RIGHT BRAIN PHOTOGRAPHY

(Be an artist first) 

I first published Right Brain Photography in 2015. It is now in its fourth edition. I still teach it throughout the country, via ZOOM, and still get raised eyebrows and head-scratching. 

Years ago, a student, trying to describe RBP to another student, said, "He's a magician."

I will not share every point I make in the book. However, I will share some key photographic and life concepts I introduce in my book, classes, and workshops.

Let's start with, what is Right Brain Photography all about? It's about:
--Being an artist first, photographer second
--Seeing with your imagination, not your eyes
--Seeing something before you see it
--Making the common uncommon and the mundane insane

I introduce two of my paradigms, or models, in the book that serve as the creative force for RBP: I.S.E.E. SOMETHING and Eli's 5-Pt Photo Art Model  Below are some of the key life and photographic concepts I mention. Yes, life concepts. I talk about several philosophical life concepts that I apply to my photography. Below is a list of both.

--Follow your intuition        --Scan what you see in front of you        --Find Impressionism in life and capture it with your camera        --Find Surrealism in life and capture, or create it, with your camera
--Ask yourself, "What made me Stop?"        --Ask yourself, "What does this moment give me?"
--Find ways to detach yourself from pre-programming        --Ask yourself "What if?" questions
--Get into the habit of un-labeling           --Understand the truth behind impermanence 
--Understand the concept of interdependence in life        --Apply mindfulness    

The above is not a complete list, but it provides enough for you to ponder. I go against the rules, against the grain, against conventional wisdom, and against common photographic "No-No's," like ignoring the histogram. There is no such thing as the correct exposure. There is only the right exposure, as defined by me, the photographer.

With that introduction to Right Brain Photography, let me now share several images that reflect what my right brain sees when it talks to my left brain and says, "I have an idea, and this is what I need from you." In the book, I talk about how I created these images. Today I will share several images and mention the general concepts I applied.

I was in New Orleans, Louisiana and had been shooting for a couple of hours. I didn't feel I had captured the essence of New Orleans, until I saw a street performer, a pantomime, across the street that grabbed my attention. I then looked behind me and saw an artist painting southern-themed paintings on shale. She depicted blacks in the South picking cotton. My right brain kicked in. I photographed a couple of her paintings, with her permission, horizontally, knowing that I would create a double exposure. I then went back to the pantomime and photographed him, vertically. 

Below is a rotated version. You can see the artist's paintings on shale.

Here is another double exposure. The subject is nothing but giant willows in winter along the high country in northern Colorado. I saw more than willows. I saw watercolor willows. Impressionism.

This is my zoom-n-stop technique. In this case, I propped up my student's beautiful bass guitar against a makeshift wall. I placed a large piece of black flannel material behind the bass. During a 15-second exposure, I zoomed in, stopped, zoomed in again, stopped, then zoomed in again until the 15 seconds were up. Voila!

When I detach myself from labels, I no longer see an outside wall of a Taco Bell. I see this.

My left brain saw a tunnel. My right brain saw this. Surrealism.

I took a long hike. On my way back, I saw this old road surrounded by pine trees. I could imagine what it might look like as a double exposure. In this case, it transformed from a picture of an old road to a painting. 

For this next image, I totally ignored my histogram. I gave the scene 233 percent less light than my camera thought I needed. I did that to create what my imagination saw, not what my eyes saw.

Yes, I love the effects of double exposures! A grouping of tulips in spring, with trees as a backdrop.  I got a very painterly effect.

I set my exposure based on the brightest spot on this simple giant leaf, transforming it from a leaf to something more mystical. Take the labels off. It's more than just a leaf. It is lit within.

This is just one example of my "swirl" technique. I simply swirl my camera around my wrist during a slow exposure. It's about having fun with your camera. Our eyes have limitations; our imaginations do not. Think like children before they are taught to think linearly. Be spontaneous!

I call this piece, "Swimming In Abstracts." It did NOT look like this to the naked eye, but it looked like this in my imagination. It was the kind of scene most photographers would have walked by. It was that mundane-- a duck in the water. I saw much more and created this by underexposing the scene 200%. It's not what I see; it's what I imagine. It's not what's there, but what's not there.

When we see photos of sunflowers we see them from the front. One day I decided to photograph one from the back. For this one, I did just the opposite of the image above. I overexposed the flower by 266%! I did that to lighten the yellows and the sky. No, it didn't look like this to the naked eye. And therein lies what I call the limitations of the eye. When we see something that doesn't look good to the eye, that is, it's not worth a picture, we keep walking. See with your imagination.

I don't see subjects or objects. I see color, design, shapes, form, texture, feelings, and mood. The subject becomes secondary. This next scene was a huddled mass of people in the rain, standing next to the venue's wall, patiently waiting for the concert to begin. I liked all the colors and umbrellas in the scene. I decided to do a double exposure to see how it would look. I liked it.

The Alamo. When we think of San Antonio, Texas, we think of The Alamo-- where Davy Crocket, James Bowie, and other Texas heroes tried to defend it. I wanted to do something different with it besides taking a great photo of it. My right brain came alive. How would it look if the heroes of the Alamo woke from the dead and walked through it? A double exposure had to be the answer.

 

No, these are not car oil stains in a puddle in a parking lot. I was hiking at an elevation of around 10,000' when I spotted this small puddle of water. Yes, a puddle of water, which other hikers jumped over as they continued their hike. I saw much more than a puddle of water. I saw nature's art, right there in front of me. It looked just like this. The eyes see too much. We're waiting for something to hit us between the eyes and say, "Hey, here I am!" Mountains jump out at us, nature's art does not.

That particular day, I was on the right path.

I saw Aztec dancers in downtown Boulder, Colorado. After several minutes of "taking pictures" of them dancing, I wanted something else. Common photographic wisdom advises using fast shutter speeds to "freeze" the fast-moving action of the dancers. I went in the opposite direction to capture the essence of the dance, not the dancers. I titled this, "Cara En Sueño"--face in a dream. 

Famous Mesa Arch in southern Utah. Thousands of photographers have been there, and they know the magic of the arch begins right at sunrise when the early rays of the sun set it aglow! I have captured that, but one year decided to do the opposite--photograph it after sunset, in the middle of December. I wanted snow in the distant mountains, knowing that I was going to "paint" the underside of the arch to get a surreal effect. Painting with light simply means that I paint the subject with an artificial light source, in this case, a large off-road emergency flashlight.

Impressionism. I love the art movement from Europe in the mid-1800s. I create my impressionistic images using different techniques. This is one of the simplest of all--shooting through my car windshield during a rainfall.

I will end my discussion on Right Brain Photography by showing you Before and After images. The Before images are what the eyes saw. The After images are what my imagination saw, from those same scenes. This will drive home the concept of seeing with your imagination, not your eyes. 

                      What the eyes saw                                                       What the imagination saw

           

          

         

                  

Now you know what I mean when I say:
--Be an artist first, photographer second

--See with your imagination, not your eyes

--See something before you see it

--Make the common uncommon and the mundane insane.

Right brain photography is about letting go, seeing what is not visible, making the unknown known, and just having fun with photography. We don't need hours with AI, photo editing software, or photo apps. I don't "take pictures;" I create images.  

The etymology of "photography," means "painting with light." Have fun seeing with your imagination. 

Contact me if you have questions or want a lesson.
vegaphotoart@gmail.com          www.elivega.net