing how their eye and their ability to see rather than look at things has improved so much. The group

I have written several posts about my workshops, and I always like to show some of the images my fellow photographers were shooting. I realize that there are a lot of photos to look, but I’ve actually narrowed down the amount by half!!

I wanted to give you a visual feeling for the country as well as showing you some of the remarkable images taken by my class.

I hope you’re as impressed as I am.

Enjoy the show.

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Be sure to watch for my upcoming workshop schedule at the top of this blog.

JoeB

Food For Digital Thought: The How and the Why

Explaining the How and the why.
Explaining the How and the why.

Several of my students that take my  “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet say to me that what they like most about my classes is not only do I show people how to make stronger photos, but why they are.

The how comes from teaching people how to incorporate the elements of visual design into their imagery: Line, Pattern, Form, Texture, Balance, Color, Light, and Shape are the elements that my students will eventually wind up putting on their new Artist Palette. With this palette (that also has shadows, silhouettes, and vanishing points on it) they can start using the right side of their brain (the creative side) instead of the left side (the analytical side).

For example, a photographer looking at a tree with the left side sees only a tree. That same photographer looking at the same tree with the right side sees patterns made by the bark, the texture of the bark, negative space separating and defining the leaves and branches, the lines that make up the trunk and branches, the way the light falls on the tree (side, back, or front lighting), and the color of the leaves.

The why is all about perception. The goal is to present your photo in such a way as to take control of how the viewer perceives and processes the information we lay out to him in the form of a photograph. If that same tree is presented in such a way as to keep the viewer around longer by looking at the warm late afternoon side light emphasizing the patterns and texture of the bark, then you’ve done your job.

If that same light is coming from behind the tree, it passes through the negative space that was created to define the leaves. It will turn the tree into a two-dimensional silhouette but because of those green, yellow, red, and orange leaves being translucent, they will glow; and don’t forget about that wonderful shadow (your best friend) that lies on the ground stretching out to the camera…again you’ve done your job, and a job well done.

In the photo above taken at LaDefense in Paris, with the left side of my brain I saw a man sitting on the steps. With the right side I saw Line, Pattern, Texture, Shape, and Figure-Ground…a dark subject against a lighter background.

The people that look at your images created by the right side of your brain will undoubtedly find more visual interest than those created with the left side…they just won’t necessarily know why…it will be our little secret!

🙂

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

Student Work

Does this look like a pro's work?
Does this look like a pro’s work?

Stephen sent me this still life for a critique. As usual, I like to submit the actual question so that those that have similar questions, or are trying to accomplish similar ideas can read what he had to say:

“Hi Joe….I took this shot in my kitchen using daylight from my back door glass to illuminate the subject, and my idea was to make an image like pro shots I’d seen in books or magazines. The only manipulation with PS CS2 was maybe 10% contrast adjustment and some sharpening. My question to you is “do you think I achieved my goal of making a professional looking ( quality in tone and light) still life ?”

Thank you,
Stephen

Stephen, First of all, by definition, a professional is someone that gets paid for a service..that’s all it means!!!! Being a professional does not guarantee you professional work. I assure you that there are photographers out there that call themselves a pro and whose work occasionally appears in magazines, that you don’t want to be anything like.

Ok, let’s talk about your photo:

The first thing is the exposure. It’s so underexposed you’ve lost where half the fruit ends. That might be what you were after, but to me, I’d like to see a little separation from the onions in the back and right side to the background. You’ve lost the bowl the fruit is in as well, and the bowl is too important to not be able to see. You’ve also lost the fabric that the bowl is sitting on and I think it would add quite a bit to the overall feel.

Ok, how about the depth of field? Did you really want just the onions and garlic in the front to be sharp? If I were taking a photo of a bowl of fruit, I would want the viewer to enjoy the texture of each of the elements. I think it would be important here for it to be sharp from front to back.

I like my still life’s to have an environment, not a black background. I wrote a post called “The whole enchilada”. In it I talk about not just concentrating on the main center of interest or subject, but the background, the foreground, or either side, or anything that helps make the photo stronger.

In my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I always tell my fellow photographers to study art, and light…Renaissance Lighting would be a great start.

 If you want your still life to look like still life’s of fruit painted in the Renaissance, then I suggest you study those painters and not look at photos in a magazine. You’ll  get a lot more from them, and at the same time develop your own style.

Take a look at what I mean in these two still life’s painted by a Renaissance painter named Caravaggio. When you’re still life photos look closer to these, you won’t ever have to worry whether your work looks like a pro.

Thanks for the submission Stephen.

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

Anecdotes: Seton Hospital

Hello to all new to my blog. My name for those that don’t know it is Joe Baraban, and I shot advertising, corporate, and editorial photography for forty-eight years. I know teach my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops all over our planet, and I also taught online with the BPSOP. Sadly, the founder Bryan Peterson passes away not too long ago and the school closed.

Over these past fifty-three years there’s been funny incidents that have happened along the way, and I find myself reminiscing when it comes to some of these stories. Some were funny then and still funny and some were amusing at best but now seem funny…due mostly to time and my age!

I was shooting a brochure for Seton Hospital in Austin, Texas and on the shot list was their emergency room facilities; which they were both proud of and well known for.

My idea was to create something that was common among emergency rooms and make it look as though it was happening in real time. I also wanted some action to make it even more believable. Easier said than done as I would soon find out. You have to remember that there was no Photoshop to help me back then!!!

The answer came to me as I was standing in the hallway next to the emergency room doors to the outside. An ambulance pulled up to deliver a patient that wasn’t really sick. She had just been transferred from one hospital to Seton. Still, it gave me the idea that wound up working out pretty good.

In the above photo, I was on a gurney next to the one you see, and moving down the corridor at the same rate of speed. I used a sync delay that fired the strobe right before the shutter closed instead of the strobe going off right after the shutter opened. This is what gives it that blurred but sharp look. To re-create a real situation, I had some of the hospital staff playing the role of the actual emergency team.

The woman laying on the gurney and in obvious distress was a volunteer, and the only one around that was available. We did several rehearsals, and each time the woman started laughing. For some reason she thought it was the funniest thing she has ever taken part in, and couldn’t stop. Had there been anyone else around I would have replaced her because she thought it was a lot funnier than I did!!

So one of the male ambulance drivers pulled me over to the side and made a suggestion….a really good one. The portable oxygen mask was brought out and placed over her face to hide her laughter. It worked like a charm. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, and the show must go on.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Watch for my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB