Did It Do It: Did It Show A New Way Of Looking At Ordinary Ideas?

Joe
July 21, 2019
Did it Do it
0 Comments

This is another point on my did it do it list of twelve reasons why a photo works. Did it show a new way of looking at ordinary ideas? These are not rules, since I don’t like rules. Rules are a hindrance and can and will get in the way of those creative juices. They’re merely guidelines I’ve been using for a very long time; most of the fifty years I’ve been a photographer.

I feel strongly enough about the list that I show it to all my classes I teach online with the BPSOP, and I share them with my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet.

After a long career, I can tell you that there are few original ideas left, but that’s ok. The challenge comes with looking at a subject in a new light. It might be a different POV. For example, have you ever laid on your stomach to get a different perspective on something; getting dirt on your shirt? Have you ever adding some props to an existing location that’s been photographed a hundred times before you got there.

Maybe it’s the time of day since so many of my fellow photographers wait until after breakfast to go out shooting, or quit so they can have dinner…missing the great late evening sun. This alone would make a huge difference between your photos and everyone elses. Light can do wonders to ordinary ideas. I’ve often said that if you find the light you’ll find the shot.

It could be something as simple as using a lens you would never have thought of. Have you ever shot a portrait with a 200mm lens? How about a 17mm lens or a 100mm macro? No? Well you’re missing out on a great way to shoot people. What about a landscape shot as a vertical? Trust me, it can work.

In the photo above, I found a new way of showing Venice, as well as ordinary umbrellas.

The key to all this is what the title to my classes and workshops is all about. You just gotta go out and stretch your frame of mind, or as my students refer to it as “SYFOM”.

Visit my new website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my 2019 workshop schedule at the top of this blog. I still have two spaces left for my workshop in New York, where we will be shooting in all five boroughs. Come shoot with me.

JoeB

My Favorite Quotes: Unknown

Try looking at what's above you. — Try looking at what’s above you.

Every so often, I like to submit a quote to all my fellow photographers out there. These are quotes I’ve written down over time that I find from all different sources, and don’t necessarily come from photographers. It’s kind of a library of thoughts I’ve accumulated that were said at one time or another sometimes going back at least a hundred years. By now I know most of these quotes from memory and I’ll refer back to one when the timing is right.

It’s a pity that this author is unknown since it’s one of my all time favorites. At some point in time, someone once said, “If you always do what you did, you’ll always get what you got”.

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet, I’m constantly working with people that have a particular way of looking at things. A particular way of composing, and a whole lot of them live by the rules laid down by people that only require you to achieve mediocrity.

It’s all about coloring outside the lines, and looking at new ways of seeing things. It’s about going out and forgetting about putting your subject in one of the intersections required by the Rule of Thirds. It’s about not worrying that your subject is leaving the frame instead of making sure there’s plenty of room for your subject to walk into.

When you go out shooting. leave the left side of your brain at home. That’s the analytical side that only sees a tree. Go out with the right side of your brain turned on, that way you’ll see a tree but you also see the texture of the bark, the shapes created by the leaves, the Negative space between the leaves that defines them. Study the way the light falls on the tree, whether front, side or backlit.

If you’ve always brought the camera up to your eye and composed from that height, try getting on your knees. Lay on your stomach and get some dirt on your shirt. Follow the light and let it be your guide as far as where to stand in relation to the subject.

Stop fearing shadows, instead embrace them because they are your best friend. Don’t leave just because the sun has gone down. Shoot in the blue hour, using silhouettes as your center of interest.

Try shooting through things, or shooting the reflections coming off buildings or glass. When you’re walking around looking for subject matter, don’t just look straight ahead; make your field of vision 360 degrees. Look from the ground in front of you to the sky above you because you just never know what you might see happening.

Instead of going out shooting after breakfast or before dinner, go out before breakfast and after dinner. This is when the light is the best.

If you try some of these ideas, I can guarantee you that your images will begin to go (what I always refer to) up a notch. Stop doing what you’ve always done so you can stop getting what you’ve always got.

