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

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.

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

Besides the fact that people like to see people in photos, I like to have people in my shots to bring a sense of scale to them; not all the time, just some of the time.

Not only will adding a person show scale, but it will also change the genre of the photograph. In other words, adding people will editorialize the original idea. for example, taking a picture of a building with no people in it makes it lean towards the architectural side of photography.

When you add a person, not only will it reveal the actual size of the building, but it will ask the viewer why the person is there. When you do that it you’re creating a story for the viewer to read visually; it asks the viewer to express an opinion making it editorial instead of architectural.

 The same thing happens with a landscape. Simply stated, a landscape represents all the visible features of a countryside that the viewer can see all at one time from a single viewpoint.

Before the passing of the school’s founder Bryan Peterson, I’ve had ‘landscape photographers’ take my online class with the BPSOP and I’ve also had them sign up for my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet, and I can tell you that they can be a stubborn lot; not all of them but a lot. What I’m getting at is that they can be adamant that a landscape cannot be a landscape if there buildings in the composition, and certainly not a person.

These people call themselves purists, but they have no compunction to do a little work on them in Lightroom or Photoshop; it makes me wonder just when you can begin or stop being a purist?????

I digress again.

I’m not going to get into that, but I will say that when you add a person it gives scale to the image. The viewer doesn’t know the actual size of a building nor does he have any idea of the vastness of the landscape he’s looking at. What he does know is the average size of a person, and that will help him identify the size of a building or the scope of a landscape.

BTW it also, like an architectural photo, makes the viewer wonder who that person is, where did he come from, and why is he there. These are questions that will keep the viewer around, and unless you’re shooting photos strictly for yourself and if you’re at all like me, you like people to look at your pictures.

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 some time.

JoeB

During my Maine Media Workshop, I was working with a fellow photographer and the moment before she clicked the shutter, her LCD screen exploded with blinking black areas going on in the highlighted areas. This meant that those areas were being overexposed or “clipped” as what’s said by those that don’t know what they’re talking about.

I think “visually undesirable” is what I’ve been told by students (who were told this) that tøok my online class with the BPSOP. Since then the school has closed due to the passing of its founder Bryan Peterson. I’ve also had similar conversations in my own “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet.

I digress.

“Egads”, I yelled to no one in particular, “make it stop blinking, I’ll tell you anything you want to know!!” The student relayed to me that she had been told that whenever she encountered the blinking, to immediately stop what she was doing because she was about to overexpose an area. It also annoyed her (not knowing what it meant) and how did she take it off.

Seriously? The only reason anyone (not in their right mind) would want to do that is if they wanted to be led (blindfolded) down that one way path to mediocrity. Or maybe they wanted to have the slightest chance in winning a blue ribbon at their camera club’s annual competition.

Here’s what I think…Get that blinking stuff off you camera. Go to settings on your camera and where it says “highlight alert” disable it. Believe me it’s a better thing you do than you’ve ever done before…why?

Because one of the ways to generate visual tension is contrast and another is the use of light. Those blown out (clipped) areas brings energy to your images. I don’t always blow out the highlights because there’s a time and place for everything. That said, whenever there are bright highlights in my composition I’m always looking to blow them out.

It’s easier said than done because if you use the meter in your camera, more than likely it’s going to give you an average exposure of the highlighted and shadow areas; based on what the meter is set on. For best results, set your meter on spot and try exposing just for the areas in shadow; this will blow out the highlights.

For most of my fifty-three year career, I’ve used a Minolta One-Degree Spot Meter. It’s an external hand held meter (you can find them on e-Bay) that can read just one degree of reflected light, which gives me total control to do as I please to my photo.

I prefer the energy, so next time blow out the highlights my fellow photographers and you won’t spend eternity in photographic purgatory.

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. They don’t stay up very long since they fill so fast. Come shoot with me sometime

JoeB

For me, the easiest way to walk away with the best shot possible is to make a series of adjustments as I’m shooting. Photography is all about making adjustments from your first frame to your final composition.

