Project 20 : Horizontal & Vertical Lines

I have enjoyed the "lines" component of "Elements of Design" the most through the course so far. I found no shortage of inspiration for the subjects. I also enjoyed looking through my archives for shots that contained lines as key elements of design. I found the vertical lines more challenging, as it required more thought about the frame (vertical vs horizontal frame) and also the focal length of the lens.
I particularly liked the shot of the snow forest, whereby a horizontal format was used to best display the repeating verticals. I liked the reinforcement of the vertical trees by the pattern of the freshly fallen snow. This shot did not attract much positive critique when posted on a critique website (photosig), as it probably lacked interest in its own right, however I found the scene very pleasing.

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the project was trying to find a line that wasn't off the standard list of obvious subjects such as tree trunks, horizon etc. One or two of my horizontal lines were slightly more contrived, such as the shot of my son lying down. I still think they contain dominant horizontals, but my husband disagrees. I would like to think this is because my photographer's eye is more developed than his!

Project 19: Multiple Points

In this project, I will attempt one of 3 basic skills of photography, namely to group objects together in such a way that they are linked attractively, in a relationship that is active rather than obvious and static. Creating still life arrangements is something that I do find quite difficult, and tend to approach on a trial and error basis. From my experiences on a photo sharing site, it was clear that some people found this much easier than me.

The first task is to find between 6 & 10 similar sized objects, each compact in shape, using an unfussy but not entirely plain background. I chose coloured marbles displayed against a background of stones, to contrast the smooth coloured spheres against the rough, bland coloured stones. The arrangement I had in mind was a fibonacci spiral, using the brightest marble in the centre to draw the eye into the spiral. I did move some of the background stones to accomodate this. I did not feel that this was a particularly inspiring image, although I think the arrangement does work quite well and the pattern does not look too forced. I think the image is let down because the subject matter lacks interest, and would have perhaps been better using rose petals
or something "prettier".

Project 18: Relationships Between Points

This project required 2 images in which there were 2 isolated objects in the frame. These should be naturally occurring situations. The point is made in the notes that such situations will not be easy to come by. I found this to be definitely true, and this project was much harder to complete than the single point project and the subsequent projects on "lines". I also found the end images a bit disappointing, and they were certainly not the more inspiring images from my catalogue.

The 2 swans were sitting on the ice on a frozen lake. The main difficulty was finding a viewpoint which captured both the swans comfortably in the frame, at sufficient size that they were clearly identifiable. Ideally 2 swans looking in opposite directions may have added sufficient tension to give the image a bit more interest. I feel that both swans are equally dominant for different reasons. The curled up swan attracts attention by virtue of its closer proximity. However the more classic pose of the other swan, and it's implied eye line, make it equally dominant. A diagonal line is created between the swans which does work well in this particular image.

The lighthouse and the virtually full moon was a difficult shot because the moon was at such a height that a wider angle lens was required to fit them both into the frame. However this rendered the moon very small in the frame. However its brightness, and clear identification, means it can hold its own as a point. The lighthouse is more dominant as a point, and another diagonal was created between the 2 points.

The classic close up of 2 eyes creates an image that you just stare back at.

Project 17: Positioning a Point

I found it not totally straightforward to identify new images for this project. I had already taken some "point" images for project 16, however I came up with these three that include a single point. I also wanted to choose images where there was justification for the positioning, which I felt would be difficult in a very simple "point" image such as a balloon in the sky. This project should be cross referenced with project 16 where the positioning is discussed for the "duck" image (a pure single point) and is also apparent for the Robin too.

The only "pure" single point picture is that of the dog in the snow. The placement is obvious. There is sufficient room around the subject in the top left quadrant, and the direction faced by the dog (both body posture and eye line) justify the large empty space in the rest of the frame.



The lighthouse image was a bit of a disappointment as an overall image because of the flat sky & sea, however this actually increased the power of the lighthouse as a single point because there were no other features of interest in the image. The bright white of the lighthouse further enhances it as a "point".

The holly berry stands out as a point by virtue of its colour, shape and sharp focus against the background of leaves. An eccentric close to edge position could be justified because of the lead in lines of the holly leaves.

