When you’re walking the streets somewhere in the world looking for photo opportunities, My suggestion is to be on the lookout for what I call the ‘photo dichotomy’.

First, in case you’ve heard the word used but might not know exactly what a dichotomy is, let me give you the definition.

Dichotomy: something with seemingly contradictory qualities. mutually exclusive or contradictory.

Perhaps you’re still a little confused as to how this relates to photography. So, having said that let me show you in the photo seen above.

I was walking around the canals in Venice, looking in all four directions to make sure I didn’t miss anything when I saw this young woman sitting on the steps.

Ordinarily, I might pass on it since the visual interest is limiting. But what really sparked my interest was the small sign right behind her…a dichotomy!!

In my online classes with the BPSOP, I often talk about keeping your eyes and ears open all the time. You just never know when a photo op will rear its head, and when it does it will usually be for just a moment.

When I’m walking with my fellow photographers that are participating in one of my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops, I always point out things that in of themselves have visual interest.

Another example of a dichotomy is in the other photo pictured here of a man walking in the opposite direction of the arrow signifying a one-way street.

If you click on this link, it will take you to a post on paying attention to what you hear.

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

JoeB

Photography is most definitely the love of my life, but right under it is fishing and then cooking. I love to look through cookbooks, especially ones with great food photography and find interesting things to serve when entertaining…which we love to do. Having said this, I’m really into recipes, and I’m always using some kind of recipe when talking with my online students with the BBSOP, and my fellow photographers that take my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the hopefully round planet.

I often like to create an atmosphere where the viewer is drawn into my photo whether he wants to or not. I want to induce a feeling in his psyche.

Creating a mood is a good way to not only deliver your message visually but editorially as well. What do I mean by editorially? By using a certain mood to tell a story, which incidentally doesn’t have to be controlled by light.

According to the dictionary, the definition of mood is: “A temporary state of mind or feeling”. It also means “The atmosphere or pervading tone of something, especially a work of art”. This is where photography comes it since we’re all artists, our medium is a camera instead of a paintbrush.

So how do we achieve this atmosphere, this state of mind?  Well, first you have to determine what kind of mood you’re after. Do you want your photo to ooze with a bright and happy feeling of tenderness and warmth…or a dark, melancholy and introspective mood? Do you want the viewer’s eyes to well up with sadness or the proverbial grin from ear to ear?

If this is the way you’re after, then it’s all about how you manipulate the light and color. Darker colors for somber pensive moods or rich, bold, and vibrant colors for a more cheery look. Although color is a big factor, the use of light transcends everything.

As I said, the use of light doesn’t always factor in. If you look at the above photo, light isn’t that important; it’s all about the story I was telling.

It’s hard to create a somber mood on a bright sunny day. It’s all about the emotional environment. Since I shoot early in the morning and late in the afternoon, the light is going to be softer and the shadows longer. An overcast, gloomy day is a good way to create a type of mood, as well as the placement of your subject.

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me some time and I’ll get you in the mood.

Cartier-Bresson is one of my most favorite photographers. I think I’ve talked about and quoted him the most in my online classes with the BPSOP and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct all over the place. I guess one of the reasons is that he has been quoted so often and his quotes can be found in so many places.

For me, it’s because so much of what he said, and the way he composed his images hit home more than most other photographers I’ve studied throughout my career.

I’ve said on many occasions that I don’t often photograph what I see because I don’t often see what I want (being somewhat impatient by nature), so I photograph what I’d like to see. Which takes me to the reason for writing this post.

Cartier-Bresson once said, ” The greatest thing to fear is the artificially contrived”.

When I’m talking to a student, I encourage them to move something out of the frame if they don’t like it and can’t compose differently. Conversely, I also say to move something into the frame if it will add visual input and a layer of interest.

It’s important to remember that we, as photographers, are artists who have chosen the camera instead of a paintbrush.

The difference between a painter with a blank canvas on an easel and a photographer with a camera on a tripod is in the fact that as a painter you fill in the canvas until you finish with a ‘work of art’. Photography is the art of subtraction whereas you remove objects until you achieve a ‘work of art’.

Here’s where the quote comes in.  If you do decide to add a prop, or some element, or even a person, make sure you believe it. Make sure the viewer will believe it instead of thinking that you put it there yourself.

When I’m composing (painting), right before I click the shutter, I always ask myself do I believe it. Case in point, I recently had a student take a closeup of a hubcap and decided to put a flower into of the holes. Well, it just would never happen that way and looked completely contrived. A similar occurrence was a rose on a manhole cover…what is it with flowers?????

There’s another way a photo can and usually will appear contrived, is when photographers shoot through something. Again, I encourage that because “framing a subject with a frame” is one of the ways to create Visual Tension.

Having said that, if you intentionally put your subject in let’s say between two spokes on a bicycle, or two trees close to one another, or posts on a pier, etc., there’s a good chance that it’s going to look weird…especially if the POV is too difficult for the viewer to have seen for himself.

Have fun out there and always try to “color outside the lines”, but be sure that people believe it.

BTW, the photo at the top was shot just the way I saw it….maybe?

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

JoeB

Although I was never a Boy Scout, I’ve always been a firm believer in being prepared. When I was actively ( until the last dinosaur disappeared) shooting advertising campaigns, corporate annual reports, brochures, or magazine assignments I made sure I had everything with me; I called it my Bag of Solutions.

Besides scouting every photo ahead of time, or at least most of the time and certainly whenever possible, I knew that during the actual shoot some extracurricular event, or in other words outside the normal routine, could possibly come up. When this opportunity crossed my path, I wanted to be prepared for it…on many levels.

This would usually be some small window when time was of the essence, whether it be a sudden change in the light, something new either entering or leaving the frame, or even needed to be added at the last minute…when I had the wrong piece of equipment on or not on and missed it by seconds, that really sucked!!!

When I’m talking to a student in my online classes with the BPSOP, I will often be asked what they should be taking when they go out to shoot for one of the lessons they’re assigned each of the four weeks. For them it’s easy, I tell then to put as much gear in the trunk of their car as they can. That way they will have a fighting chance to change something when the time is right.

When I conducting my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around the planet, I’m asked the day before what lens should they be taking. Being prepared is problematic at that point because so much of the time we’re walking around.

And so my fellow photographers that are reading this blog, when in doubt take as much as you can. To win the argument you have with yourselves, I would, as my go-to lens, start out with a medium zoom that might address a lot of the things that will be coming your way. I keep a 17-40mm lens on most of the time, and I have quick access to equipment when the time is right.

Keep your equipment clean, make sure you have a fresh card in your camera (never delete images off your camera, it could corrupt the card), and take an extra one just in case. for those of you that have a second body, be sure to bring it. Putting a tripod in your trunk couldn’t hurt in case you wind up shooting during the Blue Hour.

As Eddie Adams once said, When you get lucky, be ready.

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

JoeB