Joe Baraban's Digital Photography Blog

AskJoeB: How Do You See The Image?


Not too long ago I had one of my students submit to me something a little different than the usual photos I received to critique. It’s not something I will usually talk about since it’s not a pure photograph, but a montage. I found it quite interesting in the sense that being an art lover, I like looking at all kinds of different genre.

As usual, I like to show the actual question for those of you that have been in a similar situation, or have had similar questions. Here’s what Yvonne had to say:

“Dear Joe,

As a painter turned photographer, I finally needed some touch-of-the-hand.  I think of the montage part as drawing on top of a photographed image   But, an unexpected weakness appeared.  They look cheesy really easily.

Not all in the series are montages.  I like the mixture in a single series.  Many are diptychs.  Yes, I’m after an emotional tone in the straight photos and I expect to add little more in the montages than a figure and an ambiguous point of view.

Well, I bow to your critical comment.  This title: Your Voice is Mine, from the series Chokeberry Sugar.   My question: How do *you* see the image?  Thank you, Joe.  It would be important to me to hear what you think of it.

Very best, Yvonne

Yvonne,

As I said, this is not what I usually receive, and it’s not what I ever critique since I’m not a student of this particular genre. That being said, I can only comment on what I see and feel as someone that loves looking at art. However, I can comment on some of the areas that I use to teach in my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet. Sadly, Bryan Peterson, the school’s founder passes away not too long ago.

The first thing I want to say is why so dark? I realize that you’re trying to seduce the viewer via mystery and drama, which is a very good thing. To me, it’s important for the viewer to be able to see it so he or she can realize any kind of emotion you are obviously trying to portray. If it were me, I would have more contrast between the sky and the trees; that would add more (visual) tension…as in some of the scenes in old Beula Lagosi as a vampire and Lon Chaney as a werewolf movies.

BTW, those movies scared the daylights out of me when I was a kid.

I would have moved the rabbit over to the right, so there was black negative space defining the top of his head instead of it running into the trees in the background. I would have also shown the rabbit’s front feet instead of cutting them off. Speaking of the area on the right, you could have eliminated a lot of it by making this montage more of a vertical. You could almost divide this in half and say the same thing.

Besides that, I don’t feel like it’s cheesy, and you’re right…it can very easily. That’s probably the main reason why I usually don’t like a montage. There’s a certain degree of taste that I like about it. I love the tack sharp texture on the rabbit. Texture is one of the basic elements of visual design, and used correctly can take our art what I refer to my students as “up a notch”.

Thanks for sharing it Yvonne.

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

Food for Digital Thought: Color or B/W

It's all about capturing their soul.
It’s all about capturing their soul.

When I first starting my career, right at the beginning of recorded history, I knew nothing about color photography. I had studied painting and design my entire life and almost always worked in color.

However, at the time when I was shooting with my first real camera, a Pentax Spotmatic with a 50mm lens, I was shooting in B/W. The reason being that I was also learning all about photography and how to process my film to eventually make my own prints. Color wasn’t an option even if I did know or think about it…which I didn’t.

In 1971, when I started shooting for UPI, AP, and was a Black Star photographer we shot primarily in B/W, so that’s the way I saw things. Besides at that time I was looking for the moment, that moment that assured me that my photo would be bought ( for ten dollars apiece) and transmitted. Color never entered my mind.

To me, that was the best way to shoot B/W…with B/W film. Now, As I tell people in my online classes with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, if you’re going out with the intention of shooting B/W, then either look for the action and capturing it or look for the ten different tones that’s between white and black.

As I’ve told my fellow photographers, my background is in painting, drawing, and design. One of the exercises I remember is completing the grayscale with white and black tempera paint. I had to start out with a block of white and by adding a little black at a time get to black in ten steps. We referred it to: 10% of black, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, etc. until we got to 100%…pure black right out of the bottle. You might try it sometime. It will help you better understand how we perceive our environment around us without any color.