Visit my new website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. I have added a new workshop to my 2019 schedule. On September 17th, ten photographers will get together with me at my evening “meet and greet” to begin a fantastic workshop in New York shooting in all the five boroughs. Check out my description at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me.

JoeB

Food For Digital Thought: Tighten Up

After getting out of college, in the early part of 1970 I moved to Houston. My second job after graduating was with a newly formed advertising agency working as an art director.

One of our clients was Archie Bell and the Drells, and in 1968 they recorded a song called Tighten Up. It was our job to do any graphics and public relationss for them.

I got to know Archie and every once in a while on Siriusxm they play his big hit; which always maks me smile.

Just recently, I was talking to one of my online students with the BPSOP about one of his images he submitted for a critique. Since I had just heard the song, the title of Archie’s song immediately popped into my head; Tighten Up.

What I was talking to the student about was his constant desire to crop his photos, dealing with any problems later sitting in front of a computer.

Let me digress for a moment to say that in my classes there’s no cropping allowed…I want to see their thought process right out of the camera. I tell them that in fifty years of shooting I’ve never, not ever, cropped one of my photos.

Btw, I’ve had similar conversations with photographers that join me in one of my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct aound our planet.

If there’s things in your composition you don’t like, deal with them then not later. Having said this, cropping in front of a computer will hone your skills as a digital artist; if that’s your preference. What it won’t do is make you a better photogrpher.

What will make you a stronger photographer is to keep changing your initial composition by making adjustments. Adjustments come in all varieties, but the one that usually offeres the most benefits is to tighten up said composition.

Tighten it up by simply moving in closer, or perhaps changing lens to get rid of superfluous objects or unnecessary people. Using your 15PPP, your Border Patrol, and checking the four corners is the best way to do that.

Remember my fellow photographers, it’s not what you put into your photo that counts, it’s what you don’t put in that matters.

If you’ve never heard the song click on this link. If you do remember and want to remember the good old days click on the link!!

The Tighten Up

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. I have a spot open for my New York Workshop this Septmber 17th if you want to photograph all five borougs.

JoeB

Personal Pearls of Wisdom: It’s not always what it seems

One of the many ways to create visual interest and tension is to get the viewer to believe what he’s seeing is actually what he thinks he’s seeing (make any sense?), and one of the ways to do that is to trick the camera (which has one eye…the lens) into creating a sense of perspective, or depth, or height (that requires two eyes), or all three at the same time. Sound complicated? Well, in actuality, it’s fairly easy and straightforward.

It starts with an idea you have that’s implanted into the viewer’s imagination. It needs to be something he’s familiar with whether it be from watching TV, reading a book, or perhaps something that he’s actually experienced in the past.

Then you need just one thing…a wide angle lens, a great sunrise, and the perfect environment.

An entire lesson is what my online class with the BPSOP works on, and when the occasion arises in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I can physically show my fellow photographers exactly what I mean and how to achieve it…in the camera.

The above photo was taken during one of my Workshops. I was looking for just the right location to show the class how to use a wide angle lens to create the feeling of height, visual interest and tension. It was about thirty minutes before the sun came up and I desperately wanted to find something that had potential. It’s important here to tell you that the workshop was during the last week of July and the first week in August, and although it was chilly that morning the high that day was going to be close to 85 degrees.

Having said that, We passed by a huge lot filled with rock salt used to spread on the highways during the upcoming winter months; an idea immediately began forming in my mind. I had my assistant put on a yellow hooded sweatshirt I just happen to have in my assortment of props and wardrobe I always carry around…just for this moment.

I put on my “go to” lens which was my 20-35m, and I set the focal length at 20mm and got down close to the ground. I positioned the lens right behind a big chunk of salt so I could “anchor it in the foreground, creating layers of interest” and depth by getting “up close and personal” to it; while providing texture to the salt. I waited for the sun to just come up enough to light the top of the pile, keeping everything else in shadow.

It worked like a charm, creating the feeling that the man was considerably higher that the fifteen feet he actually was, and the rock salt created the snow, and the look/idea I was hoping for.

The production shot was taken after my shot and from a different position; when the sun was up much higher and the sky much bluer. It’s merely to show you how high my assistant actually was, and how I could trick the camera…and the viewer.

