Joe Baraban's Digital Photography Blog

Food For Digital Thought: Ways to create Visual Tension

Framing within a frame.
Framing within a frame.

Ok, I know what a lot of you are probably thinking when I say the word Tension, but it’s not what you’re thinking. When you hear the word tension you more than likely associate it with mental or emotional stress since that’s the most popular definition. After all, how many commercials have you seen or heard where they talk about “the tension headache”, and that their pill works better than all the rest to get rid of it?

I’m talking about the kind of Visual Tension that’s comes as a result of forces acting against one another; which creates energy and visual interest. When Visual Tension is present, it’s the feeling that something is going to occur that will change the dynamics of the message we’re trying to get across to the viewer.

In the psychology of Gestalt, we want to make the viewer an active participant when looking at our photos, and generating visual interest is a good way to keep him around longer looking at our imagery. I don’t know about you, but that’s what I want.

In my  online classes, my six month private mentoring, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, we work on several ways to create Visual Tension, and one of the ways is called, “Framing within a frame”. This happens when we place a frame of some sort around our subject or centers of interest. This can be anything, including one of the four edges that surrounds our composition. BTW, it’s one of the reasons why it’s best not to crop your photos, so you can use the edges of your frame as a compositional tool.

The frame directs the viewer’s eye to not only the subject, but the environment it sits in; giving it a frame of reference. Framing within a frame adds depth and it’s the feeling of the frame closing in that also provides tension. Also, when you put a frame around your subject or center of interest, it will lead the viewers eyes directly to it and the energy it generates to focus his/her attention takes work and work takes time, which requires energy, and energy equals tension.

Here are some examples of “framing within a frame”:

More examples to follow.

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

Quick Photo Tip: Pet Portraiture

Make a weird noise to bring out Gertie's personality.
I made a weird noise to bring out Gertie’s personality.

Until the passing of Bryan Peterson, the founder of the BPSOP, I taught classes with the school. I also conduct my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around the planet. I’ve occasionally been asked how do I photograph pets, so since there’s a million links to this genre, I’ll put my two cents in and make it brief.

I’m not a pet photographer per se, I was an advertising and corporate photographer that periodically would get a project that included shooting animals; specifically dogs…why? I’m not a cat person, I’m a dog guy so I guess it was just one of those reasons that no one ever called me to shoot cats. So what I know about shooting pets is mostly about shooting dogs.

What advice I can offer is first and foremost, get it sharp! Make sure you’re shooting at a fast enough shutter speed to freeze any action, and above all make sure you have a comfortable F/stop to get the nose to the eyes in focus. This is not a rule because there’s always going to be times when having areas out of focus is more important; getting it sharp is  just generally a good overall suggestion.

  • Get on their level. To me it makes for a stronger connection, especially the implied line between their eyes and the lens.
  • Always use natural light. The obvious reason is that the light will be softer, but another reason is that electronic flash could either distract or scare them…or both.
  • Choose a background that’s familiar to your pet. A backyard (depending on the light) is desirable so he won’t be distracted by a new environment.  If it’s a portrait I’m after, then I like to have the background out of focus. A medium telephoto shot at it’s widest aperture will usually make this happen. Just don’t put Fido in front of something or close to anything that will look like it’s growing out of his head.
  • If you’re dog is dark put him in front of something light. Conversely, if you’re dog is light, put him in front of something dark.
  • If you use a small zoom, you have the option in filling the frame with just their head to quickly pulling out to reveal some kind of out of focus environment.
  • Remember that you’re dealing with an animal, so patience is going to be rewarded. If you need to take a Valium beforehand…then just do it!
  • Feeding your pet ahead of time is always a good idea as it will keep them relaxed…especially if you didn’t take your Valium
  • Having someone to help you can be a Godsend. If you have a large pet, getting someone to lay down and hold their feet in position has worked for me.
  • If you’re after their personality and that can mean getting an inquisitive look, try making some type of weird sound. Be sure to have your finger pressed firmly on the shutter release because more than likely they won’t hold the pose for you.
  • If you’re taking a portrait of a family member with their pet. Get the pose you want from them then tell them to keep looking into the lens and ignore any and all commands you give to the dog. This will help tremendously since you’ll only have to concentrate on one of them.

Well that’s about all I can think of right now. I can tell you that if you follow these guidelines you’ll have an excellent chance in walking away the winner of the joint meeting or friendly confrontation!!

