The camera is my paintbrush
Every once in a while I like to introduce myself to those that just started reading my blog. Whether you accidentally discovered it online, read about it somewhere, or it was suggested reading from a friend, My name is Joe Baraban and I ‘ve been a professional photographer for fifty-three years. Before that, I studied painting and design and especially loved Art History.
For a large part of that time, I was an advertising, corporate, and editorial photographer based in Houston, Texas. Now I teach online classes with the BPSOP, and I conduct “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around out perfectly round planet.
I show my fellow photographers how to incorporate the elements of visual design into their imagery, as well as several elements of composition. I also show people how to use Light as well as color to create strong, memorable photographs.
For me, a camera on a tripod is just like a blank canvass on an easel. If you ever studied the old masters, you can easily see how they used the light in their paintings. For example Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt.
They painted with Light back then, and today’s photographers are still artists, the camera is now our paintbrush. The poetic way Vermeer used light for his subjects using window light, is akin to the way we love a North Light Studio or at least a window that faces North.
One of the things I stress, and actually have as a lesson in my part II online class is the fact that shadows are your best friend. This also goes way back to the Old Masters.
There was a technique called Chiaroscuro, (from Italian chiaro, “light,” and scuro, “dark”), that was used in paintings to represent light and shadow as they defined three-dimensional objects.
In today’s digital world, I use this technique to illustrate one of the basic elements of Visual Design…Form. Form refers to the three-dimensional qualities of an object.
Getting back to Vermeer, in Amsterdam it was written that Vermeer would have met Rembrandt, whose forceful chiaroscuro effects complemented the intensity of his paintings. To this day Rembrandt Lighting is very dramatic and one of the most iconic setups. This way to light is known for the triangular spot of light under the subject’s eye on the opposite of the face that the light is coming from.
As you can see, Light is probably the most important part of Photography, and to me, it should always be considered first. Before I bring my camera up to my eye, I look to see where the light is coming from, and how can I best use it to create my “works of art”.
Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and check out mt workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
JoeB
