From as far back as I can remember, and through all my research on the subject, I’ve known that people like to see people in pictures. In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I stress putting people into their compositions.

Photos are a powerful way to communicate ideas, or tell stories, and in the digital age, they’ve become paramount in sending information over the web. A scene without a person in it falls short in getting a message across to the viewer that’s thousands of miles away.

Showing a gondola in Venice floating by itself and moored to a set of stairs down one of the many canals, doesn’t say the same thing as a gondola with two tourists being chauffeured down the same canals by a Gondolier while having a glass of Chianti; the late afternoon adding a rim light to their and wine glasses.

I’m always trying to put people in my photos when I’m trying to show scale to an environment. The viewer can relate to the size of a person since he’s familiar with average heights. Also, where you place the person in the frame will take on different meanings. For example, placing a person in the middle of the frame and close to the lens gives a feeling of intimacy, whereas placing the person in the bottom right corner sends a message of loneliness; as well as the feeling of being small in the scheme of things.

Use people to add color to your imagery as well as an ordinarily overcast day. Having someone wearing a red sweater will add Visual Tension and draw attention away from the fact that’s a gray day. Another way to create Visual Tension is by using body language, gesture, and stopping the action of someone, and leaving it un-completed. Blurring a person walking or running through your composition not only adds interest but adds energy to your images.

Silhouettes of people are a great way to introduce a mood to your photos. They are abstractions of a three-dimensional reality, presented in a  tw0-dimensional representation. They add a sense of mystery and drama.

Use people as a ‘payoff”, when through the use of directional lines, you move the viewer through the frame to lead to him or her. Use people as parts that when designed together create Shapes. When traveling, be sure to photograph the people as they are as the key to the countries culture.

Finally, Pattern is a basic element of visual design and I like to use people to break the rhythm of patterns.

Here are some examples that encompass all the ways I have listed:

https://joebaraban.com/example/people-like-to-see-people-in-pictures/

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

I teach fellow my photographers how to incorporate the elements of visual design and composition into their imagery. I teach these elements at an online school with the BPSOP. I also teach the same elements in the “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet.

After a long hiatus, I’ve begun teaching my class on how to use the six principles of Gestalt to “make stronger photos; the ones people will remember. Gestalt is all about making the viewer an active participant and as a result, it also makes him work harder when looking at our photos.

Whether it’s about having him discovering  new things when he’s looking, or leading him around the frame via directional lines and Vanishing Points, or the ways to imply more content outside of the frame, Gestalt is about Visual Perception…what the camera beholds, the viewer will perceive.`

Seems like Moses said something like that when he parted the Red Sea!!!

🙂

The viewer’s perception stops when he has gathered all the visual and sometimes esoteric/obscure information. At this point, the processing of the information takes over. What he was looking at, now that he’s taken in all the different parts, is now looking at the whole; the basic theory behind Gestalt.

There’s a lot of factors (that are the photographers’ responsibility) in what the viewer will walk away with. The process part is a series of steps the viewer will need to go through to achieve whatever end he was after the split second before he snapped the shutter.

One of the first things to consider is whether you’ve given meaning to your photo. Make sure it says what you wanted it to say because you won’t always be around to explain your intent unless you were going for an abstract in which case each viewer will walk away with something different. If you weren’t going for an abstract, then your photo needs to be a quick read.

If your photo is too esoteric the viewer won’t process the information fairly quickly. I’ve learned from watching people at photo openings that he or she will move on leaving you with a photo that you’ll be the only one to admire…and that would suck!!!

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

I don’t know if your kids or grandkids ask you question after question after question, but my kids use to all the time while I was shooting them. They were great models so I shot with them all the time. I remember shooting with them late one morning and during a quick break, one came up and ask me why I didn’t shoot when the sky was blue, followed quickly by the question why is the sky blue anyway?