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. My workshop descriptions don’t stay up more than a couple of days before they’re filled.

JoeB

Quick Photo Tip: Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition at it's finest
Juxtaposition at it’s finest

Here’s a great photo tip, but you’ll have to really be looking for it: juxtaposition.

Juxtaposition is when two elements are placed side by side to one another. They are usually in contrast to one another, unlike things, but can also can share certain ideas.

In my six-month mentoring program, and during my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around our planet. I show my fellow photographers how to incorporate the element of visual design into their imagery.

To do this takes more than just looking around the environment that surrounds you, this takes seeing things that also surrounds you; there for the taking.

I love to look for things that when placed side by side creates a sort of dichotomy. Things that either have nothing to do with one another but merely exist together, or things that do relate in one form or another. In any event creating an image that stirs the viewer’s interest.

In the above photo, I was in the Guggenheim Museum in NYC, and because of the way the architect designed the space, I was sort of spiraling my way down from the top to the ground floor. I had my little friend with me so I could go relatively unnoticed among the ever present security ready to toss me over the railing if I was seen taking pictures.

By happenstance, I stopped in front of a large black and white painting (the artist names escapes me right now), and was looking it over for some sort of meaning, when this man walked up. The juxtaposition hit me right smack dab in the kisser and before he could take a step in any direction, I had my camera up to my eye and captured this wonderful relationship that I suspect no one else was paying any attention to.

That’s one kind of juxtaposition.

The second and more traditional definition of juxtaposition is in the photo of the woman selling tamales from her truck, i.e., sharp contrast. While walking in front of a construction site in Houston, I came upon this food truck and immediately saw this fantastic juxtaposition of an Hispanic woman selling tamales for five dollars a dozen, and about as prominent as an American flag could ever hang, there was the red, white, and blue…Old Glory at its finest.

A more traditional juxtaposition
A more traditional juxtaposition

Only in the US of A, I thought to myself, then took the shot!!!

And so my fellow Americans, go forth and seek out your own photos that are all about juxtaposition, it’s a lot of fun when you see them.

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

Quick Photo Tip: Bokeh

Good Bokeh going on here
Good Bokeh going on here

Bokeh, usually pronounced Boo-kay (but that’s incorrect) refers to the artistic quality of the out-of-focus parts of a photo created by a lens. The correct way to pronounce this word is bo (like the bow in bow and arrow), and ke (like the ke in kettle)…in case anyone’s interested in saying it with enough confidence that you’ll never be questioned or challenged. As much confidence as a four year wearing a Batman costume. In any event, I love the look whenever I’m in a position to create it.

It also has to do with the Gestalt concept of Figure-Ground; ways to separate the figure, the subject, from the ground, the background. I teach this concept to my mentoring students, and also in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet.

You might be thinking that Bokeh is the blurry area behind the subject when you use a shallow DOF, making the subject the only area that’s sharp; this is not the Bokeh that I’m referring to. What I’m talking about is the out of focus highlighted points created by light. Although the blurry area is considered Bokeh, to me the quality of this Bokeh is what creates the visual interest and sometimes visual tension.

Most lenses will create interesting Bokeh. Prime lens comes to mind as probably the easiest way. They are usually very fast, i.e., F/1.4 so the DOF is very shallow at this aperture. If you are at the minimum focusing distance to your subject, and the background is several feet away, you can shoot at F/1.4 and create Bokeh. The type of Bokeh depends on the kind of light and its direction.

I like using medium to long telephoto lenses to create Bokeh. By getting as close as you can to your subjects while still being able to make them sharp, will result in visually interesting Bokeh.

In the above photo, I used a 200mm F/2.8 lens and I got as close as I could and still get the boy sharp. I was also cognizant in having his yellow slicker in front of the yellow flowers, as I’m always thinking about the use of color to communicate ideas; as well as colors that are in harmony with one another.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my 2017 workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Food For digital Thought: Do you remember your first photo?

Shot with Kodachrome 25
Shot with Kodachrome 25

As I tell my online classes, my private mentoring programs, and also in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I didn’t pick up a camera until I was twenty, going on twenty-one. That’s not counting the Brownie Hawkeye I won on the boardwalk at Asbury Park, New Jersey. It was one of those machines where you move a metal claw around and drop it on something you had little chance in getting. I was thirteen.