Visit my brand new website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. I still have two spots open for my upcoming workshop in New York beginning September 17th. Come shoot the five boriughs with me.

Food For Digital Thought: Can’t See the Forest for the Trees?

Here’s a saying that has been around as long as I can remember; somewhere right after the last dinosaur disappeared.

I’m sure that at one time you have either said it yourself, it has been directed to you, or you read it, “Can’t see the forest for the trees”.

For those that don’t know the actual meaning, it’s an idiom ( https://www.dictionary.com/browse/idiom) and it means…”an expression used of someone who is too involved in the details of a problem to look at the situation as a whole”.

Another definition is, “To focus only on small details and fail to understand larger plans or principles”; basically the same thing.

At this point you’re probably asking yourself what does this have to do with taking pictures?

I have seen this first hand with many of my fellow photographers that have either taken my online classes with the BPSOP or have seen it during the critiques in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the world.

They get so zoned into a subject that they fail to see the environment that surrounds it. This causes confusion when the viewer can’t figure out what you’re trying to visually say.

One of the problems I observe is that I see people walking around and all of a sudden they’re shooting pictures of things that could have been shot anywhere; For example, coming in close on a person, just a face, an object, something in a window, Etc.

This all works when you’re back from your trip and have the family over for the proverbial slideshow and you’re able to talk your way through each photo.

That’s all well and good, but for the most part you probably won’t be around to explain the pictures. If you want to say where the photo was taken (without being there), you’ll want to show some of the environment to give your subjct a place; including a name of the city (if at all possible) somewhere where the viewer can read it.

This what I refer to as The Whole Enchilada.

Btw, in the above image I was looking at the patterns, color, and light on the tent. When I stepped back I saw the ferris wheel!!!

🙂

Visit my brand new website at: www.joebaraban.com, and checkout my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime and we’ll slow down together and smell the roses. I still have an opening for my upcoming workshop in New York starting this coming September 17th. I hope you can come join us as we shoot all the five boroughs.

JoeB

Quick Photo Tip: Shooting Through Things

A lot of the inspiration for writing these posts comes from either dicussing a photo a student taking my BPSOP online classes has submitted or from a fellow photographer that has taken one of my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet.

This post comes directly from working with a photographer during my last workshop in Berlin; walking the streets in Pottsdam.

We were walking past a shop that had two doors. One wooden door with small panes of glass that was open wide, and a screen door that was closed and being used as the main door for patrons to enter.

This photographer was about to walk by because the screen door was closed. I stopped him and pointed out the fact that if he was to shoot through the screen and controlled the DOF, he might get something interesting.

It had never occurred to him to try anything like that, mainly because he never considered the screen as being anything but in sharp focus; since that’s the way his eyes were seeing it.

After reminding him that he was there to “stretch his frame of mind”, we set out to try and incorporate the screen into his thought process and add a ‘layer of interest’ to his photo.

I had him compose what he thought was an interesting composition made up of silhouettes, color, and light. Then I had him try different F/stops ranging from the aperture being wide open to closed down to F/22.

Well, I have to tell you that it was an epiphany for him, and wound up being something that he could use all the time; depending on the circumstances.

Here’s a few examples: https://joebaraban.com/example/shooting-through-things/

The important thing to remember is to manually focus so you can have complete control. You’ll want to focus on the subject on the other side of whatever it is you’re shooting through and then use your aperture to try different degrees of sharpness.

It’s amazing that because of the digital era where practically everything is done for you, a lot of my fellow photographers have no idea that you can actually focus the camera all by yourself!!!

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

JoeB

Food For Digital Thought: Making Not Taking Pictures

If I had to name one thing that I’ve talked about the most, both in the years I’ve been teaching online with the BPSOP, and in all the “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I’ve conducted around the planet, it would be that the majority of my fellow photographers ‘take’ not ‘make’ their pictures.

I’ve seen it with my own eyes, so I know it to be soooooooo very true. They walk up to a subject whether it be a person, a structure, or even a landscape, and bring the camera up from their chest or swing it around from their shoulder. They look in the viewfinder and within a nanosecond (maybe a little more) they click the shutter and walk away. That’s taking pictures and maybe they got something worth sharing, maybe even a wall hanger; but I can tell you from years of experience…don’t count on it.