Contrast will be so important when composing, and you’ll want to have areas of pure white and areas of pure black..as well as the complete tonal range. It takes some getting use to if you’ve never thought that way, but in the long run, I think your images will turn out much stronger than just sit in front of the computer and deciding to convert a color image.

My  B/W image is from those early days when I only thought in B/W. Unfortunately it’s a digital files so it’s lost a lot of the real beauty it had when it was a print.

Btw, Ted Grant, a Canadian photojournalist once said, “When you’re thinking and shooting in color you’re photographing their clothing, and when you’re shooting in B/W, you’re taking pictures of their soul”.

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

JoeB

Cuba: April 2015

Taken at one of the cultural events the group goes to.
Taken at one of the cultural events the group goes to.

Last January, I lead a photographic cultural tour to Cuba. It was a great experience not only for the group that was full, but for yours truly as well. BTW, it was my eight time!

It’s a fantastic country, with wonderful, friendly, and engaging people. The photo opportunities range from the cultural events we go to as part of the tour, as well as the “dawn patrols” and afternoon to late evening shoots we all go out shooting on our own.

I’m going again next January 3rd, and you might think that after being there eight times I would have seen and photographed enough to fill a long slideshow to the family. But as I often quote a 19th century French novelist named Marcel Proust to my online class with the BPSOP, and in my own “Stretching Your Frame of mind” workshops I conduct around our planet, “The only real voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes”.

One could keep going back to Cuba and find new photo opportunities each and every time, and I’m looking forward to doing just that. Here’s a slideshow of photos not that I took, but those from my group. As you can see, they’re truly indicative of the kinds of subject matter you see when you’re there with me. I would put a lot of these images up against the majority of self-professed professional photographers that are out there right now.

Enjoy the show:

I hope these images reach down into the soul of every photographer out there looking for places to see and photograph while inspiring you to join me. If Cuba has always been on your bucket list, I strongly suggest you see it before it changes forever as our government’s relationships with theirs becomes more and more open.

I can guarantee you as I did with all the photographers work you’ve seen in both these posts, an experience you’ll be talking about for years to come. Come join me next January 3rd. as I see things again with new eyes. For those that are interested, I can tell you that my group fills fairly quick. If you’re interested, you can send me a n email to joe@joebaraban.com.

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

Student’s Work: PSOP Gestalt Class

Figure-Ground, The Law of Common Fate, and Similarity.
Figure-Ground, The Law of Common Fate, and Similarity.

Until the founder passed a way, Bryan Peterson, I taught three online classes with the best known online school out there, the BPSOP. I taught a Part I and part II class that’s all about using the elements of visual design to create stronger more memorable photos.

I recently finished my new inaugural class on how to incorporate the six principles of Gestalt (which deals in “Visual Perception”), into fellow photographer’s imagery. I also teach these same principles in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I conduct around the planet.

The six principles most commonly thought of are: Figure-Ground, Similarity, Closure, The Law of Common Fate, Continuance, and Proximity.  When used correctly, they are guaranteed to be effective in taking your photos up several levels.

These principles are not difficult to learn and use. Truth be told, many of you may have been using these principles but didn’t realize it. All you knew is that for some reason people really liked your pictures!!! Until approx. fifteen years ago, in a fifty-three year career in the advertising and corporate world of photography, I didn’t realize it myself and if I would have heard the word Gestalt, I probably would have thought someone had sneezed and looked around to say “God bless you”.

It was serendipity that I happened to be reading an article and realized that these six principles could be applied to Photography. Now it’s an important part of not only my thought process, but everyone that has taken any of my classes or workshops.

Here is a slideshow of just some of the images from my class. There were so many that it became difficult to narrow it down as much as I did. These represent all the different principles and I expect you’ll be as impressed as I was when I first saw them as submissions.

Btw, In my classes there was no Photoshop allowed and any cropping has to be done in the camera. All photos were created just as you see them without any additional help. It’s about becoming good photographers, not good computer artists.