No, I’m sorry to say that I was not a child photo prodigy who took that Brownie and went on to becoming the youngest photographer to have a one kid show at MOMA. My background was centered around painting and design, with areas of study in Art History, water color, figure drawing, printmaking, and color theory. My first 35mm camera was my twenty-first birthday present from my parents. A Pentax Spotmatic with a 50mm lens.

It didn’t take me long to decide that photography was instant-gratification. While It took me hours or days or sometimes weeks to create a “work of art”, it only took as long as to bring the viewfinder up to my eye, compose and click the shutter to create a photo.

The first trip I went on with my new camera was to Mexico with some friends. I can still remember walking around snapping pictures and absolutely loving it. Of course I had no formal or informal training whatsoever and barely knew what all the buttons were for. I just applied everything I had learned from the years of taking design, drawing, and composition classes.

I guess it didn’t hurt, as the above photo was one of the very first that I can remember taking, or at least it’s one of the few I can still find.

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

JoeB

The “Springtime in Sicily” Workshop.

Photograph by Nick DePasquale
Photograph by Nick DePasquale

A location that had always been on my bucket list to conduct a workshop was held in Sicily. We based out of Palermo for three days, then Catania for another three days.

While shooting in Palermo, we took early morning and afternoon trips to Trapani, and Cefalu’. After a leisurely private motor coach ride to Catania, we spend the day relaxing and shooting around the city center. We also spent time shooting in Ortygia and Taormina.

The workshop was once again full, many who have taken my online courses, and I can speak for everyone when I say that Sicily was everything we all expected. The food was always an interesting dining experience, the people were warm, friendly, and didn’t mind their picture being taken; right out of central casting. The villages we shot in were all by the sea, and as picturesque as one would imagine; just like the postcards.

As usual, I select hotels that are centrally located with photo opportunities virtually right outside the door. Many were no more than a twenty minute walk. The group always traveled to the other locations by a private bus, comfort being one of my main concerns.

Each day during the critiques, I was always looking forward to seeing how people were seeing things so differently when given the same subject matter. So many of the photographers have taken one to seven other workshops with me and as a result I love observing how their eye and their ability to see rather than look at things has improved so much. The group

I have written several posts about my workshops, and I always like to show some of the images my fellow photographers were shooting. I realize that there are a lot of photos to look, but I’ve actually narrowed down the amount by half!!

I wanted to give you a visual feeling for the country as well as showing you some of the remarkable images taken by my class.

I hope you’re as impressed as I am.

Enjoy the show.

Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Be sure to watch for my upcoming workshop schedule at the top of this blog.

JoeB

Food For Digital Thought: The How and the Why

Explaining the How and the why.
Explaining the How and the why.

Several of my students that take my  “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet say to me that what they like most about my classes is not only do I show people how to make stronger photos, but why they are.

The how comes from teaching people how to incorporate the elements of visual design into their imagery: Line, Pattern, Form, Texture, Balance, Color, Light, and Shape are the elements that my students will eventually wind up putting on their new Artist Palette. With this palette (that also has shadows, silhouettes, and vanishing points on it) they can start using the right side of their brain (the creative side) instead of the left side (the analytical side).

For example, a photographer looking at a tree with the left side sees only a tree. That same photographer looking at the same tree with the right side sees patterns made by the bark, the texture of the bark, negative space separating and defining the leaves and branches, the lines that make up the trunk and branches, the way the light falls on the tree (side, back, or front lighting), and the color of the leaves.

The why is all about perception. The goal is to present your photo in such a way as to take control of how the viewer perceives and processes the information we lay out to him in the form of a photograph. If that same tree is presented in such a way as to keep the viewer around longer by looking at the warm late afternoon side light emphasizing the patterns and texture of the bark, then you’ve done your job.

If that same light is coming from behind the tree, it passes through the negative space that was created to define the leaves. It will turn the tree into a two-dimensional silhouette but because of those green, yellow, red, and orange leaves being translucent, they will glow; and don’t forget about that wonderful shadow (your best friend) that lies on the ground stretching out to the camera…again you’ve done your job, and a job well done.

In the photo above taken at LaDefense in Paris, with the left side of my brain I saw a man sitting on the steps. With the right side I saw Line, Pattern, Texture, Shape, and Figure-Ground…a dark subject against a lighter background.