Project 16 - Defining a Point

In the course notes, a subject qualifies as a point if it is small in the frame and contrasts with its surroundings. This project required me to think of situations which would make a clear photograph of a point. I followed this up by reviewing my catalogue to select examples, as well as looking at the work of others to identify those which contain a point.


1. Situations that would qualify as photos of a point (specific examples as well as generalisation)

1. A bird, in a situation whereby the bird was taken from sufficient distance and focal length to occupy a small part of the frame, and the background contained no other points of interest.
2. A wide angle shot of a beach or open plain landscape such as a field, containing a single person or animal.
3. A high contrast scene whereby only a small part of the image was illuminated with a shaft of light, and that illuminated point was a sufficient point of interest.
4. A flower macro shot, whereby only one small part of the flower was in sharp focus, or perhaps of a strongly contrasting colour.
5. Seascapes containing one small point of interest, such as a surfer, boat or distant island, ideally where the horizon doesn't feature.
   
6. Desert shots. The ones that spring to mind would be a small distant cafe or petrol station in the middle of nowhere. These were the kind of sights I saw in Australia, away from the main cities.
   
7. Lone trees in the mist, again taken from a distance or with a wide angle lens.
8. The ubiquitous single poppy in a field of green.
9. An unremarkable image containing a single small piece of text, for example a sign.
   
10. A distant shot of a single elephant on a Savannah.

The key features that are coming to mind are of a subject that is of sufficient visual interest to hold its own despite only occupying a small part of the frame; along with a background that does not contain any feature to compete with the main subject. In scenarios where the background is not totally plain , lighting or a narrow depth of field can be used to increase the contrast of the point against the background.

2. Some of my photos that contain a point






















3. Review of Other Photos to Identify Those Containing a Point

For this part of the project, I reviewed works contained in the book "Masters of Photography" by Reuel Golden, published by Carlton in 2008. My initial thoughts were that photos that were included within this book did not tend to contain points at such, or certainly not a single point, although they were perhaps included along with other design elements in an image. Clearly it does not tend to feature in portrait photography or even reportage photography, however I identified the following images which appeared to contain a point as their main element of design.

1. La Derniere Valse, 14 Juillet by Robert Doisneau (1949) whereby the lighting on the waltzing couple contrasts them strongly with the street background.
2. Bretagne by Jacques-Henri Lartique (1971) - although there are some background details such as a horizon & distant yacht, they are so small as to be indistinct leaving a point composition.

I also identified some of Steve McCurry's Monsoon series (1986) contain survivors shown against the dramatic monsoon background, whereby the composition is in the form of a point.

I expect that such point compositions are common in wildlife photography and a review of the book "Planet Earth" by Alastair Fothergill showed it to be rich in point compositions. Examples of polar bears against an arctic landscape, emperor penguins against a snowstorm, an oryx in the desert and so on.

Review of a Selection of Works from the Photographic collection at the Museum Ludwig, Cologne

This is my first real serious look at a photography book i.e. a book containing the work of others, rather than a "how to" book of photography. There are a couple of points that hit home, before reviewing the work which includes many artists considered icons of 20th century photography.

The first was that the invention of photography liberated painting from the need to replicate reality, and therefore became a means of documenting history and capturing moods and moments. Social-documentary photography was born with the likes of Lewis Hine. I find looking at many early photographs depressing in mood, but initially did not consider that this was due to the fact that such photographers were driven by the hope that their images would initiate change. I find this a very interesting concept, and looking through those eyes gives the images greater impact to me.

The photographic movement in France at that time surrounding Henri Cartier-Bresson contrasted with this in that the forces driving such photographers were their own aims & style, termed "author's photography". Other movements in photography in the early 20th century included its use as a means of political propaganda, surrealism and of course Ansel Adams f/64 group, so called "Straight Photography".

Given the expense and less practical equipment that was available then, it is even more astounding what images were created at that time. Most of those individuals were required to be technically innovative with their equipment as well as artists. This is particularly apparent with the likes of Ansel Adams and Harold Edgerton. In modern times, even by middle school, pupils are often separated into "artists" and "non artists", and the A-level system in particular tends to separate science from the arts so pupils can either be one or the other. I suspect not many students study physics with fine art, yet a number of those early photographers were required to be both.

