17) Project: Points. Exercise: Mulitple points - Page 55.

Deciding the subject.

With Easter fast approaching, this was an exercise that needed me to wait until the Easter Bunny had visited our house.  Easter Sunday arrives, there really was no other subject to use except Easter eggs!  I used a washing basket to hold the ‘fake’ hay, then I simply placed the eggs in one by one.  


Equipment used.

Camera: Canon 500D
Lenses: Canon 18mm-55mm, Tamron 70mm-300mm.
Tripod and built in flash used.

Settings and results.

IMG: IMG6097
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used (built in)
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG6098
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used (built in)
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG6099
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used (built in)
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG6100
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used (built in)
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG6101
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used (built in)
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG6102
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used (built in)
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG6103
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used (built in)
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG6104
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used (built in)
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG6105
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used (built in)
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG6106
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used (built in)
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG6107
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used (built in)
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual







Findings and conclusion.

This was my third sequence of eggs and I am very pleased with the results.  In the first two attempts, I was simply finding myself placing the majority of eggs altogether and having a single egg opposing the group, creating a very similar scenario to the images in the previous exercise, the relationship between points.  I wasn’t happy with this, so I carried on until I produced images I was happy with.

I was considering each mo ve carefully and I love the way you can watch the composition appear before your eyes, one egg at a time.  I began by placing the first egg, working around that, then very quickly I realised I would just end up with a group, so in IMG6101 you can see I took the next step away from the main group and started to alter the composition quite dramatically.

By IMG6107, the final image, you can see that really there are two defined areas of points, that almost balance each other, but have a connecting point also, which I feel leads the eye across the image.  They almost create flower shapes but I am sure they can be looked at and generate different feelings within different viewers.

Happy Easter!

Sorry – just couldn’t resist!



 

16) Project: Points. Exercise: The relationship between points - Page 54.

Deciding the subject.

As suggested in the material, this was indeed a bit of a challenge to find naturally occurring situations where there are indeed two points in the frame only.  Having seen many opportunities and not having been able to capture them, 2 butterflies dancing, 2 birds flying at perfect distances apart (this will teach me for not having my camera in hand all the time) I continued in my quest, looking at all available types of shots, then spending a day in the glorious sunshine in the garden with my children, bang 2 shots come at once! 

Now I cannot be certain that these shots are what can be referred to as normally occurring to most people, but when examining them, these are normal occurrences in a household with kids, my household.  Washing pegs being attacked and playfully thrown across the garden and toys being left were they were last played with, this to me is a natural occurrence in the same essence as seeing two boats on water as per the material.

The final image is our family cat, playing blissfully unaware I was going to use her eyes instead of a human face to show when tension is created having two equal points at equal distance from the centre.
  
Equipment used.

Camera: Canon 500D
Lenses: Canon 18mm-55mm, Tamron 70mm-300mm.

Settings and results.

IMG: IMG6029
Setting: Shutter Priority
Focal Length: 33mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 52.8mm
Shutter Speed: 1/80mm
Aperture: f/4.5
Flash: Not used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 200
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG6031
Setting: Shutter Priority
Focal Length: 39mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 62.3mm
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f/5
Flash: Not used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 200
White Balance: Manual

IMG: IMG5427e
Setting: Manual
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 400
White Balance: Manual




Findings and conclusion.

IMG6029 is made up by a discarded crocodile harmonica and a random weed growing in the garden.  The eyes are drawn primarily to the crocodile, being the bigger point within the picture, however, one of the reasons I took this shot was the way the crocodile was facing the flower and seemed to be a little bit buried in the grass, almost ready to pounce.  It is looking at the image and the crocodile that then leads the eye to the weed as I really don’t think the weed is overly visible on first glance due to its size and weak presence within the shot.

IMG6031, The pegs.  This is clearly a shot that is dominated by the sheer size of the basket of pegs and the vibrant colours and textures it holds and due to its size it places the point near the centre of the image.  The peg just ‘sitting’ at the side of the image, looking lost and forlorn, really grasps little attention from the eye, however it grasps enough that when I do look at it I just want to put my hand in the picture, pick it up and put it back in the basket, is that just me? 

You can see the implied line in both shots, more so in the crocodile flower shot.  It is much easier to show where the implied line is here, as the crocodile is facing almost perfectly the flower.

Finally IMG5427e, cats eyes.  This is a shot of our family cat, however I can see that the composition is ever so slightly off centre as there is a little more space around her one side, however, this would not appear to detract from the strength of the image and indeed the look in her eyes, like she is ready to pounce.  I think in this instance it indeed activates the image, brings her alive and gives you a sense of tension from her, I find myself really staring into her eyes, being absorbed almost back to when I shot the image.