As I’m shooting, I look all around the frame. I’m doing my Fifteen Point Protection Plan, my Border Patrol, and the Four Corner Checkoff. Each time the shutter opens and closes I’m making adjustments, some minor and some major…a new final composition, and I take several “final compositions” before I’m through….shoot adjust, shoot adjust, shoot adjust, etc., etc., etc.

The reason? To achieve what I want in the camera, and not have to rely on a computer to fix the problems I could/should have done prior to clicking the shutter.

I rarely use the first image I take unless I’m street shooting and I have one shot at it. It’s always the second, third, fourth, etc., before I’m satisfied.

I’ve discovered after thirty plus years of teaching that my fellow photographers will generally bring the camera up to their eye and aim, shoot, then move on to the next shot. Doing that really lowers the odds of that one photo being the one that can stand the test of time. The proverbial ‘OMG’ shot, a ‘keeper’, one that makes it to the ‘wow’ category of picture making.

In my online class with the BPSOP I use to critique so many images that could have been so much stronger had they made just a few adjustments. I say that in the past tense since Bryan Peterson, the founder recently passed away and the school closed. In my personal “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops, I’ll observe a photographer shoot an images and immediately walk away. Slow down and smell the flowers I’ll say to them; don’t be in such a hurry.

Maybe the horizon line is off, perhaps it’s something growing out of someone’s head. It could be something coming into the corner or edge of the frame (those dead branches for one example) that you really don’t want to be there…I call those UFO’s, which would not be considered something that was hidden in Area 51. These may be nothing but minor nuisances, but they could also be something that even a computer can’t fix and therefore winds up on the cutting room floor…as in painfully deleted.

In the above photo of a dance instructor in Cuba, there were several adjustments before I was satisfied: I had her standing with no chairs, sitting with no chairs against the wall, then I added a chair, then I added another chair, then I had her looking out the window, then straight at me, then at me through the mirror…shoot adjust, shoot adjust, shoot adjust, etc., etc., etc.

If you consider yourself a painter as I do, then a good analogy would be to not think about your camera being on a tripod, think about it being a blank canvas on an easel. A finished painting is achieved by adding and subtracting pigment. Mixing colors to get just the right shade of blue, adding white or black to change the value of an area. Switching from one size brush to another is akin to changing lens. Then there’s always the option of using a palette knife of various shapes.

If you’re into getting the right light, then you’re shooting from different points of view and thinking about my clock. Shoot then adjust by moving around to see how your subject looks lit from the side perhaps to bring out the texture, then make another adjustment by placing the sun behind your subject to backlight it.

The digital age has had a profound effect on photography. some good and so many not so good. One good thing that has come about is the ability to shoot a photo and immediately look at the back of your camera to check it out. It’s so easy now to make those adjustments that will undoubtedly take your photography to where you’ve never gone before; and what I refer to as ‘up a notch”.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.barabanjoe.com Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. I’ll be conducting a workshop every so often, so be sure to check them out at the top of this post.They fill rather quickly.

JoeB

I like to have complete control over all aspects of my final composition/photo. That means being in control of the final exposure as well. Letting the meter in your camera decide your exposure takes you out of the control you need to create strong images with lots of Visual Tension/Energy, and interest. I can tell you that the meter in your camera, no matter the brand, is not giving you the right information.

One of the many areas I cover both in my online classes with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet is how to take meter readings that will provide you with this tension, interest, and energy.

Most of my fellow photographers have the meter in their camera set on Matrix. The problem with that is the meter doesn’t know exactly what you want. It will read a large area of reflected light, and that’s not the best way to have control of the final photograph.

For me, I want more control than that. I want to know what every area of my composition reads so I can compare one part of the frame to the other. I want to know what it’s going to look like before I look at it on the back of my camera, and certainly before I sit down in front of a computer. By that time I had lost control and now I’m left to devices, computer software, and programs to help out.