Here’s the difference in that style of photography and mine, and it’s what I teach and preach to all my students: First of all, the most important step before even thinking about bringing the camera up to your eye is to determine where the source of the light is coming from. Unless you’re street shooting where capturing the moment is critical, light is everything!!!

I want to make sure I’m either side lighting or back lighting my subject and center of interest. I do this for several reasons: Texture is one of the basic Elements of Visual Design, and to bring out the Texture, you need to either side or back light it. Form is another Element. Form refers to the three-dimensional quality of an object. height, width, and depth are the three ingredients, and to show depth, you need to side light it. Anything translucent such as: grass, flowers, and water look the best when they’re backlit; I always position myself so that my subject is between the source of the light and my camera.

I show my students how to incorporate the Elements of Visual Design into their imagery, and these elements are put on an imaginary ‘Artist Palette’. The same ‘Artist Palette’ I’ve been carrying around in the back of my mind for the past forty-four years. When I’m out shooting I look for things not immediately visible without the help of my palette. I look for: Light, Texture, Patterns, Shapes, Vanishing Points, Perspective, Color, and most important Line. I look for ways to use Negative Space to define my subjects, as well as balancing my composition. I use lines to move the viewer around the frame, especially if I can introduce a Vanishing Point. I introduce Color on overcast days, and I also use color to communicate ideas.

I also show my fellow photographers the way to use the right side of the brain…the creative side. This is the side tha tnot just sees a tree, but all the before mentioned elements of design.

This is “making pictures”, and a hell of a lot more fun than just bringing the camera up to my eyes and clicking the shutter.

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

JoeB

Food For Digital Thought: Standing the Test of Time

There are many aspects involved in taking a photo that you’ll remember and that will stand the test of time; or perhaps just another background memory clouded by the passing of our daily lives.

Since I enjoy the game of golf and I often play (I’m a much better photographer), I can draw this analogy…to simply hit a golf ball straight and not necessarily far, it takes a number of things all working together at the same time: Your stance, grip, wrist, shoulders, head, knees, follow-through, tempo, backswing, and that’s not counting all the separate nuances that are associated with each one of those aspects. FYI, according to my brother, who’s a Master Professional, only five percent of all the golfers in the world can break 100.

Well the same hold true for photography, fortunately for all of us there’s not quite so many!!!

In my online classes with the BPSOP and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind’ workshops I conduct around our planet, we work on incorporating the elements of visual design.

We also work on light, exposure, balance, composition, unity, rhythm, meaning, visual interest, and the ability to see past first impressions, are all some of the important aspects necessary before you click the shutter; if you expect your photos to stand the test of time.

What do I mean by standing the test of time? I mean that when you look at your photo a day, week, month, six months, a year or longer, and it still looks as good to you as the day you shot it, then it will stand the test of time and become timeless. Will it convey the same meaning, tug at the same heartstrings, the same smile no matter how much time goes by?

Moreover, if in the same stretch of time you take a second look at it and you wonder why in the hell you ever clicked the shutter, then maybe you shouldn’t have been so hasty. That’s where those aspects I mentioned come into play. A good photo is going to be a good photo no matter what new technology forces its way into the art of photography…and make no mistake, it is art.

Photographers are artist who have chosen a camera as their medium. A camera on a tripod is just like a blank canvas on an easel.

I find that the more plug-ins, programs, software, and buttons there are, the harder it is to take a simple photo and have it last through all these photo fads. Case in point, look at all the great photographers that shot with a lens and a camera. People like: Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, Steichen, Haas, Lange, Eugene Smith, Newman, Walker, Penn, and so many more.

Their images are more sought after today than ever before and will continue their popularity even as our generations change hands and younger/newer photographers take over with more advanced, more powerful, newer, smarter, more megapixel cameras . I just don’t think you can say that with the type of photos that one sees every day. They will come and go as fast as the new spring fashions that come out year to year.