The people that look at your images created by the right side of your brain will undoubtedly find more visual interest than those created with the left side…they just won’t necessarily know why…it will be our little secret!

🙂

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 Work

Does this look like a pro's work?
Does this look like a pro’s work?

Stephen sent me this still life for a critique. As usual, I like to submit the actual question so that those that have similar questions, or are trying to accomplish similar ideas can read what he had to say:

“Hi Joe….I took this shot in my kitchen using daylight from my back door glass to illuminate the subject, and my idea was to make an image like pro shots I’d seen in books or magazines. The only manipulation with PS CS2 was maybe 10% contrast adjustment and some sharpening. My question to you is “do you think I achieved my goal of making a professional looking ( quality in tone and light) still life ?”

Thank you,
Stephen

Stephen, First of all, by definition, a professional is someone that gets paid for a service..that’s all it means!!!! Being a professional does not guarantee you professional work. I assure you that there are photographers out there that call themselves a pro and whose work occasionally appears in magazines, that you don’t want to be anything like.

Ok, let’s talk about your photo:

The first thing is the exposure. It’s so underexposed you’ve lost where half the fruit ends. That might be what you were after, but to me, I’d like to see a little separation from the onions in the back and right side to the background. You’ve lost the bowl the fruit is in as well, and the bowl is too important to not be able to see. You’ve also lost the fabric that the bowl is sitting on and I think it would add quite a bit to the overall feel.

Ok, how about the depth of field? Did you really want just the onions and garlic in the front to be sharp? If I were taking a photo of a bowl of fruit, I would want the viewer to enjoy the texture of each of the elements. I think it would be important here for it to be sharp from front to back.

I like my still life’s to have an environment, not a black background. I wrote a post called “The whole enchilada”. In it I talk about not just concentrating on the main center of interest or subject, but the background, the foreground, or either side, or anything that helps make the photo stronger.

In my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I always tell my fellow photographers to study art, and light…Renaissance Lighting would be a great start.

 If you want your still life to look like still life’s of fruit painted in the Renaissance, then I suggest you study those painters and not look at photos in a magazine. You’ll  get a lot more from them, and at the same time develop your own style.

Take a look at what I mean in these two still life’s painted by a Renaissance painter named Caravaggio. When you’re still life photos look closer to these, you won’t ever have to worry whether your work looks like a pro.

Thanks for the submission Stephen.

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

Anecdotes: Seton Hospital

Hello to all new to my blog. My name for those that don’t know it is Joe Baraban, and I shot advertising, corporate, and editorial photography for forty-eight years. I know teach my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops all over our planet, and I also taught online with the BPSOP. Sadly, the founder Bryan Peterson passes away not too long ago and the school closed.

Over these past fifty-three years there’s been funny incidents that have happened along the way, and I find myself reminiscing when it comes to some of these stories. Some were funny then and still funny and some were amusing at best but now seem funny…due mostly to time and my age!

I was shooting a brochure for Seton Hospital in Austin, Texas and on the shot list was their emergency room facilities; which they were both proud of and well known for.

My idea was to create something that was common among emergency rooms and make it look as though it was happening in real time. I also wanted some action to make it even more believable. Easier said than done as I would soon find out. You have to remember that there was no Photoshop to help me back then!!!

The answer came to me as I was standing in the hallway next to the emergency room doors to the outside. An ambulance pulled up to deliver a patient that wasn’t really sick. She had just been transferred from one hospital to Seton. Still, it gave me the idea that wound up working out pretty good.

In the above photo, I was on a gurney next to the one you see, and moving down the corridor at the same rate of speed. I used a sync delay that fired the strobe right before the shutter closed instead of the strobe going off right after the shutter opened. This is what gives it that blurred but sharp look. To re-create a real situation, I had some of the hospital staff playing the role of the actual emergency team.

The woman laying on the gurney and in obvious distress was a volunteer, and the only one around that was available. We did several rehearsals, and each time the woman started laughing. For some reason she thought it was the funniest thing she has ever taken part in, and couldn’t stop. Had there been anyone else around I would have replaced her because she thought it was a lot funnier than I did!!

So one of the male ambulance drivers pulled me over to the side and made a suggestion….a really good one. The portable oxygen mask was brought out and placed over her face to hide her laughter. It worked like a charm. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, and the show must go on.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Watch for my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Student Work: Colors and Letters

A blue 'P'.
A blue ‘P’.

