Project 6 - Fitting the Frame to the Subject

The brief for this project was to take at least 4 different photos of a subject which was clear in appearance and compact in shape, using different compositions. Whilst out in Newcastle city centre, I decided that the often photographed Sage building would make quite a good subject for this project. There are numerous viewpoints to capture the Sage, enabling all 4 compositions to be achieved as follows:
1. Usual point and shoot composition
2. Fit to the frame as tightly as possible
3. Photograph without edges in view to concentrate on one particular aspect of the subject
4. Photograph with emphasis on surroundings so main subject occupies just a small part of the frame.

A further requirement for the project was to crop images to see if they can be improved. Although L frames are suggested, I used my usual photo-editing software for this purpose.

The first image was taken from a high viewpoint and captured most of the building and some of its surroundings. As the Sage is on a hill, this meant that the only surroundings visible were mostly chimneys, lamposts, bits of foliage etc and simply served as distractions. Cropping those out to produce a similar image to image 2 was a definate improvement for this particular image. Whilst this applies to the Sage, a different subject with different surroundings would not necessarily suit a tighter crop.

The elongated shape of the Sage meant that I could not achieve a perfect fit for image 2 without a crop, however it was close enough as the curved sides which make it such an attractive building to photograph were contained within the frame. There were still distracting lamposts which could probably be cloned out but I didn't think this neccessary for the purposes of this project. I do like this tight fit image; it is quite dramatic because of the crowding. However it is lacking in interest and would probably be too boring to end up as a wall print. Again a different subject matter may hold the viewer's interest more in a tight fit.

The close up version focused on the glass panels on the side of the building and the attractive stairwells inside, as well as capturing some glass reflections. I found this quite an attractive image, as it still captured the gentle curves of the side of the building, and having glass windows as the main subject drew the eye inside the building. At the far left of the image, it is possible to see through to the other side. When viewed up large, people inside the building are visible in the main hall. There are also reflections of buildings on the other side of the Tyne, captured in a few panes. Although initially I did not feel that this was as pleasing on the eye as some of the other classic views, it did offer a lot more interest and I grew to enjoy the view through the glass to the other side. I don't think this would appeal to a wide audience, as it is quite a quirky view and crop, but is probably the strongest of the 4 images because of its interest factor.

Finally image 4 showed the Sage as a small component of an image focused on it's surroundings. Unfortunately it was a bright sunny day so this was a high contrast scene, so was subjected to an HDR conversion before uploading here. The focus of this image was the Quayside setting of the Sage and the contrast of modern architecture against old. What surprised me with this image was the height of the building, which was demonstrated most clearly in this image against the surroundings. In images 1 & 2, the height is not demonstrated at all, because of the length in the tighter crops. I also found the Sage looked quite out of place in this composition; modern architecture always courts controversy and this image highlighted it the most.

This was a useful exercise in composition, which is something I don't tend to give a lot of thought to, relying solely on gut instinct. Taking a close up, almost abstract, composition is not something I would have necessarily taken in the past but was surprised at how this was, in my view, the strongest image of all (image 3). Similarly, a far out composition (image 4) is not something I would tend to take to illustrate a subject in its surroundings, but was impressed with the effect here as a means to illustrate a contrast. In the past, most of my images have tended to be similar in composition to image 1 & 2, yet these were the weakest images here. A valuable lesson in composition.