Overall I am happy with this exercise and the results produced, it was a challenging exercise finding such subjects that will highlight the relationships between points clearly.  

15) Project: Points. Exercise: Positioning a point - page 53.

Deciding the subject.

Well, after successful completion of my first assignment, I felt it was important for me to review my work to date and see if I can continue to improve, not just by following the guidelines in the book, but also reviewing what I had done to date.

I am very pleased with some of my shots I have previously taken, however I noticed that many of them were in ‘my comfort zone’ so i decided to set myself the personal challenge of at least pushing myself on occasion to find new subjects I wouldn’t normally shoot. 

Therefore on this exercise, as well as others coming up I am sure, I have made conscious decisions to actually travel around the beautiful part of the country I live, exploring the county as I never have before, photographing what it has to offer along the way.  I will also be using some shots taken indoors, as again this is perhaps the one place I ‘forget’ to consider when looking for suitable subjects.

Subjects here are, my son’s eye, an early attempt at macro, a bee in my local park and finally my other son exploring the woods!

Equipment used.

These shots were taken handheld, no tripod used, except for the eye shot.
Camera: Canon 500D
Lenses: Canon 18mm-55mm
Tamron 70mm-300mm (macro switch)

Settings and results.

IMG: IMG3766
Setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 300mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 476mm
Shutter Speed: 1/13
Aperture: f/8
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 1600
White Balance: Auto

IMG: IMG5847e

Setting: Manual
Focal Length: 300mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 476mm
Shutter Speed: 1/400
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual







IMG: 5902
Setting: Shutter Priority
Focal Length: 70mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 111mm
Shutter Speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/4
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White Balance: Manual

Findings and conclusion.

Well leaving my comfort zone was quite a challenge, but I think it can be seen in the results...well worth it.  IMG3766, a macro shot of my son’s eye, being one of my first attempts at macro, I think proved a success.  The point being the eye, set upon a plain background being the skin, is enough of a contrast to make this successful.  The point here is placed pretty central to the frame, which tends not to work in most cases, yet I feel in this instance, perhaps this is one of those cases where this is the exception to the rule.  The eye has some wonderful curves and features and this is ever so slightly placed at an angle within the frame, creating in my opinion a bit more movement.

IMG5847e, the bee collecting, again is another attempt at macro, which again I feelwas successful and produced a wonderful result.  The shot was taken whilst out walking and I am very pleased with the detail captured as this was taken free hand (no tripod) and I also shot this one in full manual mode!!  As you can see the point in this shot is clearly the bee and is slightly off centre, adding movement by drawing the eye to the bee in all its glory. 

Finally, IMG5902.  This is my other son exploring, on his very first trip to the woods.  He is crouching down looking around and I captured the moment, as he stands out beautifully from his surroundings.  I never considered using a person as a point whilst completing this exercise, however once I saw this shot then took it, I realised that it can work extremely well.  I placed him as close to the edge as I could without losing any of the other detail in the shot and having the fallen tree leading you in to the picture adds to the effect. 

Assignment 1: Contrasts - Page 47.

Assignment requirements and choices made.

The requirements for this assignment are to identify subjects that best express the extremes of different qualities and take pairs of photographs, which bring out the essential differences.

Eight pairs are required from a set list and I chose to provide the following examples:
1) Many / few 
2) Continuous / intermittent 
3) Liquid / solid 
4) Curved / straight
5) Still / moving  
6) Smooth / rough
7) Light / heavy
8) Diagonal / rounded

For my contrast in one shot, I chose Black / white.

Here are my photographs showing my interpretation of the assignment.
Many 

 














Few

Continuous

Intermittent

Liquid

Solid


























Curve

Straight

Still

Moving

Smooth

Rough

Light

Heavy

Diagonal

Rounded



And finally, my contrast in one image, I chose the contrast black and white.

Black / White

Conclusion

I found this assignment challenging to say the least, yet extremely rewarding.  I tried very hard to portray the extremes of the contrast I chose, sometimes using similar subjects, sometimes using completely different subjects.

This assignment, without doubt, has really made me think about other people’s perception of an image and what it represents.  Does the image represent to others what it represents to me?  I have tried to ensure that at least on some level, the photographs I have taken and the subjects I have chosen have indeed done this.  How would a person viewing a photograph of a feather know that that feather is light, especially if they have never touched a feather?  The answer is they wouldn’t, so to try and show the viewer it is light, the feather is shown floating on water to light in weight to sink.

14) Project: Cropping and extending. Exercise: Cropping - Page 46.

Deciding the subject.