Until the passing of the founder ?Bryan Peterson, I taught a four week online course with the BPSOP, and I also conduct my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops around the planet. I teach people how to incorporate the elements of Visual Design into their imagery.

I will often my fellow photographers an assignments to work on for a number of reasons. One of the areas we cover is to “see past first impressions”. To see more than meets their eye, and to focus their attention on finding certain elements that are readily available and all around them. This exercise will help them down the road to either see things occurring naturally in nature, or to use their imagination in creating photos that  represent ideas.

What I assign to each of my students is a color and letter to either find or to create. The color and letter should be one in the same, and should be what I always refer to as “A quick read”. In other words, they won’t be around to explain what their color and letter were so the viewer needs to pick up on it right away. They could either find it happening in nature, or create it using their imagination to “Stretch Your Frame of Mind”.

I want my students to realize that there’s two ways to look at everything. The left brain sees things as they are. A tree is just a tree, a bridge is just a bridge. In the above photo, the photographer’s left brain ( the analytical side) saw it as an opening to the sky in the middle of an old building in Europe. She was able to click off the left side and click on the right side of her brain…the creative side. Then, she was able to see her color and letter…a blue ‘P’.

Pretty impressive!!!

Here’s some of the ones that made it to my “Hall of Fame”.

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. Don’t forget to send me a photo and question to: AskJoeB@gmail.com for a video critique.

JoeB

Anecdotes: My New Best Friend

My new best friend.
My new best friend.

I was shooting the Annual Report for Apache Oil and Gas. They were about to start drilling in Egypt so they sent me there to basically shoot what ever I wanted that would capture the flavor of the country.

I was more than a little surprised when I found out that the hotel I was staying in was right across the road from the famous Pyramids of Giza. Not only did my room look out to the pyramids, but there was a casino in the hotel.

The biggest sand trap I had ever seen.
The biggest sand trap I had ever seen.

For some reason most people think more on the romantic side about the pyramids, and a lot of that is owed to Cecil B DeMille for his portrayal in his iconic movies. In actuality, the pyramids are not even outside of Cairo and besides the hotel, there’s a shopping center where tourists can buy everything imaginable that has to do with the pyramids or the Sphinx. Oh, did I forget to mention the eighteen hole golf course next to them????

Upon arriving at the pyramids, you’re swarmed/accosted  by guides that promise you secret ways to enter the pyramids, and know one else knows these passages. One such man would not leave us alone, and kept showing us all his badges he had concealed under his coat. He said that he had all the necessary permits to allow us to take photographs, and was not to be denied…I liked him right away!

As it turned out several more of these guides kept bothering us about our cameras, but Mohammad was always right there to protect and defend.

One of the photos I took at the pyramids.
One of the photos I took at the pyramids.

 

Check out my website at: www.joebaraban.com, , and my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet. Follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Come shoot with me sometime. I will occasionally put up and coming workshops at the top of this blog, so look out for them. They fill rather quick and then I take them off.

 

 

JoeB

 

Workshop Stuff:

In my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I teach fellow photographers how to incorporate the elements of Visual Design and composition into their imagery. Negative Space, Vanishing Point, Perspective, Tension, form, Shape, Pattern, Texture, Light, and Color are all permanently affixed to their new ‘Artist Palette’ I use to teach in my online classes. Unfortunately, the founder passe away and the school closed.

The color red, the word "indifference, and the use of shadows.
The color red, the word “indifference, and the use of shadows.

I spend extra time on LINE, since it’s the most important of all the basic elements of Visual Design. You see, nothing would exist without Line, planes, trains, automobiles and even people all have an “outLine”.

In my workshops. we also spend time on Silhouettes, and Shadows (Shadows are your best friend). In the photo of the two young girls, Stephanie was given the color red and the word “indifference” to use in a single photo. It’s a wonderful example of what the title is all about.  Not only does this photo contain several elements from her ‘Artist Palette’, it’s also a perfect example of how shadows can make a huge difference in our photography. it’s certainly a benchmark for workshops to come!!!

The following is a slideshow from one of my workshops. A first class collection of Lines, Silhouettes, Shadows, and all the elements tof visual Design they all brought with them.