I told them what I tell my online students with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops. I like shooting during the “Golden Hour“. I like the colors and the long shadows. I like it because it’s soft easy light compared to the harsh reality of the midday sun. I can get different parts of my composition closer in exposure when the sun is low on the horizon.

It’s not that I don’t like blue skies, but in order to get the exposures close, without having to shoot away from the sun, those skies can turn a whitish blue; especially close to the horizon where the shorter blue wavelength must pass through more atmosphere and as a result, gets scattered away before reaching your lens. If I’m caught in a position where I can’t shoot under the kind of light/sky I prefer, then I’m going to compose my photo where the entire frame is about the blue sky.

“Ok, so daddy”, one of my three impetuous daughters asked, “Why is the sky blue?”

“Well sweetie”, I said to her. “It’s like this. When the sun is way up in the sky it lets out light at a short angle. This shorter angle lets my favorite colors, red, orange, and yellow, pass through the air (atmosphere) without being messed with. The shorter colors like blue and violet get eaten up by the gasses (molecules) in the air (atmosphere), which scatters their light. This causes the sky to look blue whichever direction you look; the blue light reaches you everywhere overhead.” I gave her a minute to digest what I had said and then continued with the fact that water vapor (humidity) and pollution make for a cloudy day and that’s why the sky sometimes looks gray.

She gave me what I thought was an incredibly curious and intelligent face then said, “Can I have a quarter for some ice cream?”

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog.

JoeB

The easiest part of photography is when you click the shutter. Anyone can do that because this particular aspect of photography requires no practice, talent, or any knowledge of the camera itself; other than knowing exactly where the button is that you press down on that results in a photograph being taken.

Having said that, to take a photo that you would be proud of enough to put it on your wall is a whole new ballgame. Not everyone can do that, but I can help. I teach online classes with the BPSOP, and I also conduct my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” all over this very round planet.

It’s hard to find an analogy for anything these days that specifically refers to photography, but the one that comes to mind is the ability to hit a golf ball straight; not far, just straight. For those of you that play the game, you’ll understand just where I’m going with this. For those of you that don’t, I think when I explain everything you’ll get the ‘picture’.

In the game of golf, anyone can own a set of expensive clubs, new golf balls, shoes, a golf glove, and rent a cart. However, here’s what has to happen to hit the golf ball straight: Your grip on the club, clubface square to the ball, your stance in relation to where the ball is, backswing, positioning of the shoulders, the way the hip turns, the follow-through, and keeping your head down.

So, now comes the second half of the analogy, clicking the shutter. Anyone can own the top of the line Nikon, Canon, Sony, or a Fiji, and all the lenses each camera offers. The best camera case, a carbon fiber Gitzo tripod, expensive filters, and anything else that you can possibly imagine.

Now, I can tell you that none of that matters if taking ‘wall hangers’ is what you’re after…and who doesn’t want that? When you come right down to it, the ten inches behind the camera is what matters. Having the best camera doesn’t mean a thing. It’s like someone telling you that because you have an expensive typewriter, you must be a great writer.

Here’ what matters before you click the shutter: Knowing where the light is coming from, knowing where to stand in relation to the light, when to stand to get the best light, and how long you have to shoot there. Thinking about the negative space as much as the positive space, is your composition balanced, what’s going to be in focus, aka the depth of field, correct shutter speed/exposure combination, always thinking about Dynamic Range in a composition, focus points, making sure your idea is a ‘quick read’, did you do your ‘border patrol’, checked those four corners, the 15Point Protection Plan, and when you should be using a tripod.

I’m sure there’s more, but these immediately come to mind and if you just work on these guidelines, your imagery will go up (what I refer to as ) a notch or two.

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

I’ve always found this quote to bring a smile to my face, “Sometimes you’re the dog and sometimes you’re the hydrant”. So you ask yourself why in the world could this possibly have anything to do with photography?

It’s simply an analogy I use when I’m talking to my students that are taking my online class with the BPSOP, and during the daily critiques with those that take my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct all over the world.