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. I don’t keep them up long because they fill rather fast with only ten photographers.

JoeB

Student work: Did I Achieve my Goal?

A past student of mine sent me this still life to ask me what I thought. As usual, I like to include the actual question from the photographer that sent it to me. I do this so others that may be thinking the same thing, or have has similar thoughts can read what was actually said.

“Hi Joe,
Here my thoughts were concerned primarily with accurate color, although I experimented with different focus options, sometimes focusing on the fruit and its surface dimpling, other times focusing on the rim of the metal bowl with softer fruit. I settled for color being the draw rather than “tack-sharp” on either the fruit or the bowl. Do you think I achieved my goal and is the shot pleasing?”

First let’s talk about your concern with “accurate color”. My first question would be why do you care about the color being accurate? What’s the ultimate use for this image? Who’s the target audience? Is it going into a reference book? I say this because I can only assume that just about everyone on this planet knows what color lemons and oranges are, and they probably wouldn’t care if the lemon wasn’t yellow enough; especially since the color can vary depending on when it was picked, when did it arrive in the grocery store, and how long it was there before you brought it home to photograph it. That’s not even going into the issue of all the different desktop and laptop monitors it’s going to appear on that are calibrated differently.

As for the bowl, if it’s not a standard bowl produced in mass, who’s going to know what color it actually is? Truth be told, I’m not sure anyone will care. What about all the different color profiles there are out there? That’s yet another issue. My point Stephen is that if it really doesn’t matter how accurate the color is. You’re sacrificing the most important part of this still life, namely the lighting.

For me, light is everything, and it certainly trumps whether the fruit is the right color. In my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops  I spend a lot of time talking about the light. In your still life, you have basically have two dimensions, height and width; you’ve taken out depth, and any chance to create a mood. Form is a basic element of visual design, and it refers to the three dimensional qualities of an object. In order to add the third dimension…depth, you need to side light your subject.

I have a whole lot of respect for studio shooters since I’ve taken my share of tabletop photos. Now I don’t know how long you spent on this photo, but to be completely honest, and I could be way off base here, I can’t imagine you spent a lot of time…compared to how long it takes to create an image that makes the viewer want to eat a piece of the fruit in the bowl. You could easily spend an entire day on one shot. Trust me, I have!!!!

Study the masters, from Renaissance painters to modern day studio photographers. Study the way they light their subjects. Vermeer is an excellent painter to study. F

Thanks for the submission, and good luck.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/baraban/joe. Check out my workshop schedule. Come shoot with me sometime.

Don’t forget to send me a photo and question to: joe@joebaraban.com, and I’ll write a critique for you.

JoeB

Food For Digital Thought: How I Apply the Use of Gestalt in my Photography

Do you see a triangle?
Do you see a triangle?

Circles, squares, rectangles and triangles are the basic shapes, and Shape is one of the elements of Visual Design. When you create photos using these shapes, they will definitely take your pictures what I refer to as “up a notch”. In my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around our planet. One of the areas I also cover is on the Psychology of Gestalt, and one of them is called Closure, and it’s about letting the viewer fill in the missing pieces you’ve laid out in the form of a puzzle.

Where am I going with this? Think about combining what’s learned in my workshops far as the triangle is concerned with what you learn in my Gestalt class as far as Closure is concerned and you have the gist of what goes through my thought process when I’m making my pictures.

What I mean is this: I show my fellow photographers a series of diagrams I’ve collected over the past thirty years, that I’m always thinking about when I’m out shooting. One of them I call my PacMan diagram, and it’s to show how we can fill in the missing pieces whether it be in a diagram or a photograph.

Do you see a triangle?
Do you see a triangle?

After looking at the PacMan diagram and the above photo, you can start to see how I use certain methods to keep the viewer as active participant when he looks at my photos. In the photo of the three men taken in Cuba, the initial processing of the pieces (of the final puzzle) will be of three waiters. From that he’ll  fill in the missing and implied lines that connects the three men and will perceive a triangle…creating a sense of unity and will be viewed as one.