Enjoy!!!

Visit my workshop at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out any up and coming workshops. Come shoot with me sometime.

JoeB

Quick Photo Tip: Don’t Underexpose to be Moody

pearl of wisdom

I have found that in my past online classes and also in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet, so many people think that to create a mood, especially one that pulls at the proverbial “heart strings”, while drawing out an emotional response, you have to underexpose your photos. I mean underexpose to the extent that the viewer has no idea what he’s looking at. My fellow photographers also will try to underexpose a scene that was taken at a time of day where there is no possibility of created the kind of mood they want…as in high noon!!!!!

My answer is always the same, and fairly simple. If you’re trying to take a picture and your message to the viewer is dark and moody, then start out with something that’s already dark and moody and occurring naturally in nature. Or, at least a good start and adding ancillary lighting to finish the job.

OK, you can’t expect to find this happening outdoors naturally if you go out after breakfast…say mid-morning. You also can’t expect to see this if you go out after an afternoon nap and before dinner. If those are the only times you can shoot, for one reason or another, then go indoors where it will be easier to create a mood. This is also a good idea if it’s overcast outdoors…I don’t mean stormy, stormy is good. I mean a midday gray overcast sky.

If you can go out early or late, then it’s going to be a lot easier to pull on those heartstrings and create a photo that’s moody. Look for areas in shadow with little or no ambient light coming in. Or better yet, look for those dark areas that has a little natural light coming in from somewhere out of the frame and hitting your subject.

If you expose for the brightest part of the composition, as in the light falling on your subject, then everything else will be darker and the mood will be forthcoming.

Having said this, if you want a piece of advice don’t rely on the meter in your camera to help; because it won’t. Shoot on manual because the meter doesn’t know that you’re going for a mood. It will read the area in shadow and try to give you some detail in said shadows. If and when that happens, you can kiss the mood goodbye.

Shoot on manual (which is what I’m always preaching to the choir), take control and put your camera on spot metering, and expose for just the highlights. Do that, and you’ll achieve the mood you were after.

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Watch for my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime, and we’ll be moody together.

JoeB

Personal Pearls of Wisdom: But wait there’s more, it’s a two-fer

With hover (just move the mouse)
The left-hand jockey
The right-hand jockey

In sales jargon we’re use to hearing, the expression two-fer means “an item or offer that comprises two items but is sold for the price of one.” So what in the world does that mean to photography and to all my fellow photographers that love to make photos as I have which is closing in on fifty years.

It means (to the photographers that have heard me talking about it in my  “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops) don’t just settle for one variation of a final composition when you can easily walk away with a two-fer and not spend that much more time doing it.

When I’m out shooting, and when I’m composing, I’m already thinking about the second variation, and a lot of the time the third. In doing that, it gives me a much better chance to come home with a Keeper. It might be something as simple as shooting both horizontally and vertically. I will often change my POV from eye level to climbing up on a ladder to look down on the subject. I can tell you one thing I always do and that is to change the direction of the light. I’ll move around or have the subject move around so they are both side and back lit.

I’ll usually go out with just one or two lens that will cover anything I want from 17 to 70mm. I don’t mean just standing there and zooming in and out. I mean having the ability in shooting with a wide angle lens, a fairly normal focal length, and a medium telephoto.

Light is so fleeting that I seldom have time to try different filtration such as a ND or a polarizing filter, but if the timing is right they can offer me other different looks. The Polarizing filter can get rid of unwanted reflections (although I love reflections since they can add visual interest and tension). It can also darken the sky and make clouds stand out.

You have to remember that this will only work if the sun is at  ninety degrees to where your lens is pointing to. You’ll also have problems trying to use a wide angle lens with it. A Neutral Density filter, especially one that’s at least two stops can make running water look smooth and also make the clouds appear to be moving.

In the above portrait, having the jockey looking into the lens gives off a completely different feeling as when he’s looking out of the frame. It took several seconds and a slight shift of my POV since the horse was moving around to leave with two versions of an environmental portrait. Of course shooting at sunrise didn’t hurt as far as the quality of the light is concerned.

So there’s many ways to make your image look different and it can be done in less than a minute; as long as you’re thinking about it in the first place. Next time you go out think about that two-fer…two keepers for the price of one!!

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.FYI, my workshops fill in a few days, and when they do I take it off.

JoeB