Exercise: Diagonals

Steamengine

Image 4600 taken on21.3.2012, 1/10sec, f25, ISO100, 12mm
I only glanced this engine while driving passed a Hotel carpark and returned. This is one of several images I have taken and demonstrates that taken from this angle many horizontal and vertical lines change into diagonals and give it a sense of depth.

Daffodils

Image 4666 taken on 27.3.2012, 1/160sec, f5.6, ISO800, 20mm
The sun had just come over the horizon adding a different light to the scene. From the groundlevel I focused on just these two flower and chose a shallow depth of field to blur out the background.

Duthie Park, Aberdeen

Image 4684 taken on 29.3.2012, 1/500sec, f5, ISO400, 23mm
This is a formal section of the park with strong geometrical shapes of squares and triangels. The sunlight created strong light light and shade at this point of view adding contrast.

Banana leaf, Duthie Park, Aberdeen

Image 4674 taken on 29.3.2012, 1/250sec, f5.6, ISO 100, 250mm
I was taken by the simple abstract lines of this section of the giant leaf and the play of light and shade.

Exercise: Horizontal and vertical lines

The exercise is to seek out examples of horizontal and vertical lines.

Bennachie

Image 4554 taken on 18.3.2012, 1/60sec, f10, ISO 100, 131mm
The trees and fields create implied horizontal lines. Bennachie itself is shaped primarely in the horizontal. On this early morning even the clouds stretched out horizontally.

Staircase

Image 4640 taken on 23.3.2012, 1/125sec, f 4.5, ISO1oo, 27mm

This staircase is leading up to the watertower in Arbroath

Pond and street in Arbroath

Image 4631 taken on 23.3.2012, 1/100 sec, f8, ISO 400, 34mm
The shoreline, grass and shrub area, the street, windows and rooftops all imply horizontal lines.

Wall

Image 4637 taken on 23.3.2012, 1/50sec, f4.5, ISO100, 29mm
Even though the rocks are different shapes and sizes the Dyker has created horizontal lines

Raised Cherry pickers

Image 4627 taken on 23.3.2012, 1/320sec, f8, ISO100, 11mm

Poplars

Image 4628 taken on 23.3.2012, 1/250, f8, ISO100, 13mm

Railway track

Image 4630 taken on 23.3.2012, 1/30sec, f8, ISO100, 20mm

Field

Image 4646 taken on 23.3.2012, 1/250sec, f5.6, ISO 160, 250mm

Some of the lines I noticed where easy to see and notice, while others where more implied.

Exercise: Multiple points

The exercise s to create a still-life and take a photograph of each step. I have taken a few series of pictures, but chosen this series of marbles as the light and reflections added extra changes. As each marble was placed the observer can notice subtle changes in the light and also changing reflections in the central marble. Each marble was randomly placed without having a final image in mind.

Images 4566 to 4573 where taken on 18.3.2012, 8sec, f29, ISO100, 116mm.
I chose a large depth of field to get all in focus, I hope. The scene was lit by a single table lamp.
As each marble was placed the relationships changed. At times the image was balanced or a bit unbalanced. The final picture forming a spiral originating in the centre and possibly continuing beyond the frame. At this point the series has come to a natural end.



Exercise:The relationship between points

The exercise asks to concider the relation between points in a picture. Again when traveling I was looking for possible and hopefully interesting images with two or three points of interest. I concidered another shot from the Buzzard scene, however it had become unclear what was happening. A scene of people picking doffodils in a distant field was dismissed as my point of view was not right. Others were missed as there were no safe stopping places.

Bumblebee

Image 4549 taken on 17.3.2012, 1/200sec, f10, ISO400, 55mm
To start with I took this picture for a single point, to practice with depth of field and capturing the light coming through the petals. Not to forget that I keep wanting to get a sharp image of a bee in flight. Once again I was not able to do the last.
Once home looking at the image in large print I noticed my eyes switching from the bee to the larger flower and back. It had at least two points relating with each other and wanting my attention. The details of the bee and of of the flower.

Working together

Image 4417 taken on 9.3.2012 in Arbroath harbour. 1/3200sec, f5.6, ISO1600, 250mm

On this overcast day I set out to practice with high ISO ratings as well finding something of interest. In the harbour the only activity where these men passing a bucket to each other. The men are obviously paying attention to each other and the blue bucket being lowered. My eyes wander up and down this line.