Similar to the balance exercise, this exercise required shots already taken, then to be cropped to alter the image.  Chosen were three different subjects as required

Setting up.

None required the crop was done digitally.

Equipment used.

Camera: Canon 500D
Lenses: Canon 18mm-55mm
Tamron 70mm-300mm
Picasa (digital crop)

Settings and results.

IMG1102ee – Original Image

Camera setting: Shutter Priority
Focal Length: 92mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 146mm
Shutter speed: 1/500
Aperture: f/4
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 400
White balance: Auto






IMG1102e – Cropped Image

You can see from the original image to the cropped image, all I have done is removed some of the water to the right and below the bird in flight, thus placing greater emphasis on the bird itself.


IMG1714ee – Original Image

Camera setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87.7mm
Shutter speed: 1/80
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 3200
White balance: Manual













IMG1714e – Cropped Image















The choice of crop here was to place an even tighter crop on the child’s face, bringing out the finer details of the child.  I was once told, when doing certain portraits “when you think you are in close...get in closer” and I think on this occasion by doing just that using the cropping tool you can see that it has worked.

IMG3982e – Original Image

Camera setting: Shutter Priority
Focal Length: 70mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 111mm
Shutter speed: 1/125
Aperture: f/10
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Spot
ISO: 400
White balance: Manual






IMG3982ee – Cropped Image











You can see my choice of crop on this photo doesn’t conform to standard photo sizes, however, I feel this shot lends itself to almost a panoramic type crop.  Elongating the track and removing some of the excess grass behind the vehicle really, in my opinion, brings out the best in this shot, to make it the type of shot I can see hung on a wall on a custom made canvas!


Findings and conclusion.

This being about the only type of editing I know how to do with ease at present, I love the way you can take an image and alter it completely.  The uses of cropping is so vast, from changing the entire composition of a shot, or simply removing a little of the edge to make the subject appear bigger, brighter and make the image perhaps a more dynamic one.  I really enjoy seeing the results of cropping an image, perhaps an image you were not so fond of but can change so dramatically that it can become a favourite.

13) Project: Frame shapes and sizes. Exercise: Vertical and horizontal frames - Page 43.

TO BE UPLOADED!

12) Project: Dividing the frame. Exercise: Positioning the horizon - Page 39.

Deciding the subject.

Although I realise I have chosen perhaps the easiest subject choice for a horizon photograph, it would have been wrong of me not to photograph the beautiful beach in the place I live.

Setting up.

Minimal set up was required just me, my camera, lens and the beautiful scenery! 

Equipment used.

Camera: Canon 500D
Lens: Canon 18mm – 55mm

Settings and results.

IMG4550ee

Camera setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87mm
Shutter speed: 1/1000
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White balance: Manual







IMG4551ee

Camera setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87mm
Shutter speed: 1/1000
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White balance: Manual







IMG4552ee

Camera setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87mm
Shutter speed: 1/1250
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White balance: Manual







IMG4553ee

Camera setting: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
Equivalent in 35mm: 87mm
Shutter speed: 1/1600
Aperture: f/5.6
Flash: Not Used
Metering: Matrix
ISO: 100
White balance: Manual





Findings and conclusion.

When photographing the horizon, I did find it challenging to take more than 4 photos, so I stuck at 4.  The reason being is there was so little difference in the movement that it really added no value to the exercise. 

It was easy to find 3 distinct positions in where to place the horizon, one on each 3^rd line and one across the centre.  Easily adding one more shot to this really showed good variation of the subject and what happens when you place the horizon at different positions within the viewfinder.

IMG4550ee places the horizon at possibly the highest place within the frame, whilst still keeping the break between land and sky.  This in my opinion is a pleasing shot, it has foreground interest with the sand and the sea, which then leads the eye to the breakwater, which is then followed by the sea and sky.  You can see on a day such as this the sky really is so clear and has very little definition, so this shot potentially works better by removing something that adds little value to the shot.

IMG4551ee is of a similar nature, yet revealing a little more of the sky and a little less of the foreground sand.  This shot in my opinion is my favourite.  I feel it could be made better by choosing a day where there is some clouds and movement in the sky and also this is shot in possibly the day’s harshest light, so this could lean itself to perhaps some softer lighting.  I feel the balance works better in the composition of this shot.

IMG4552ee is really placing too much emphasis on a very blue, yet boring sky.  The eye really gets lost and I feel like I am left wondering what the point of the photograph is.  Although you can tell it’s the sea and the beach, the foreground has lost itself to the overwhelming sky.

IMG4553ee is simply 2 tones of blue.  You can just make out that it is a picture of sea and sky, but really this shot has very little interest to capture the viewer.