For a photo to stand the test of time, it takes a commitment to the process. Take the time to get all these aspects going for you before you click the shutter, not in front of a computer. Think before you bring that camera up to your eye, and you’ll wind up shooting less and being more productive.

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

JoeB

Anecdotes: The New York Times Magazine

Joe
June 9, 2019
Anecdotes
0 Comments

For those of you new to my blog, I teach an online class with the BPSOP, and I also conduct my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops all over the planet.

I love writing these posts because they bring back great memories of when I was working as an advertising, corporate, and editorial photographer; that would be right after the last dinosaur disappeared.

That period of time when everything had to be one click, one exposure, on one piece of Kodachrome film; ‘Adobe’ was a type of house in the Southwest part of the USA.

The New York Stock Exchange called me to shoot a portrait of (at that time) the youngest recipient of a heart pacemaker.

Since this little girl was so young and more than likely shy, I had an idea for the shoot and had my studio manager call her parents to find out what she loved doing and what she wanted to be when she got older; also, did she dress up while playing?

We were told that she was taking ballet lessons and wanted to be a ballerina when she grew up. Perfect I thought, and we instructed her mother to have her come fully dressed in her balet attire.

I had a location scout locate a place that would work for the environment, and she came back with the absolutely ideal room; and it was only a mile away at Rice University.

I scouted the room and found that the row of windows face west so the light would be perfect if we shot late in the afternoon.

Being a firm believer in covering my butt at all times and Murphy’s Law, I decided not to trust whether it was going to be a clear sunny day with golden light streaming through the windows.

That said, I was able to secure additional monies to bring in my own lights; two 12K daylight balanced HMI’s (used in television commercials and motion picture films), a really big generator, a grip, and his assistant; and a fog machine just for the hell of it!

The day of the shoot, the sun was hidden behind a dark overcast sky so we went for plan B and through the window I lit the room with the lights I had brought in…and smoked it up a touch.

The little girl arrived wearing her favorite outfit and held tightly by her mother on one side and her father on the other…not good!!!

As I predicted she was very shy and her mother giving her directions didn’t help. So, what do you do? You make the parents leave the room, that’s what you do.

At that point I wasn’t going to try and direct her so I composed the shot the way I wanted by aiming the camera towards the mirror, putting on a 20mm lens, and left my camera on a tripod. I then attached a twenty foot cable release to it…and walked away.

I turned my back to the camera and started a conversation with my crew. When the little girl realized that no one was watching, she turned towards the mirror and started pretending. As she was doing this I started firing off shots.

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

JoeB

Food For digital Thought: Color That Inspires

When I go out shooting I never look for a particular subject, for example: flowers, fences, boats, cars, buildings, planes, trains, rivers, oceans, etc. What I look for is color and light to be my subject. I’m usually looking for both to be co-subjects since it creates a strong, powerful relationship. A white picket fence is not just a picket fence, it’s a ‘white’ picket fence. The type of flower is unimportant; it’s the color that attracts me to it.

In my online classes with the BPSOP, and also my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops, I emphasize how color and light working in tandem creates those kinds of images that will stand the test of time.

Color is a stimulant for our eyes, and ties the elements of a photograph together. Color affects every moment of our lives, and has an enormous impact on our photography; knowing this, is one of the first steps in taking consistently good photographs.

I want to digress for a moment and put in a piece of information I read on the internet, if nothing else to show you how little value you should place when reading a considerable amount of photographic gibberish that’s out there..

This is what I read…” Colors that clash cause confusion to the eye and result in a poor image. Too many clashing colors create multiple focal points, causing the eye to dart around the image not sure what to look at first or what to focus on. Rather, choose one dominant color that becomes the focal point of the image and draws the eye of the viewer to it immediately. The greater the intensity of the color, the more it’s going to dominate so be careful that your subject in an image has the dominant color, otherwise a secondary subject could overshadow it because it has a dominating color”.

I couldn’t disagree more, and it leads me to the title of my post…I have created a link to the section on my brand new website to show you how color inspires me.

Since color is a basic element of visual design, it’s a very important ingredient in taking our imagery what I refer to as…”up a notch”. We should want to use color to it’s fullest dgree.

