Engage the viewer
I don’t know about you, but I like people to look at and enjoy my photography. In order to do that I need to make my images contain enough visual interest to keep them around.
Like all of us, visual input is a part of everyday life, and as photographers, it’s our prime objective to present this visual information in a way that takes control of what the viewer sees when looking at our imagery.
We want to make the viewer an active participant when looking at our photos. For example, the more ways we can have the viewer move around our composition, while at the same time leaving and entering the frame the longer they will stick around. The more things we can get the viewer to discover while moving around the frame will also keep them around longer.
Think about putting people in your images; it’s a known fact that people like to see people in photos. Editorialize your pictures, in other words, have them ask questions, tell a story; which by the way is one of the definitions of editorial.
This is what engaging the viewer is all about. I primarily think about incorporating all the basic elements of visual design, especially color, and this is as good as it gets in keeping the viewer around for at last six seconds.
That might not seem like a lot, but consider that some television commercials can be as little as ten to thirty seconds of constant motion, so in that regard looking at a still photograph for six seconds is a big deal.
All this is a big part of what I teach online in my BPSOP online classes, and also in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct all over the world.
So, my fellow photographers, whatever you do do it on the path less traveled. Don’t follow any rules you’ve been taught to follow. Rules hinder the creative juices, and you’ll only wind up going down the well traveled road to mediocrity.
Visit my website at joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
JoeB