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

Don’t forget to send me a photo and question to: joe@joebatraban.com and I’ll create a video critique for you.

JoeB

Life Before Photoshop: REI

Look ma, no Photoshop.
Look ma, no Photoshop.

For most of my career as an advertising and corporate photographer, Adobe had not been born. The name was synonymous with a type of house predominately in the southwest part of the US. Everything that you could think up in your imagination had to be translated to one piece of 35mm film. Everything you wanted to say, and the final exposure was in the camera before you clicked the shutter; you even did the focusing yourself.

Now, in the digital age that’s no longer necessary, and to many no longer important. Time marches on, but it’s a pity because it has taken away the chance for new photographers as well as those that have been shooting for years to simply be a good photographer, and not a better computer artist.

In my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet, I encourage my fellow photographers to spend more time getting it right in the camera. Stop relying on a computer to either fix their mistakes or to do what they didn’t feel like doing when working on the final composition. BTW, this also goes for cropping their photos which in my personal opinion shows a tinge of sloppiness in the approach of a photographer’s technique; certainly a lack of discipline in his or her area of expertise. But that’s another story.

Having said that, I’m no purist when it comes to making my photos look as good as they can. I use Photoshop to some degree on every photo…why not? It’s no different as when I use to spend hours in the darkroom tweaking one of my images. However, I want to capture as much as possible before I click the shutter. For me, it’s a good feeling knowing that I can take a good picture…all by myself.

BTW, in my forty-eight years shooting professionally, I’ve never cropped on of my photos.

Now days the photo shown above taken for REI could have easily been created in the studio and using a computer; that’s no fun!!!

And that's the way it was.
And that’s the way it was.

The process started from scouting the best location using my Sunpath readings in conjunction with my Morin 2000 Hand Bearing Compass. Then after determining where to set up shop we climbed up the side of the mountain with all the gear and the team to help get me there. The final part was getting the climber in the right position ready to go at exactly the right time of day; not only cool, but just way tooooooo much fun…and needless to say challenging.

FYI, watching this guy free climb was frightening, but memorizing at the same time. And as this category is called, there was no Photoshop done to this image. What you see is exactly what I saw…no tricks, no mirrors, no nothing!!!

I will admit that it did cross my mind the potential Pulitzer Prize for spot news I might have received capturing the fall from the moment he lost contact with the mountain to the time he and the earth became one.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Be sure to watch for my upcoming workshops. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Student Work: February BPSOP Class

So many elements from the 'Artist Palette' in this photo.
So many elements from the ‘Artist Palette’ in this photo.

I love to showcase the photos from my online class with the BPSOP, and my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the world. Unfortunately, the founder, Bryan Peterson passed away from cancer so the school has closed. However, I will continue to showcase my classes over the years.

My online class was four weeks in length, and my workshops range from one week to twelve days. In both cases I show my fellow photographers how to incorporate the Elements of Visual Design into their imagery. Since my background is in Art rather than photography, I studied these elements for the majority of my academia, and afterwards I made them a part of my photographer career as a advertising and corporate photographer. To me I still considered myself an artist, I merely changed the medium from a paintbrush to a camera; everything still applies.

In each of these photos shown in this slideshow, the basic elements of both design and composition are present in some form or another: Negative Space, Texture, Pattern, Shape, Form, Line, Light and Color. You’ll also see a Vanishing Point, Silhouettes, and  Shadows which are also important in taking your imagery what I refer to as “up a notch”.

Enjoy the show:

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.

If you’re interested, you an send me a photo for me to comment on. You can send them directly to joe@joebaraban.com.

JoeB

Making Pictures on Whidbey Island

Night settling in on Whidbey Island.