“I’m all about getting a viewer to feel some emotion when looking at my images. Except for the savvy photographer, most people aren’t really concerned how I compose a photo. Having said that, everyone responds when I’ve made them feel something; and nothing does it better than color.

So, my fellow photographer, the next time you go out shooting think of using color as your subject; using it to set a mood. If you really want your color to stand out think about the time of day you choose to shoot.

For example, photos taken in the early part of the day or in the late afternoon will have a warmer cast, which will make the scene seem inviting and cheerful.

Converesly, photos taken at mid-day will have a cooler cast and could render the different hues hot, contrasty and bold; not particularity relaxing…but definetely a look.

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

JoeB

Did It Do It: Did It Convey Your Idea or Thoughts?

Joe
May 30, 2019
Did it Do it
1 Comment

Shot for the Shell Oil 18 Wheel Tractor Trailer Calendar. DID IT convey the month of July? — DID IT convey the month of July?

About seven years ago I wrote a series of posts around a phrase I talk about to both my online class with the BPSOP, and my “Stretching Yor Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet. I’m always handing out information on ways to take my students photos what I refer to as “Up a Notch”.

I’ve had some new interest lately so I thought I would bring back these posts to share once again over the next few weeks.

One of the first pieces of information I hand out is what I call my “Did It Do It” list for good composition. There are twelve of them I will to be discussing again with you, and the first one I want to talk about now is: “DID IT convey your idea or thoughts”.

One of the issues I’m always exploring with my students is whether or not their idea or train of thought is too esoteric for everyone to understand. This happens a lot because we tend to give way toooooooooooo credit to the viewer. One of the few perks in being my age (73) is knowing through experience NOT to give too much credit to anyone. This especially holds true for photography. Unless you’re representing your idea in an abstract form, be sure to always consider the scene, and it’s outcome. Make sure it says what you intended.

Remember that you won’t always be around to explain your thought. It needs to stand on its own without any help. One of my favorite photo quotes comes from an Anonymous writer who said, “I always thought good photos were like good jokes. If you have to explain it, it just isn’t that good”.

These are guidelines for good composition, not rules. A lot of my followers know that by now, I don’t like rules!!!!

In the above photo, I was shooting a calendar for Shell Oil and was given freedom to come up with an image for each month. They were to be portraits of the owners of these big rigs; this photo represented July.

Most of the time it’s important to convey your message so that it’s understood without any geographic boundaries. That said, there are times when it’s only important to a select group of people, and this photo was only suppose to reach out to people that were on Shell’s mailing list; they would understand my visual message.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime. I just announced my New York, New York Workshop beginning September 17th, 2019 and ending at noon on the 23rd. This will be my second workshop there and this time we’ll be shooting in all the five boroughs.

JoeB

Life Before Photoshop: Sam Houston Raceway

I love to write these posts because they take me back to the really fun times in Photography when we had to figure things out without the use of a computer; when Adobe was a type of housing in the Southwest. Personal computers were a thing of the future and the only time I got close to a computer was when I was shooting them for a companies annual report to the stockholders.

Back then, every time I shot a report the company was so excited that they were computer savvy and ahead of the business curve, I was instructed to take pictures of these huge rooms…after I signed an agreement stating that I would not tell anyone what I saw. Back then an entire floor was crowded with these behemoths. with miles upon miles of wires under the flooring. now, my beefed iMac27 is probably as powerful.

But I digress.

As I tell my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I love the challenge of being a good photographer, not a good computer artist/digital technician. I try to do as much in the camera as I possibly can and use Photoshop for minor tweaking. It’s kinda sad that the majority of my students and fellow photographers were introduced to photography during the digital era and think that the camera should do all your thinking, and Photoshop will pick up where the camera left off.

In the above photo, I was shooting an advertising campaign for Sam Houston Raceway, and showed up at sunrise one morning to see what photo opts availed themselves to me. The mornings are always the best time around the stables since all the care of the horses goes on very early.

