Valeriano sent this image to me with this explanation:
“This shot was taken by me in 2007 for a PPSOP class about “Learning to see creatively”, and the assignment was about pattern.
I’d chosen to compose this image with the cup in that position to imply the letter “Q” by its shape. The “Q” letter should also stand for the concept “Quality”.
As you may know for Italians like me, a good coffee it’s something very important we cannot ever give up. ;)”.
Ok, the photo: If you hadn’t mentioned what you were trying to achieve with the letter ‘Q’, I don’t think the viewer would pick up on it…as I didn’t. I like to think of myself as a fairly intuitive/creative thinker, but I didn’t get the letter ‘Q’ or the word Quality. If you look at how the capital ‘Q’ is made, you’ll see that it’s different enough from your cup to make the difference between getting/seeing it or not. I think I might have taken a close look on how the capital letter ‘Q’ is made.
The important thing to always remember is that you won’t be around to explain your thought process. Your photo will need to stand on its own. It needs to be what I refer to as a “quick read”, unless you’re asking the viewer to comment on an abstract representation of some reality your portraying in your photo. Now, as I continue to look at your image, seeing the letter becomes easier. However, you can’t expect the viewer to look at your photographs that long. If they don’t get it right away, and there’s not a lot of other elements for them to discover in your photos, they’ll move on.
In my online class with the PPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops, I tell my students to Consider the scene and its outcome. Make sure what you’re trying to get across is not toooooooo ‘esoteric’.
As far as the photo itself goes, I think it’s a really good shot that accomplished the assignment in a creative way. I think I might also have tried one where their was actual brewed coffee in the cup, and still had the patterns of the beans on the bottom..with some Cognac in it”!!!
🙂
Thanks for the submission Valeriano, and feel free to send me images any time.
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my 2012 workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
Henning from Germany, sent me this question that I thought I would share:
“Joe,
I know you shoot with Canon. So I would like your advice on the following question of mine: I am thinking of purchasing a few additional lenses for my Canon camera. At the moment, I own a Canon model with APS-C sensor (30D), but I would like to buy my lenses with a future upgrade to a full-format sensor camera in mind.
I have always loved shooting with a fast fixed-focus small tele lens for portraits, and I am starting to really enjoy shooting with a wide angle lens, as well, thanks to your online course “Stretching your Frame of Mind” (a great course, by the way). Fixed focus lenses would be okay for me – I actually like shooting with them. I am looking to upgrade in terms of picture quality (in particular, my Canon kit zoom 4.0 – 5.6 / 17 – 85 mm is not the greatest, I find)
My current favo rite combination would be a Canon 4.0 / 17mm – 40 mm and either a Canon 1.8 / 85 mm or a 2.8 / 100 mm Macro lens (not so much looking for a Macro lens in particular, but rather for a high-quality portrait / multi-purpose small tele lens). I would keep my 1.4 / 50 mm to cover the “middle” range and to have at least one faster lens available. As an alternative to this combination, Canon’s 2.8 / 24 – 70 mm lens sounds like an interesting option.
I am not a professional photographer, so I am on a budget. However, I would be willing to spend some money on good quality lenses that I can continue to use after my next camera upgrade and that give me a range of options from wide angle to small tele.Which lenses would you recommend in my case?Your feedback would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Henning”
Here’s my response to him:
Henning, your choices are right on! I actually have both of these lens and I’ve always been very happy with them. When buying these lens, remember that it would be a lifetime investment, and providing that you take care of them you probably would never have to replace them.
FYI, when I was buying my first digital wide angle lens, I inadvertently bought the 17-40mm F/4 when I meant to buy the 16-35mm F’2.8. I didn’t realize it until i got my lens and was shooting with it for a while. I guess some might suggest a “senior moment’!!! I was going to send it back but after using it for a while I decided to keep it because I was really liking it.
The stop I lost going from a F/2.8 to a F/4 was negligible since I virtually always use a tripod, and I’m very fast with it!!! If you’re the type that doesn’t want complete control of your photographs and you hand hold your camera, then that one stop would/could make the difference in being able to shoot in a low light situation (without having to crank up your ISO, and then forgetting that you did later on). Of course, that one stop makes a huge difference in price. The 17-40mm lens sells for $US840.00, while the 16-35mm goes for $US1700.00. You’re paying a lot for that stop but to me it’s worth it when you think of it as a one-time investment and amortize it over the course of your photographic lifetime.
I really love my F/2.8 100mm Macro, and like you I use it for portraiture as well as other situations besides Macro work. A fantastic lens!!! As far as the F/2.8 24-70mm lens, I also have it and let me tell you that it’s an incredible piece of glass!!! Down the road, it’s a ‘must have’ lens for you.
There’s always going to be a lot more you can do with zooms over fixed lens. At one time, i traveled with fifteen lens, now, I carry four and I have everything from 17-200mm and my life is soooooooo much easier.
Since light is so fleeting, and can vanish in a blink of an eye I don’t want to miss it by changing lens. even as fast as I am, I’m not as fast as Mother Nature.
One last note Henning: When it’s time for you to upgrade your camera body, I would absolutely go with the Canon 5D Mark II. To me, it’s unbeatable. I’ve been shooting with them for a long time and I have no desire to change. As they say, “if it ain’t broke, why fix it”? One thing I will tell you and hope you’ll remember is that buying your first 5D Mark II won’t make you a better photographer, but what it will do is to make you the very proud owner of a Canon 5D Mark II. It’s not the camera, it’s the ten inches behind it that’s important!!!