What I’m referring to is when a photo op is suddenly gone by the proverbial wayside. It can be while walking down a small street in a Medieval Village when the woman hanging her laundry out the window sees you and before you can raise your camera up to your eye quickly ducks inside…I’ve personally had that happen more times that one.

How about when you’re about to take a photo of a couple walking down the area next to the Seine and the golden light from the sunset is streaking across the water…and as your about to click the shutter a cloud comes in and steals the last moments.

It doesn’t have to be that far away from home…it can be in your own backyard when you’re taking pictures of your dog playing with your grandchildren and (kids and dogs are the hardest subjects to photograph) one sweet loving lick in the face begins a meltdown that is irreversible; perhaps for the rest of the day; you wind up self-medicating with a cocktail.

And one of the worse ones is when you run out the door to catch the sun coming up over the lake, and when you get to the spot you had picked out, you realize that there’s no card in the camera or your camera case.

All you can do is ‘shake it off’.  It’s going to happen, and some days you’ll be the hydrant. However, you can salvage some parts of these situations…be the dog, and learn by them.

How you might ask?

Learn the movements of these women hanging laundry, and whatever you do the next time you’re confronted with this photo op…do not look directly at them!! Pre-visualize what your composition is going to be. Shoot a few photos of the environment and the light so you can get the exact exposure, then set it in your camera.

If you miss the last light, then look for an appropriate place to shoot during the Blue Hour.

As I said, kids and dogs ate the hardest to shoot. Try not giving any direction and let whatever happens…happen. Have your camera settings the way you want and wait for that one moment…it might be the only moment you get.

In the above photo, I was all set to shoot this family sitting on the chairs. As I brought my camera up to my eye the father spotted me and whisked his family away. Because of the shadows, I decided to wait for another opportunity. My patients were rewarded. Not only did a woman come up and sit down, but the dog wandered into my frame and sat down.

Before you go out for an extended amount of time, charge the batteries, put in a fresh card (never delete images from the camera), with a couple of backups.

And above all, you have to ‘go with the flow’ and know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em.

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

So many of my students that I teach online with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I conduct around the planet, just grab a camera and go out with the intent of finding and shooting that “OMG” photo that we all yearn for. Well, that’s all well and good, and I say more power to you and good luck; it just might be your lucky day.

Of course, shooting early in the morning and late in the afternoon will greatly increase your chances, but without some kind of a plan, I wouldn’t bet on it. Your odds go down further if you don’t know where to go to begin looking for that elusive “keeper”.

As I tell fellow photographers and my students, light is everything so before I go off “half-cocked”, I want to know exactly where the light is going to be. I do that with the readout I get from Sunpath, a software program for determining where and when the sun will rise and set. I then use a hand bearing compass called a Morin2000 to locate the point on the horizon where the sun will come up and go down.

If I’m going to be at a location large enough of an area to offer several possibilities, I’ll plan out a shot list to determine which subject I want to take first. What I mean by that is what area will get the first light, then what area gets in next, and so on; until the light has become too hot and harsh and I stop. I’m looking for what subject I can backlight, sidelight, and put into the “Angle of Reflection, or what’s also referred to as “The Law of the Light“. This is predicated on the idea that I’ve pre-scouted the location before the day of the shoot which would be a very good habit for everyone to get into.

Along with my shot list, I begin working on my grocery list. I’ll write down what I’ll need to take that particular photo, as in props, people, additional wardrobe, etc. This is along with my regular “bag of solutions” I always try to include because you just never know and as Eddie Adams once said, “When you get lucky, be ready”.

If your interests are “just taking halfway decent pictures” (I was told this by a student right before he dropped out) then I suggest you ignore this post and continue down whatever path you’ve laid out for yourself. If you’re interested in taking your photography what I refer to as “up a notch”, then try doing it the way I’ve been doing it for over fifty years.

🙂

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come work on your grocery list with me sometime.

JoeB