The next time you go out, try setting your meter on ‘spot’ so it will read a smaller portion of your composition. Read the highlights and then the shadows and see what you get. If you really want to master the light, get a handheld meter like the one I’ve used for the past forty-four years. I use a meter that’s not made anymore but you can find them in mint condition on e-Bay.

I use a one degree spot meter that was made by Minolta, and in it’s day, it was the state of the art. I can read just one degree of light at a time and can compare readings from the highlights to the shadows…and everything in between.

In the past couple of years, this meter has become very popular again. I guess there’s more people out there that want the challenge of being a good photographer and not a good computer artist.

Of course these days you don’t need that, but to me it’s fun and challenging to get exactly what I want in a photo…before I click the shutter.

In the photo above, I wanted that sunrise energy so I read the reflected light on the two men. Once I set my camera to expose for them, the early morning sky behind blew out creating the Visual Tension, interest, and energy.

I’m sure some of you out there are horrified because I clipped the highlights. All I can say is…get over it. Stop being predictable and following rules written by people a long time ago that never colored outside the lines.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram. Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog.

JoeB

Since so many of my fellow photographers always hand hold their camera, it’s very difficult to stop down to F/22 to get everything in your composition in focus; without having to jack up the ISO. The problem I’m always hearing in my online class with the BPSOP, and also in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet is that inevitably, they always forget to change the ISO back which as you know can lead to more issues.

If I’m walking around with a camera over my shoulder and not knowing what to expect, my go to lens, the lens I almost always have on my camera is a 17-40 35mm Canon lens. I shoot everything from landscapes to portraits with it, and have always loved the len. On of the main reasons is that I can get more in focus at a shallower DOF with a wide angle rather than any other lens that’s longer.

However, there are times when I can’t stop down enough and be able to hand hold. This is important to me as I always want to have complete control, so it’s the reason I’m almost always on a tripod…and very fast with it. That said, I’m occasionally hand holding my camera and come up against a situation where I’m not going to be able to stop down enough (I never jack up my ISO because I will most likely forget to change it back) to get everything I want to be sharp.

So, what do you do? Go the opposite way and use “selective focusing” to get the shot you want…and just maybe it will turn out to be a better idea.

In the shot with the man playing the trumpet, While walking around an outdoor event, I heard the jazz trio and went to investigate. I wanted to take this man’s portrait but I couldn’t get him all sharp while getting “up close and personal” to his trumpet. I decided to shoot wide open and just have the front of the instrument sharp and let everything else be soft. It still says the same thing I was trying to say, and to me it “colors outside the lines”…one of my favorite things to do. BTW, it is a lot easier if you set your focus to manual instead of auto-focus. Auto-focus is a luxury, not a necessity. Just remember to change it back!!!!

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

I always try to be at a location either very early or very late in the day so the light is softer and warmer, and the shadows are longer…The Golden Hour. That’s not always possible especially when you’re somewhere that’s just a small part of the overall shoot. You just have to weigh all your options, then decide what’s the most important location to be at during the best light; providing the most photo ops possible in a short amount of time.

While working on a project for a company that raises crayfish in Louisiana, I was given a shot list that had to be covered in the three shoot days that was budgeted. As always, I sit down with the client and designer ahead of time in a pre-production meeting and talk about their wish list. What’s the most important photo? What will be on the cover? To me, it doesn’t matter as I will spend the same amount of energy for a photo that will be small and one that will be a full page.

In my forty plus year career, I think that the expression I disliked the most is when someone would say to me, “It’s not that important of a shot, so don’t spend too much time on it”…Really? I shouldn’t care what it looks like?

I digress!!!

Since we shot all day, there were times when the sun was high in the sky, rendering everything hot, harsh, and lots of contrast. The above photo was shot during that time of day. So what do you do, especially when you’re taking a portrait of some local workers and you don’t want “Raccoon eyes”? You know those eyes that have deep shadows from the sun being almost overhead?

You place them just out of the sun, where the light is just missing their face and the reflections coming off the ground help bounce light evenly on all their faces.