Not long ago I conducting my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop with the Pacific Northwest School of Art on Whidbey Island, and a big part of my workshop deals with what I call Chasing the Light. As in all my workshops I encourage shooting in the Golden Hour. This refers to the time right after sunrise, and the time right before sunset. In the forty-two years of being an advertising and corporate photographer, I can safely say that 75% of every photograph (outdoors of course) I’ve taken during that span of time has been shot during these hours.

I tell my students that LIGHT IS EVERYTHING; you find the light and you’ll find the shot.  When we’re out on location together, I help my students gain a better understanding and sensitivity to light as it affects all the elements on their Artist Palette…which I also give them during the workshop.

The light is just softer, warmer, and prettier. Notwithstanding the fact that the shadows become dominant and long, and as I always tell my students…”SHADOWS ARE OUR BEST FRIEND”.  They should be embraced, not feared as some would have you believe. For one thing, Form, being a basic element of visual design, comes to us with only two dimensions: height and width. It’s the shadows that add Depth, the third dimension.

After scouting Deception Pass with my Sunpath readings and my Morin 2000 hand bearing compass before the workshop started, I knew where there would be a glow in the water as a result of being backlit I took the class there to shoot, but before we went we gathered a couple of props to be used after the sun had set over the water, hiding all the beautiful scenery one will find there.

The photograph above is one that was taken by an online student. He and his girlfriend came over from his home in the Netherlands to take my workshop.

A really nice photograph, and an even better model. That would be me!!!

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe.  Check out the workshop schedules I put at the top of this blog. They fill fairly quick then I take the description down. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Croatia, Looking Over the Makarka Riviera.

I will often get questions with photos sent to me through my website or from past students. Jane sends me this photo and writes, “my name is Jane, I am an beginner with DSLR. I send you my favourite photo of my husband. I take it in Croatia over Makarka riviera. Is this exposure good? Is the feel from this photo “hey, i am a lonely cowboy”?

First of all I applaud her English, as I know how hard it is for people to express themselves in a language other than their own.

Ok Jane,  let’s talk about your photo:

As far as the exposure is concerned, be sure to read my post on the difference between Incident and Reflected light.  In your photograph, you can see that the foreground is overexposed while the beautiful water is  saturated and has lots of depth. If I had been standing there with you, I would have taken a reflected reading (with my hand held meter) of the water then the foreground and shown you how far apart they were in exposure. Since it would be difficult for you to get that meter, I suggest you set the meter in your camera to ‘spot’.

When you use the spot reading it reads a much smaller area so if you really want to learn about light, put your camera on manual. Next time you would take a reading of the foreground and then the water, and you would see the difference. That said, you set your camera on the highlights so they won’t be overexposed. At that point you can darken the water in post-processing because it will be lighter now. My philosophy is to never make your image look like you did something to it. So many photographers tend to over process their photos to the point where it looks like a cartoon. There was no way you could have had both the foreground and the water exposed the same, without the help of Photoshop.

Now, let’s talk about the feeling you were trying to express:

To me, it misses the mark. You’re reading this from a guy that lives in Texas and is surrounded by Cowboys!!! Unless Cowboy’s wear Tennis or Hiking/climbing shoes and matching shirts and shorts where you live, you would need to have him wearing Cowboy Boots and at least blue jeans. It also really doesn’t suggest loneliness, but rather someone that is resting for a moment.

In my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct, one of the many things we talk about is making sure your message is one that everyone will get right away. I also encourage people to research a subject before they shoot and to incorporate a little pre-production by locating the proper wardrobe that will fit their idea.

I realize that customs, ideas, are different in every country, but I also know that wherever you are in this world, a cowboy is always going to look the same. I recently taught a workshop in Singapore of all places, and every Friday evening in Chinatown about a hundred Singaporians gather to dance the Texas Two-Step and the Cotton-Eyed Joe, and they all are wearing the correct western wardrobe. It’s a sight to see!!!