From the entire collection in the book, the artists that stand out to me as those I would like to emulate would be:

Ansel Adams, for his sharp and powerful landscape compositions;
Henri Cartier-Bresson for his decisive moment; I particularly like Rue Mouffetard, Paris 1958;
Alfred Eisenstaedt for his street photography; V-day 1945;
Dorothea Lange for her moving social documentary photography during the Great Depression;

I remain unmoved by nudes, apart from Edward Weston's "Nude" 1936. I also strongly dislike surrealist photography, and photography which captures strong unpleasant subject matter such as "Bon Appetit" by Anna & Bernhard Johanne Blume. Indeed there are some images that I can hardly bear to look at. But I guess that makes them strong, albeit unpleasantly so!

Transient Light by Ian Cameron

This is a book about landscape photography, which I feel deep down is where my true interest in photography lies. When the children become too old to let me take their pictures, and I've had my fill of flower still lifes & insect macros, landscape photography is where I see myself going. Taking pictures of people still intimidates me; I never understood before how the personality of the photographer is such a driver of what they do. Being a shy, non confrontational personality translates into my dislike of photographing street scenes and people in general, other than my close family. I enjoy seeing street photography images, especially the likes of Dorothea Lange and Henri Cartier-Bresson, but it's pretty tricky right now with section 44. I have always found stations a rich source of people watching activity, and thought that may lead to photographic inspiration, but current intolerance & suspicion of photographers makes station scenes elusive.















Back to landscape photography. The appeal to me is that the scope for innovation is infinate, because of the light. An unremarkable scene can be transformed to a remarkable one by virtue of the season and the light. This gives infinate permutations. The other draw is my personal wonder at the landscape and it's beauty, I never cease to be amazed at nature's wonders and the colours of the sky. My current circumstances (2 young children and a part time office job) mean that my opportunities for catching the best light in the morning are missed, and I have not yet captured a sunrise, despite living 40 minutes from some beautiful coastline. I hope to rectify this over the next few months before the clocks go forward.

This particular book is a great source of helpful practical tips so I thought I would summarise some of the ones which took me by surprise.

• Including the moon in a landscape shot is difficult, and will record as a white sphere unless taken at twilight or shortly after (it overexposes). Long lenses/ long exposures will also cause some motion blur of the moon. I have only recently mastered shooting the moon, but have not yet managed to incorporate it into a landscape.
• Shadows shape the landscape, giving it texture and form, therefore the direction of light needs to be understood & managed.
  
• The effects of a polarizer are difficult to mimic through computer processing. The temptation with a polarizer is to have it permanently screwed onto the lens. However there are several problems with that. Firstly it is a 2 stop ND filter in itself. Sometimes that may be desired, but it restricts opportunities for hand held photographs which are always a preference for me. It is also of no use in front lit or back lit situations. At full effectiveness it can cause shadows to block up to full black, and also for rainbows to disappear. Twisting to halfway gives the best outcome in those scenarios, whereby contrast & colour saturation are boosted. A key workflow decision is deciding whether a scene will benefit from having a polarizer attached, and whether to use at full effectiveness.
  

• Any reading on landscape photography would have you believe that bright overhead midday sun means you can't take pictures. Whilst that may be the case for a lot of situations, it can lead to beautiful coastal scenes, particularly in conjunction with a polarizer, as the overhead light penetrates the depths of the sea. This is a useful tip for me, living near the photogenic North East coast, as it presents opportunities in Summer for landscape photography when the capture of sunrises is impractical for me.

• I have never yet achieved a decent frost tree shot. The conditions I need to look for are a clear blue sky, and combine that with a polarizer.
• Perfect reflections are rare outside dawn or dusk. I can't believe I haven't noticed this before.
• Virtually all lenses perform best between f8 and f11. I have previously used f22, believing that to give greater sharpness, however I will limit this to f16 maximum in future. It is preferable to use filters to block the light rather than a smaller aperture.
  

Taking Stock

I thought it would be useful to review my learning log so far and consider what I have learnt before moving onto the next stage in the course.

The key thing that sticks in my mind, my new toy if you like, is the use of focal length as a tool to create the image I have in mind. Previously my choice of lens was generally based upon how far away I was. This is now a key decision in the execution of a shot. The downside of this is that I change lenses far more now, often while out and about, so the inevitable sensor dust is more likely. I have included 2 "landscape" shots here, taken with long focal length. This is probably more a function of where I live, and the opportunities I get for taking photos (generally whilst dog walking in the local rural area). Those scenes lack water, and are also quite detailed, which makes them less suited for wide angle views.