Works like a charm, and it’s what we often talk about in my online classes with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet.

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

JoeB

Check out my new workshop on the six concepts in the Psychology of Gestalt: Gestalt Workshop link

As I tell my online students with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet, light is everything and I’m constantly thinking about it.

That said, I’ve been a professional traveler for almost fifty years, and my job has been to take pictures in the best possible light. That’s what I do, and that’s what I think about all the time…especially when I first research then check into a hotel.

The first thing I think about is the view I’m going to get every time I look out the window. I can tell you from experience that some of your best photos can be taken with your pajamas still on…or even if you sleep in “the all together, in the buff, or in the raw” as some call it.

Here’s what I suggest to my fellow photographers that are traveling on business, pleasure, with a group, or just by themselves:

When checking in ask what direction the rooms face. If you’re an early riser by nature, ask for a room that faces East. If you’re not then ask for a room that faces to the West. A suggestion here would be to take an East facing room over one that faces North or South. That way you’ll at last have a choice as to getting up early or not.

Another factor for me when I have a choice in picking a hotel is the number of floors it has. If you’re only interested in seeing the entire city and taking an overall panoramic, then ask for a room close to the top. If you’re interested in seeing more of a close-up, than ask for something closer to the ground floor.

The absolute best advice I can give you is to ask to see the room first. That way even if you get an East or West facing room, you won’t be disappointed when you pull back the curtains only to see the hotel’s roof top parking lot and/or the air-conditioning units.

Depending on the time of year, a North facing window would be my third choice after East and West. The light will be coming in from the side, which can be a great way to show the textures and the three-dimensional qualities of the city.

I can’t suggest strongly enough to set your clock to at last take a look out the window, you can always go back to sleep if nothing interesting happens. If it does and you get something great, going back to sleep is easy even if you’re only wearing a smile.

🙂

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

Check out my new workshop on the six concepts in the Psychology of Gestalt: Gestalt Workshop link

I’m always after visual interest while at the same time generating visual tension. It’s not something I live or die for, it’s just something that’s always in the back of my mind. As I tell my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet, one of the ways to create visual tension is the use of light.

I go on to say that whenever I see anything that’s translucent I always try to backlight it. This especially holds true for me when it comes to photographing flowers. I just love to see them glow, and the only way to do that is to have the sun behind them. Actually, if you read my post on “The Clock”, the sun would be somewhere between eleven and one to make it pure backlit.

In the two photos shown above, and if you remember my clock, the light on the sunflower on the left is coming from behind me at 6 O’clock. This is front light and although it’s still fairly nice (only because it’s about a minute after sunrise), to me it doesn’t have the visual tension as the sunflower on the right does.; where the light is coming from 12 O’clock. FYI, both sunflowers were taken a few seconds apart and are next to each other in a field.

So, the next time you’re out and about shooting, before you bring your camera (hopefully secured on a tripod) up to your eye, consider the clock. No matter where you are and what the subject might be, think about where the sun is in relation to your subject first and foremost, and I’ll guarantee you that your photos will jump up to what I always refer to as “up a notch”.

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

JoeB

I will often walk up to one of my fellow photographers on some street in Sicily, France, or in another of my ‘springtime” destinations workshops or my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I also teach and I’ll observe him/her shooting a subject that includes some kind of action. I often notice this in photos that are submitted in one of my online classes with the BPSOP.

What I observe and notice (right away) is that the photo was not taken at the optimum point in time; to achieve the most visual interest and tension. They will quickly reach for their camera whether it be over their shoulder or around their neck and just start clicking away.

Of course one might be luckily enough to capture that moment, the peak of the action, but don’t count on it. I’ve heard soooooooooo many times someone saying, “if I would have waited I would have gotten it”…or “If I would have shot earlier I would have gotten it”. Either way you missed.

In every situation that has action in it there’s usually a moment in time that tells the story about the action you’re photographing; there’s always one exposure that the most important, and that’s the peak of the action.

