Project 10 - Focal Lengths & Different Viewpoints

This project is an extension of project 9, but instead changing viewpoint at the same time as changing the lens. The scene must have sufficient space to allow a change in viewpoint, but also sufficient depth. My chosen subject for this project was Gibside Hall, which is a National Trust Property in a state of ruin. I don't usually photograph National Trust properties as I find them quite dull, but this one is attractive because of it's derelict state. As the property is in ruin, the windows are absent from the property, which I hoped may give a view through the building to the countryside beyond, and this would illustrate the impact of using different length lenses.

The project required me to take an initial photograph at the maximum focal length, which in my case is 300mm, making a tightly framed composition and noting the edges of the frame. I was then required to change lens to my shortest focal length, 18mm in my case, and walk towards the hall until the same subject filled the frame.

I was able to take a tightly framed shot of part of the hall, but it became apparent when moving towards the hall that the decline of the hill, and scaffolding surrounding the building, would make it pretty impossible to mirror the frame edges of the telephoto shot with the 18mm lens. Time for a change of subject. Gibside Hall also has a fully functional chapel, which is used for weddings, and an amazing avenue of mature trees which takes you to the old ruined hall at the other end of the avenue. For more info, see here: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-gibside

Standing at one end of the avenue, I took a photo of the chapel at full zoom i.e. 300m. I had left the tripod in the car, as it was bright and sunny when I left the car park, however I realised that the tripod would have been useful at this longer focal length, especially as I wanted to use a narrow aperture to keep the shot sharp. Another lesson learnt. I then started walking down the avenue towards the chapel, but it was difficult to find the exact frame edges because all the trees looked the same. I took a number of shots at 18mm and eventually identified one that appeared to have the same frame edges as the 300mm shot. The only way I could give the chapel the same presence as the 300mm version was to stand right in front, but that meant excluding all the trees, so it wasn't quite mirroring the 300mm image frame edges. For completeness, I have also included a crop of the 18mm version - this was an attempt to make the chapel the same size as in the 300mm version for comparison.

Image 1 at 300mm was my preferred image of the 2. Although it was too soft, because I was unable to use the required small aperture without a tripod, the compression of linear persepctive gave the chapel real presence in the image. Compression of linear perspective meant that the trees lining the avenue appeared bunched together which in this image gave a beautiful dense Autumnal bloom. The chapel appears close up, although there is a slight enigma in the image as the couple walking in front are so small that they appear far away. Because of the compressed linear perspective, this makes the chapel appear even larger to the eye . It does appear that the depth from foreground to the chapel is short, however the piles of leaves in the foreground are a substantial distance from the chapel. All the images taken with the wide angle 18mm lens were well beyond the piles of leaves.

So, in summary, the telephoto shot:

1. Gives more presence to the subject, in this case the chapel;
2. Loses depth so that the foreground (the leaves) appears close to the background subject;
3. Loss of diminishing perspective from the row of trees lining the avenue, thereby further losing the sense of depth; and
4. Inclusion of people at a distance from the main subject makes the subject appear even larger. As human figures give a sense of scale, and in this particular case they were some distance from the subject and therefore small, this gave the impression that the chapel was larger than it is in reality.

The wide angle shot at 18mm gave much more emphasis to the depth and breadth of the tree lined avenue leading up the the chapel. This became the main subject of the shot, rather than the chapel itself which occupied a much smaller proportion of the frame. Clearly the chapel appeared smaller and further away than in the equivalent shot at 300mm, even when the image was taken close to it. Because of the light on the day (high contrast early afternoon) this image was not particularly inspiring with the emphasis on the avenue rather than the chapel. A different composition and light would make this a more attrative shot. Interestingly, when this image was then cropped to attempt to make the chapel similar in size to that of the telephoto shot, it lacked the same presence, probably because it didn't include the trees or human figures in front.

Once again, the outcome from this project has been a bit of a revelation. I thought it would be easy to walk towards a subject and recreate it using a shorter focal length, but because of the extreme focal lengths chosen this was not possible with my first choice of subject. I underestimed the impact of the compressed linear persective. Although I have read about this in previous courses, the penny hadn't really dropped as it never seemed that obvious with the illustrated images that were shown to demonstrate. Actually being at the scene made it hit home, especially with the piles of leaves and human figures in the 300mm shot. In hindsight, I think the chapel at Gibside was an excellent subject to display this effect, because of the lines of trees, the chapel itself as a subject, and the visitors to the site giving an added sense of scale. I plan to go back to this site, but this time with a tripod, to get a nice sharp shot at 300mm, and I felt this gave a more dynamic image of the building rather than the standard reportage shots typically seen in brochures etc.

Again my instincts were proved wrong, as I expected the wideangle shot to be far more dynamic because of the broad avenue of trees, but they caused the chapel to become "lost" in the image. In the past, I have only tended to use zoom where I can't get close to subjects, or occassionally for taking candid pictures of my family. In fact my zoom lens has been lying dormant for about 5 months until project 1 when I realised it was faulty. It would never have occured to me to use it for a building where I had the ability to get up close, or a landscape type view. This gives me yet another factor to consider when composing a shot i.e. do I want to enhance or weaken perspective by using a different focal length lens.