Chopping wood

Image 4318 taken on 19.2.2012 in Aboyne. 1/160sec, f5.6,ISO1600, 250mm
As I have build the odd treehouse for customers, someone suggest that I had a look at this one.
As I was having a look at the structure from across the road this man appeared and started chopping wood. Now I had some extra interest to the plain shed on stilts with a grand staircase. My eyes wander from the man to the pile of wood, up the staircase to the treehouse/shed, creating a relationship between several points.



Exercise: Positioning a point

This is easy and simple, were my initial thoughts. Elements from previous exercises come into play. Finding and identifying images from my collection was resulting in a few. However I also wanted to find something new and experiement by improving my skills. Greater or lesser depth of field, different angles and use of lenses are such examples.

In this exercise I am to choose three images where the positiong point is in a different place. They can be anywhere on the outer edge, off centre or centred.

Fisherman in the River Dee

Image 4378 taken on 29.2.2012, 1/250sec, f5.6, ISO 160, 250mm
The fisherman is slightly offcentre to the left and top. The reflections of the water do not distract but highlight the lone figure.

Todhead Lighthouse

Image 4512 taken on 15.3.2012, 1600sec, f7, ISO200, 250mm
It was a misty morning with the sun barely coming through. I positioned the lighthouse at the outer edge and used the misty sea as the background. In the other images the foreground of fields and electricity was distracting away from the lighthouse. I cropped the image further as my lense was not long enaugh and ended up with more background than I wanted.


Buzzard

Image 4497 taken on 13.3.2012, 1/500sec, f11, ISO200, 250mm

This is a centred image of a Buzzard, although for some reason I cannot see it here. There was a commotion in the sky as a Buzzard familiy was being harrassed by crows. It was a cloudy day with a uniform gray. This is one of a number of images all turning out in silhuette. When I first noticed the event in the sky all was happening quite low and I could clearly see the birds. By the time I got the camera ready,  they where much higher. Focusing manualy was another challenge. Taking these images made me realise once again that wildlife photography as easy as it looks when done by professionals

Once again the execise has been useful as I start to look more carefully when composing the image. With the buzzard it was chance that it was centred as the event was constantly changing and getting out of range. With the other two I had more time.

Assignment 1: Contrasts

For this assignment we are asked to look out for images which demonstrate contrast within a picture or with a pair.  The task is to find eight pairs of pictures which demonstrate such qualities as: Large/small, Light/heavy, or Still/moving; and one picture which shows contrast within the picture.

The assignment is based on the idea of Johannes  Itten  from The Bauhaus movement who asked students in cources of Art, Design and Architecture to 'discover and illustrate the different possibilities of contrast', Michael Freeman, The Photographer's eye, Ilex 2007, Page 34.

For this task I have searched among my photographs for contrasts. To my surprise I could find such aspects in a number of them.  So far I have only occasionally looked for this when composing a picture. Some are obvious, many are more subtle in showing these aspects. A number of pictures could be placed into several categories. Pairing the pictures was more of a challenge.

Cold              Frosted Mushroom                                            Hot             Bonfire

Curved                    Chain                                                            Straight      Pylons

High         Lochnagar 1155meters high

                                                                                   Low         Fishingboat at 0 meters

  

Moving    Melting Icicle                               Still               A still morning

Many                      Sticks

                                                                                   Few                         Geese

Sweet                  said Mum

                                                                                   Sour          Lemons, grapes and limes

Large          A giant cloud

                                                                                   Small                 A tiny spider



Smooth  A polished granite column

                                                                                                             Rough      cut timber

Waiting for green

I have choosen this image to demonstrate contrasts within one image. The obvious ones are Old/Young and Male/Female. However to me the more striking contrast in this photograph is: Formal/Casual dress. A further contrast relates to how daily life has changed. The gentleman could have been dressed the same some twenty years ago and still does not appear to have the need to use a mobile phone now.

This has been an interesting and enjoyable exercise as it encouraged me to look at my pictures differently. Over the past year I have taken most photographs to practice and improve what I am doing.