Since the environment around us exposes us to various action, being at the right pace at the right time is crucial in capturing that moment. Or setting up the action and shooting it in a reportage style to make it appear as though you were in the right place at the right time (like I like to do) will work.

What I mean by the peak of action can be explained this way: If you were to through an apple up in the air, there’s a moment in time that it’s no longer going up, but has not started to come down. That split second in time is the peak of the action.; and it’s different from the decisive moment.

I know it sounds difficult, bu in reality it’ quite simple to capture. The key is knowing it’s going to happen, and slow down just a touch…and preparing yourself for it. Having your camera set on continuous shooting is a very good way to get it. For me it’s a visual reaction I’ve come to rely on automatically since I’ve been doing it for a long time; certainly before the digital age.

In the above photo of the little boy, I had him jump over the sprinkler several times in front of different houses. Clearly, the boy is frozen in air. He’s no longer going up, but has not started to come down…thus, the peak of action.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban 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

If I had a dollar for every time a student of mine opened Photoshop and unnecessarily worked on one of their photos…that didn’t really need anything, I would be writing this from poolside at my summer home with a blue and frothy drink sitting on a table by my side.

It’s sad that although their are some great things about Photoshop, there are just as many unfortunate things as well. But that’s our world today.

In my online classes with the BPSOP, and in my workshops I conduct all over the place, so many of my fellow photographers started shooting while the digital age was beginning to boom.

They though and are still thinking that you need Photoshop to complete your ‘wall hanger’, as well as all those ill-considered things your camera either tells you do do, or they’re on the back of your camera beckoning you to take the one way path to mediocrity i.e., the Histogram, or those obnoxious blinking lights that are telling you that you’re about to ‘clip a highlight’…sidetracking your thought process while you’re trying to “color outside the lines” and create something worth a damn.

For those of you that sit in a camera club meting eating goldfish and washing them down with diet drinks, while looking at someone’s image that he or she worked on…and damn proud of it, do not, and I repeat, do not think you have to go down that road.

Photographers that use Photoshop or Lightroom to enhance their photos, more than likely (and I’ve seen it for years) will over process a good image. It will become garish, glitzy, and generally in bad taste, and the sad part is that there are those out there (and you know who you are), that will simply love it.

If that’s what you want, then ‘Lay on McDuff'”…(Shakespeare’s Macbeth)!!!!

If you would rather not, then study what makes a good photo as far as the composition, balance, the light, and ways to keep the viewer around longer. I can tell you that it’s a fifty-fifty proposition that you can find that in a camera club.

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 my blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Fortunately, I’ve never had to photograph kids to make a living, but over the course of my almost fifty years as a professional photographer, I’ve had my share of  advertising and corporate assignments where children of all ages were the end users for the company that made the products that fed them, clothes them, protected them, fixed them, and played with them; as a result I took the little darling’s  pictures.

My approach was always to lower my thought process to their level and photograph them the way they wanted to be photograph. Whatever pose they had in mind is the pose I almost always went with. As I tell my online students with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet go with the flow. Don’t try to force an idea on them, because I can bear witness to the fact that it’s a good way to get them NOT to do what you want…just to spite you!!!

I’ve had many kids that wanted to be photographed with their pet. YIKES!!! I can tell you from many years of experience, as far as subject matter goes kids and animals are the two hardest  to photograph…especially at the same time!! Forget about anything predictable (not a bad idea anyway) and again, let them dictate how they want to be photographed with their pet.

Another tip is to get down on their level. I’ve seen way too many photos where the photographer bent over and took the picture from their height.If you’re down where they are, it’s a lot more engaging and whatever direction you’re able to give them will work better “eye to eye”.

I’ve even gone to the extent of having them look in the viewfinder and let them take my picture first. You would be surprised on how often this works. Last but certainly not least, is to pay them. You would really be surprised with how often this works!

Finally, if you’re good enough you can direct them to do something that might look natural, but in reality the idea was conceived by you, the photographer.

😉

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/barabanjoe Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. It will be Autumn in France and it’s next October of 2023. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB