P43 - Vertical and horizontal frames

For the first pair of images, I noticed a roadsign through the car window when parked. Although I work in the industry, I really wish society could find a way forward without its reliance on the car, and hence the significance of the STOP sign in the background of the steering wheel.

In this first image, there is some balance between the foreground and background. However, in other respects, the image doesn't come together.

For the second portrait image, I took more care over the composition:-

Here, the stop sign was placed according to the golden section, with the curve of the steering wheel leading the eye towards the sign. Then there's the difference in contrast between the wheel and the sign through the wet windscreen, an almost ghostly reminder of the problems of car use in the background.

On reflection, the first image is perhaps more striking, with the increased contrast of the rain on the windscreen, perhaps echo's of climate change.

Here's another example, in this case of a book shown in portrait and landscape orientations. I think here, the portrait image is clearly more appropriate given the shape of the book.

Likewise for the pen, the lower image is more appropriate to the subject:

P46 Exercise cropping

For this first pair of images, I looked to isolate the essential aspects of the shot, in this case the detail of the metalwork and the grain of the wood. I believe it is still clear what the subject is despite the crop, and has resulted in a stronger image.

The only change I would make would be to place the rivet slightly to the right, closer to the principal of the Golden Section.

Similarly here, the essential aspect of the image is the church, sheep, trees and the grassland. By cropping more tightly, these aspects are emphasised. Next time, I might consider giving a little more space to the bare branches on the right - the small amount included perhaps gives some balance to the top right of the image, but is insufficient to appreciate the complexity of the structure.

For the tulips, again I focussed in on the two stems. I lost the diagonal line formed with the third head, but replaced this with a tighter crop onto the group of two. Cropping also make the background more abstract by cropping on a blurred area, emphasising the three dimensional effect of the heads.

For the image of the church, I cropped tightly to create a new image, noting the twist of the clouds around the spire and placing the cross at the golden triangle. This has a secondary implication, linking the church and what it represents to god up on high, looking down on the earth. Its no longer a 'postcard' image and by tightly cropping on one specific aspect of the shot, the image starts to have meaning.

p41 - Golden sections

One of my favourite photographers is the Brazilian Sebastiao Salgado. I admire his work, partly in recognition of his sheer technical brilliance, but also due to the subject matter. Having lived in a developing country, many of his images, particularly those in Africa, present a reminder of a life I hope never to forget, and of the people who welcomed me into their lives.

Revisiting Salgado's images, I now see how many of them follow the classic rules of composition outlined in the course notes, namely the rule of thirds and symmetry in order to create balance.

Here is a typical example, in which the focal point of the image is almost precisely positioned according to the rule of thirds.

Additionally, there is balance between the dramatic sky and the people.

If I could take images a fraction this good, I'd be very happy. If I could go back to shoot in Africa, I'd be happier still....

p38 - Balance

I took a series of photographs which I'd taken over a period of several years. I chose them as examples of work which I had been pleased with and which appeared to fit the brief.

For the purposes of this exercise, I converted them to B&W in order to concentrate on composition:-

This scene of the old Coventry Cathedral attempted to contrast the sculpture to the left and the person on the right of the image. The balance is right, but the person on the right does not give meaning to the image. Also the columns are offset to the right which spoils the balance.

This image is of the canal lock near Leamington Spa, taken from the centre of the next lockgate to give a perfect mirror image. Apart from the trees, the image is almost perfectly symmetrical which captures the eye strongly.
This typical fishing scene was taken in Cornwall near Whitesand Bay. The prominent feature is the boat, but the lower rope leads the eye to the less obvious fisherman on the right. The upper rope has some seaweed mid way along which is a distraction which I might be tempted to remove.

Superficially, the image is unbalanced, but the detail of the fisherman and his nets helps to shift attention disproportionately away from the boat, resulting in a balanced image.
Again, shot on Whitesand Bay, the 4x4 and guitarist is prominent, both in size and tone. However, the number of people on the left of the image help to give some balance.

Overall, the image is unbalanced between the featureless sky and the activity on the beach, resulting in a photo which I don't believe works as well as it could.
In this portrait layout image, the balance is between the upper and lower parts of the image. Again, there is near perfect symmetry, although with tonal unbalance between the foliage at the top and the reflected image at the bottom. This could be adjusted in development, but wouldn't be an honest record of the scene.
In this film image, the shot is composed of six individuals. The mother is the prominent figure, placed left of centre to balance the two children dancing on the right. The child on the left and in the background give some weight to the left side of the image, helping to redress the balance.

The child partly obscured by the mother is really too indistinct to add significance to the image.

p39 - positioning the horizon

The three images selected have no particular artistic merit, but were taken solely to meet the brief.

The sky was largely clear with minimal clouds, which is one of the reasons the first image is not noteworthy. Had the sky been more dramatic, the outcome could have been very different, but with only one apparent subject, the trees, the position of the horizon has nothing to balance with. This is similar to my earlier posting of a toy digger placed in different positions on a black background - its not the positioning thats importance, its the positioning with respect to something else which matters.

The second image is a straightforward snapshot. Again, had the sky been more interesting, the shot might have worked, but again we are left with an image where any interest that exists terminates a little over half way up.

The third image brings the foreground into play at the expense of the sky. The track gives a good lead-in for the eye which is an important compositional element.

p28 - a sequence of composition

This sequence of shots illustrates the demolition of a wall in our garden. My aim was to produce a series of images which captured the activity, and summarise the activity in a single image which captured the essence.

I regard the first two shots as 'record shots', just showing the environment with no particular artistic merit.

The third shot starts to focus in on the wall and hammer which are the stars of the image. Some background is visible, but the foreground composition is at least uncluttered.

I wanted to get closer, to eliminate all the superfluous pixels which didn't say anything more about the activity. Hence the forth shot made up of the hammer, unbroken wall and rubble. The composition isn't great, with the head of the hammer too low in the image to give impact. After all, this was a physical activity which involved a lot of 'impact' and I felt the image should capture this. Additionally, too much of the wall was still standing, implying a job only half done.

Consequently, I zoomed in tightly on the head of the hammer, placing this in a dominant position in the image surrounded by rubble. The hint of the wall in the background gives implied suggestion as to the activity without being too prominent.

This image has additional appeal. The line of the brick on the left points towards the head as an additional lead in for the eye. Also the stones in the middle ground point 'down', implying this is where the wall is going. This last image was shot without flash (the others all used artificial illumination), which has given the unprocessed image with more 'atmosphere', perhaps worthy of conversion to B&W. Finally, the hammer head and handle show signs of labour, reinforcing the strength of this image and the activity it was recording.

This is my first posting where I believe I have captured an implied message and told something of a story.

p37 - symmetry

I used the same building as for my last posting on focal length, only showing the door belonging to our neightbours.

The adjoining outbuildings are the same in design and construction, but differ in their histories and maintenance. Ours is the one on the right, poorly kept and used as a wood shed. Our neighbours is used for a freezer and is regularly accessed to hang the washing, as befits the newer lock, paintwork and washing line.

Returning to the subject of symmetry, these factors contrast with the symmetry of design and offer the basis for an interesting study.

p31 - focal lengths #1

I chose a scene from our garden so I can revisit it as necessary. The subject of interest in the plant pot.

I used a 27-105mm lens, starting at the 27mm end and using the entire 105mm's available for the last shot.

Contrary to the guidance in the notes, I changed my position for the last two shot. I intend to re-visit this post with a wider range of focal lengths and a single viewing position.

The first image shows the pot in context. Although the outline of the building is not visible, the scene is unremarkable.

The second image, taking at ~50mm starts, limits the field of view although the main elements of the original image are still clear; a brick building, tiled roof with ramshackled door and a plant pot. The composition is poor and doesn't follow conventional rules of thirds and the eye is left with no clear focal point, although there is some diagonal balance between the pot and the door handle.

The third image gets closer still. The only element of the previous image which is missing is the tiled roof, and yet the character of the building remains apparent. The bricklines lead the eye away from the pot and towards the door. This is balanced to some degree by the pot, but the image remains awkward with no clear focus.

The last image focusses rightly on the pot at the expense of other elements. Hence, the building is not recognisable anymore and we're left with a pot with a few weeds growing from it. On a technical note, the limited depth of field is also apparent, with only a narrow band of the pot being in focus.

Of the four images, I originally preferred the third shot, capturing as it does the main subject, the pot, whilst retaining the context. On reflection, the composition is wrong for the reasons given.

On balance, the last image focusses attention on the subject to make a stronger image without distractions and places the rim of the pot at the golden triangle with the cuvature of the side leading the eye towards it.

I don't think any of the images adequately capture the character of the scene. This is a subject I've been trying to capture for some time, and I remain unsatisfied with what I've achieved so far.

p27 Objects in different positions in the frame

For this exercise, chose another of the childrens' toys against a black cloth background. The first observation is that with a plain background, there is no relationship between the object and its surroundings.

The first image shows the digger placed centrally in the image, illuminated from both sides evenly. Clearly with no background distrations, the digger is the clear focus of attention. But this is a record image with no artistic merit.

The remaining images also have little to offer, though the shadow on the last image extending into the centre of the image at least gives the eye something to follow.

Whilst the subject and background chosen did not result in an interesting post, I think it does show that to find an 'optimal' position for the subject in the frame, it relies on there being more than one point of interest, thus leading us towards the question of balance and symmetry.

Shutter speeds

As an aside to the Newton cradle study on movement, I considered whether it would be possible to estimate the require shutter speed to capture varying levels of movement mathematically.

My theory went that the degree of 'blur' in an image can be expressed as an angle subtended of the subject across the frame. For example, a particular effect might be categorised as a 1, 2, 3 or more degrees of 'blur', with a 1 degree blur corresponding to a subtle movement, 3 degrees a move obvious streaking effect.

Then by knowing the distance between the camera and the subject, and the speed of movement of the subject, the required shutter speed to give that angular blur can be determined using simple trigonometry.

Now to go and try it out!