One thing that the viewer might also question is why this man wouldn’t have been sitting there enjoying the view. I think I might have tried one like that as well as the photo you took.

Just food for digital thought.

By the way, what a fantastic view!!!

Thanks for sending it. I hope one day I’ll be standing there.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Be sure to check my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. They don’t stay up there for long since they fill right away. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Did It Do It: Did It Have Balance Part II

In my first post on “did it have balance”, I talked about creating Balance in your photos.

Every shape, color value, line, areas of mass, (for example a building, tree, people, etc.), provides weight that when arranged correctly in your composition provides a way to pull the viewer throughout the frame, creating a feeling of balance. The balance occurs when the viewer’s ‘eye’ moves in a steady flow without one single area stopping it or bogging it down.

To keep your photo balanced, it’s important to counter-weight an element with another object with a similar mass. This can be done with different degrees of contrast, different colors, and different areas of light and shadows.

In my first post, I talked about creating Formal Balance in your imagery. In this post, I want to address the other kind of balance which is Informal Balance or Asymmetrical Balance as it also is referred to as.

Informal Balance, unlike Formal Balance, is more interesting to look at. Instead of mirrored subject matter on both sides of the vertical center,  the balance will still rely on an imaginary center point, but now the elements are different in size, shape, color, and mass. The balance comes from the placement of these elements in the frame in spite of their differences.

That being said, Informal Balance is more difficult to achieve than Formal Balance. Creating and assigning the relative values to completely unrelated objects can take practice. One way to test whether or not your photo has balanced is to turn your photo upside-down.

In the above photo, I’ve created an asymmetrical balance by capturing the scene from a different point of view. The angle I choose created the feeling of stability needed for the viewer to perceive a sense of balance. I’ve deliberately manipulated the subject in such a way as to balance the visual weight in both the classic car and the building.

Balance is an important part of 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/barabanbjoe. Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Did It Do It: Did It Have Balance.

Formal balance

Since the early eighties I’ve been conducting my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind”, workshops showing photographers how to incorporate the elements of visual design into their thought process, I also give them what I call my “did it do it” list for good composition. It’s a list of twelve concepts that will help guide you though your thought process on your way to creating a well composed photo. I have written ten of them so far on my blog and you can find them by clicking on “Did it do it”.

This list is not meant to be rules, as most of you know by now that I don’t like rules. This list is merely a guide to help fellow photographers understand what goes into “making good photos”. I’ve been mentally referring to this list for most of my forty-six year career, and they have served me well.

The seventh one I’d like to share with you is called “did it have balance”. What do I mean by Balance? The balance between the Positive and Negative Space? Well yes, it’s one of my many crusades when working with students of photography, but it’s more than that.

Balance is about visual weight. A balanced photo is what we as photographers try to achieve because it makes for visually inviting images. A balanced photo gives the viewer a feeling of stability. We all are more comfortable when the environment around us is feels firm and steady. When I’m composing, I’m looking for harmony between the various shapes, colors, and most important, the areas of light and dark and shadows they might create. A sidebar here is when I tell my students to work on “mastering the light”, I also tell them to “master the shadows” as well, since shadows are our best friend.

In the psychology of Gestalt as it pertains to photography, the main goal is to take control of how the viewer perceives and processes information when looking at our photos. We want to make him an active participant and when we can do that, he’ll stick around looking longer. By using visual weight correctly, and distribute it evenly, we can pull the viewer’s eye around our composition which in turn makes him work harder…and that’s a good thing!!!

There are two types of balance, Formal and informal (asymmetrical) balance. In my first of two posts on this subject, I want to talk about Formal balance.

Formal balance is positioning your subject or subjects (either identical or similar) around a central point or an imaginary line drawn down the center of the frame, dividing in in half. Thus, both sides of the vertical middle are equal. Formal balance is much easier to create than informal balance.