In a recent blog post, I talked about “The Law of Common Fate,” and how this concept in the Psychology of Gestalt can help take our imagery “up a notch”.
I talked about having two or more people moving in the same direction to create a directional line. Together they have a common destiny, and this destiny is what makes the viewer become an active participant by having him wonder where they’re going. These directional lines can be shapes as well as organic forms.
Another important concept in The law of Common Fate is when the viewer sees a group of arrows or hands raised in the air, and one of the arrows or hands is pointing in the opposite direction. This creates Tension because the viewer doesn’t associate it with the whole.
Because Tension is so important in our photography, I use people in the same way as I would have one arrow or one hand pointing in a direction that’s different than the rest of the arrows or hands in the same photograph. By the way, I’ll usually have my subject looking directly into the camera. The reason I do this is because Line is probably the most important of all the elements of visual design, and the implied line between the subjects eyes and the lens is very powerful.
The following slideshow gives you an example of The law of Common Fate by using people to create Tension in your photography.
Check out my website at: www.joebaraban.com and come shoot with me sometime.
Have you ever wished you were at a location at sunrise when instead, you were there at sunset? The wrong time at the right place?
Here’s the reason my work looks like it does:
For most of my career, I’ve known exactly where the sun would come up (to the degree), and exactly where it would set…anywhere in the world, on any date I choose. I also know exactly what time (to the minute) it will hit the horizon coming up and going down. I know how long ‘dawn’ is (the glow in the sky) prior to the actual sunrise, and how long ‘dusk’ is (the after glow in the sky) after the sunset.
I use a computer program called “Sunpath“. Whenever I know where I’m going to be shooting and when I’m going to be there, I put that information into it and it prints out a chart. From that, I know where I need to be to get the early morning light and late afternoon light.
Now, I use a “hand bearing compass” that you can get online. It’s called a Morin 2000, and it looks like a hockey puck. Inside it is a wheel with the 360 degrees marked on it. You can sight with it like you would a camera. When you go to the site, there’s a demonstration of how you use it.
I picked the date New Years Eve. 2011, and the location is for Crockett, Texas where I have my private “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop for two couples.
Remember that these times will be when the sun actually hits the horizon. If you look at this chart, you’ll see when the first light of dawn occurs and how much time you have before the sun comes up. The same with how long you’ll have shooting in the after glow (dusk) until it’s dark. Look where it says dawn and dusk.
Now with this information, I can plan all my shots that I’ve scouted beforehand with my readings and compass. What I do is stand at a location I want to shoot, and look through my compass. The wheel inside floats in water, so what I do is point the compass to the appropriate degree from my readings (keeping it level with the ground).
I’ll know if a mountain or a building will block the sun right at sunrise, and I’ll know when the sun will break clear, and what time it will.
If you look at the bottom of the chart, you’ll see a graph. The graph charts the sun all day long. If you follow the curved line, you’ll notice a series of small black dots on it…that’s the sun. That’s the altitude of the sun in degrees. I have an instrument called an ‘Inclinometer’ . This device measures the altitude. So, together with the compass and the Inclinometer (you can get it in one instrument from Suunto called a tandem), I know where the sun is going to be all day long; from the time it hits the horizon on its way up to the time it hits the horizon on its way down.
This way, I can move to another location and return to that spot when the sun is clear of any obstacles…also, it sure is nice knowing exactly where the shadows will be all the time…24/7/365!!!!!! A lot of people always asks me how my color is so saturated, and the light always looks good…well now you realize that it’s not by chance. I always know where to stand, when to stand there and how long I have to stand there!
The Inclinometer is important for me to being precise, but the compass (Morin 2000) is all you would need if you think you can’t figure out the the altitude.
Finally, I’ve been told that the iPhone has an application that will give you the readings, but here’s the problem I have with that: First, it won’t tell you until your standing there. I’ll know a year in advance. Second, what happens when you don’t have service? I’m pretty sure you couldn’t get service in Big Bend National Park, with anyone!!! Of course, that’s subject to new technology.
I can get a GPS reading on my cell phone, but it’s not as accurate as looking through the Morin2000, and what happens if I don’t have a signal? Also there is a free download called a Photo Ephemeris that will also give you the information, but it’s very complicated and “above my pay grade”.
Having this kind of knowledge and tool is SOOOOOO powerful in creating photographs. I’m sure you can imagine!
With this knowledge, you’ll know if the glow behind a skyline, and it’s reflection on a body of water, will look the best at sunrise or sunset.
For people that have or will take a week workshop with me know, or will find out how ‘uncomplicated’ this really is. It may only seem difficult, but in reality it’s quite easy. You’ll get it in fifteen minutes on the first day.
The above photograph is an image I took while teaching my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop at the Maine Media Workshop. The class wanted to see how I go about setting up a photograph, from scouting locations with Sunpath and my compass, to gathering props, and a way to light him. By the way, this was one of my students we turned into a Lobster-Fisherman. At first, he didn’t want to put the trap over his shoulder because he said that they never did that.
I had to convince him that it was “taking license for the sake of art”!!!!!!
Based on my readings, I knew ahead of time that the sun was going to rise behind him and give me that glow.
Below is another example of having to know exactly where the sun was going to set.