I asked one of the trainers if I could take an action shot of one of the thoroughbreds during a workout, and he agreed (which was pretty amazing given what some of these horses are worth). I got in the back of a pickup and we started out together on the track. I had put on my 2omm lens and placed it on my a tripod. I wanted to create the feeling of movement so I was shooting at a 1/15th of a second. The reason why the number ‘3’ is sharp is because the saddle and I were traveling at the exact same speed. The horse’s legs are blurred because they were moving at a faster rate of speed. As we came around the final turn heading for the finish line the horse started racing the truck. It was an incredible feeling being so close to this amazing animal; close as in fifteen feet.

Btw, you’ll notice that there’s only sunlight on the back end of the horse. The reason is that we were passing in front of the grandstand that was almost blocking the early morning sunlight. The back end was the only part still in the light…and just for a split second.

What a thrill!!

JoeB

Personal Pearl of Wisdom: Ok, So What’s Your Point?

I get a lot of my ideas for these posts from either looking at photographs in various places, reading something that has a direct corelation to photography, or from student’s submissions in my BPSOP online classes. It’s not just about the submissions, but I’m also curious as what their thought process was right before they clicked the shutter….otherwise I can’t be of much help.

Btw, I also get ideas from my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct all over the place. Since these photographers for the most part, have taken my online classes, they don’t seem to have the same thinking as the ones that haven’t…as of yet!

I show people how to see differently by using the right side of their brain when searching for that illusive ‘keeper’…aka, wall hanger. By incorporating the elements of visual design they can begin the process of “seeing past first impressions”.

Having said that, in the first week or so they will invariably see things that aren’t really there. They’re there because they want them to be there; after all it’s a huge learning curve and people are excited about it.

This brings me to the consideration of this post.

Since my fellow photographers won’t always be around to explain their thought process to the viewer, it will need to be what I refer to as a “quick read”. That is unless they going for an abstract in which case I, for one, would want everyone to see something different when looking at one of my images.

I have been to countless photography openings and have seen all the pretty, arty, people milling around drinking cheap chardonnay out of plastic glasses. I have seen these same people walk up to a photo, look at it for a moment then shrug their shoulders; while making an un-flattering face to indicate that they have no idea what the photo is about…then walk away.

When composing your ‘work of art’ be objective and not be too involved with the main subject. Doing so just might make you forget about what I refer to as…”the whole enchilada”.

It’s ok to have more than one center of interest providing they don’t take away from the main subject; your thought process in creating composition can become confusing.

One way to make sure you’re getting your point across is to self-initiate an out of body experience…You’re asking yourself…Huh?

What I mean is what I’ve been doing for a hell of a long time. I will place my body (and mind) into that of the viewer and then from his point of view I’ll know if I’m getting what I want across. It’s amazing how well this works.

One last thought: Ansel Adams once said, “There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept”.

JoeB

Food For Digital Thought: Creating Depth by the Manipulation of Line

Joe
May 14, 2019
Photo Ops
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In my four week online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, work on incorporating the Elements of Visual Design into their imagery.

We also work on several other elements that help to create stronger compositions, and one of the is perspective. In this concept, we are usually referring to the spatial relationships between objects in a photo. However, in one of my one week lessons in the four week class are ways to create depth.

One of the ways is to anchor the subject in the foreground thus giving the illusion of space and distance. Since the camera has one eye, it can only see in two dimensions…height and width. We can trick the camera and suggest the third dimension, depth.

Another way to create the feeling of depth is the manipulation of line. By arranging lines in your composition in such a way, you can move the viewer around the frame. The best way to create the feeling of space and distance is to move the viewer from the bottom of the frame to the top. Since we were brought up to read from left to right, having him start out from the bottom left and move him across the frame to somewhere in the top right keeps him in his comfort zone. That said, sometimes it’s a good idea to take him out of his comfort zone and move him from right to left….creating more visual tension.

A Vanishing Point is one of the best ways to manipulate line and lead the viewer around the frame. These are lines that are parallel to the lens axis, begin behind the camera, and converge at a point somewhere in the composition. To create a classic Vanishing Point. these parallel lines would converge at infinity or at a point on the horizon.

Here’s some examples of creating depth by the manipulation of Line:

JoeB