Despite being ready to move onto "Elements of Design", I have still not completed project 8 "Recording a sequence". This is perhaps indicative of my reluctance to photograph people, but also partly logistics and the time of year.


Another learning point of interest was in the balance section, whereby placing a smaller subject close to the edge of the frame gives it more weight.

The Golden Section introduced me to the Fibonacci golden spiral, which I found a particularly attractive composition concept.

I have uploaded some images which incorporate a lot of the key learning points from the first section of the course.

Project 15: Cropping

The most difficult aspect of this project was selecting uncropped items from my portfolio. Cropping is something I generally do as part of my workflow, however I found 3 images that having been sitting in the archives. They are displayed with the original version first and the cropped version underneath.

The purpose of the crop of the station platform was to remove the emphasis from the arch of the ceiling to the repeating pattern of the posts. This has effectively changed the subject matter to a single architectural one rather than a view looking out from a station which incorporated some architectural features. I like it!

For the butterfly, the original shot was kept uncropped because I liked the expanse of white, the blurred hints of the 3 gerberas, and the small but prominent peacock butterfly. The only crop I could think of was to reduce emphasis on the white background and shift focus to the butterfly as a more prominent subject. Although I think the end result works, I won't be keeping it in my collection as I have a similar shot taken by creeping right up to the butterfly!

Finally the Bridge. I originally took this shot because I liked the distortion caused by the lens as it gave a different perspective of a much photographed subject. However I cropped it further to remove the distortion of the converging buildings. Unfortunately I feel this has created a rather static composition, as the converging verticals on the buildings, along with the light on the brick added some interest, as well as giving a sense of perspective, in my opinion anyway. However it could be argued that the cropped version is a more representational shot.

This has probably been my least interesting project to date, although it is always useful to take a fresh look at post production techniques. Cropping is regularly used in magazine critique; sometimes I agree with the suggestion and sometimes I don't. My mindset when cropping is usually:

a) to remove distractions
b) to alter frame shape to better represent the subject (e.g. panorama)
c) to make something bigger, such as the moon or an insect, albeit losing resolution
d) to improve the composition, usually at the same time as making something bigger or removing distractions
e) to shift emphasis

The latter is probably my least used reason for cropping but should probably take more importance i.e. what is this photo trying to tell me, what is it trying to convey. I expect it is used a lot in journalism.

Project 14: Vertical & Horizontal Frames

For this project I was required to find a compact location whereby I could photograph the same scene twice. Given that it's winter (and therefore dark when I'm not at work) I decided on my house as the most accessible compact location to try out this project. However I underestimated how difficult it would be to find 20 subjects naturally of interest around the house without resorting to special effects. However I think I found enough material to learn the objective from the exercise. It was also useful as I took pictures of things I would not normally photograph, some worked and some didn't. I also did add occasional special effects such as the neon glow to the door, otherwise the shots were lacking in interest as subject matter. The pictures included in the blog are the pick of the bunch, as it was logistically difficult to include 40 images in the blog. I have also included a shot from a different location at the end which shows a more extreme format taken around the same time as most of the shots for this project.



My conclusions were that I naturally tended to look for tall subjects, which occasionally made taking horizontal compositions difficult. An example was the open door with the glowing light. Due to the small cramped size of my hallway, taking a horizontal equivalent meant that a wide angle lens had to be used which led to severe converging verticals so I don't think the horizontal equivalent really worked. Similarly, using the stairs as a lead in for a pet portrait was not possible in horizontal format. The bauble shot worked well in vertical but the horizontal version included more distractions and was less successful. Other shots such as the leaves and shoes worked well in both formats. Another factor I experienced was how much of a faff it was to use my tripod in vertical format, which is probably why none of my tripod shots have previously been in vertical format. I find I am also more inclined to use my compact for vertical composition because of its lightness. The DSLR, expecially with a flashgun on top, is quite uncomfortable to use vertically. I think I have quite an intuitive feel for taking vertical shots, and I have taken them in the past, although less so than horizontal, simply for the comfort factor. This is something I need to overcome as I was surprised at how well some of the shots worked, or at least had potential for a good shot, for example the stairs.