In the photo above, I was specifically after Formal Balance. It was shot used in a brochure for a company in Louisiana that raises crayfish for mass consumption. The graphic designer wanted something that he could use for a wrap-a-round cover. In other words a similar subject on the front and back of the brochure.

Visit my new 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. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Student’s Work: PPSOP’S September Class

So many elements from the "Artist Palette".
So many elements from the “Artist Palette”.

With great sadness, the creator of the BPSOP  has passes away after a long illness and the school has permanently closed.

I taught three classes: Part I, Part II, and the six principles of Gestalt.

Negative Space, Balance, Vanishing Points, Line, Shape, Texture, Pattern, and Form are all the elements, and by the end of both courses, they had become part of and placed on what I refered to both online and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops as the Artist Palette. I also show my fellow photographers how to “make pictures” instead of taking them, and by the end of my class, they are armed with the ability to “See past first impressions”. We work on “Mastering the Light” and how to use it effectively to create memorable images.

To be able to use the left side of their brain, the analytical side, and recognize a tree for what it is…a tree. Then, to be able to switch that part off and switch on the right side of their brain, the creative side, and see the parts that make up the tree. For example, the patterns of the bark, the texture, the Negative space that defines the leaves and branches, the knowledge that if they anchor that tree in the foreground, they can create Layers of Interest, thus providing depth to their composition. By placing that tree close to the edge of the frame, they will generate Visual Tension. By side lighting the bark on the tree, they can showcase the texture in bold-relief. Recognizing shapes, and using them to your advantage…etc., etc., etc.

Here are some of the finished results, shot by my students. They’re strong photos, sure to be remembered, that make the viewer an active participant (part of the Gestalt principles) which in turn will keep him around longer…isn’t that what we all want?

Enjoy the show:

After seeing my student’s work, if anyone is interested in finding out more about my six-month mentoring program you can contact me through my website.

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. My first one this year is up and running. It’s my third “Springtime” workshop, and this coming May it will be in Paris, France. Come shoot with me and we’ll toast to our good health, over some great photography, with a glass of French Bordeaux.

JoeB

Ask JoeB: Chainlink Fence

Here’s a photo submitted by a photographer from Italy who would like a critique.

The first thing that strikes me is the light. As I say to all my students, LIGHT IS EVERYTHING!! In this photo, it adds drama and a feeling of mystery.

The black Negative Space defines the rusted metal, and in my classes I always talk about one of my “Personal Pearls of Wisdom”, which is “seeing past first impressions”. What that means is what besides rusted metal is it. They’re Lines!!! They’re Lines that lead the viewer in and out of the frame, and when you get the viewer to take an active role in your imagery, he;ll stick around longer.

Line is probably the most important of the Elements of Visual Design. In my  “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, we spend a great deal of time studying Line. Without Line, there wouldn’t be Patterns, Texture, a Vanishing Point and in fact, there wouldn’t be people or bridges or buildings, etc…why, because all things I mentioned have an outLINE!!! Lines can be implied.

Talking about Texture, this photo is also all about this common Element of visual design.

There are three basic types of Texture: Drama, Detail, and Information. This photo represents the Information type. Information Texture utilizes texture to communicate information about a photographic subject. In this photo the texture communicates information about the fence, and  enhances the impact of the photo; by showing the age of the fence.

I really like the window in the background, it breaks the rhythm of the pattern created by the fence (a very good thing). Framing it within the diamond shape of the fence adds Tension and it also adds a lot to the image giving the viewer something else to discover. The more things he’ll discover, the longer he’ll stick around.

I would have liked to see some more black Negative Space between the last links on the left and the edge of the frame. Giving the viewer some black Negative Space to rest his eyes before it leaves the frame would help.

Thanks for sharing it!!! This photo is all about “Stretching Your Frame of Mind”!!!!

Visit my website at:www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshop schedule. Come shoot with me sometime and we’ll work on all the Elements!!!

BTW, I don’t leave the workshops on for very long because they fill so fast. Please be diligent and keep looking.

JoeB