His body language tells it all
Check out my “Autumn in France workshop” under workshops at the top of this blog.
14One of the ways to bring visual interest and tension into your imagery is the use of body language. It’s a way to communicate without the talking, and can disclose a person’s character or attitude without a word being said. this is very important in still photography for obvious reasons.
I teach an online class with the BPSOP, and I conduct my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around the planet. One of the areas we work on is ways to create Visual Tension, and the use of body language is one of them. I shoot a lot of environmental portraits, so for me body language is an important part of the overall composition. Body language is one of the pieces that make up a good photo, and other pieces of the same puzzle will influence how we interpret non-verbal information by the subject.
The use of hands is so important in expressing thought and conveying the feeling of warmth or strength. If the way people use their hands wasn’t significant, and you doubt that it can help you take your imagery what I refer to as “up a level”, then one only needs to think about sign language and the way the hands are used in a way to send a message to others.
What about the face? A simple expression can send so many different meanings and can portray the range of emotions we all have; don’t we all occasionally carry our disposition, mood, and temperament on our faces.
When taking photos of just one person, the body language can be both compelling and enchanting, but when there’s two or more people, then the outcome can be extremely entertaining and thought-provoking when put in the right situation; especially when light plays a big part…as it always should.
The next time you’re taking pictures of people, try to incorporate some body language and see how much it helps in generating visual tension and interest.
Here’s are a few examples of both one and more than one subject. Can you tell by their body language what’s happening?
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Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram. Check out my 2023 workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime. My next one will be “Autumn in France” and you can read the description at the top of this blog.
JoeB
