Exercise fifteen preparation: Positioning a point

The brief for this exercise is to take 3 shots composed with just a single point. The point being the most fundamental design element of a photograph.

Firstly, I've brainstormed possible compositions that could contain a single point.  There are too many to list, so here are the highlights:

• Graffiti on a wall
• A distant shot of a golfer on the fairway
• The moon in the night sky
• A lone horse in a field
• A person in the distance walking on the beach

In preparation for the exercise I've looked through my existing library of photos for examples of images that contain a single point. 

It's worth noting that I've realised that I don't have a natural tendency to compose images with a single point (as these are the only images that I have that fit the brief).

As the study material point out, I should avoid being drawn to images on the grounds of colour when completing this next section of the course.  The door handle is a case in point - the vivid blue alongside the green was my motive for taking the shot at the time.  So from here on in I'll be endeavouring to convert images to black and white.

Preparing for assignment one

I had made a start for this assignment a few months ago but life took over.  In fact, the theme of transport started to develop.  However, my intention is to race through this first assignment now that I've got some momentum from the previous couple of exercises, and continuing the theme would have been too time consuming.

Instead, I'm planning for a Manchester theme with a view to taking all the necessary shots in one day.  A couple of the shots that I'd already taken fit with this theme - notably an image from John Rylands library the represents two contrasts in one (light/dark), and an overhead shot of a multi story car park (rounded).

I'm putting a lot of effort into planning the shots that I want; even going to lengths of sketching them out.  This should increase my chances of getting the shots that I want within a relatively small timeframe. I'll post some examples soon.

Exercise fourteen: Cropping

So, the final exercise before assignment one. The brief was to select three images from my library with a view to creating 'new' images by cropping them.


Mauritius

55mm, 1/400 secs, f/8, ISO 100

Each alternative corp is an improvement on the original.  The landscape alternative falls a little short because of the empty space down the left hand side of the image.  The portrait alternative, however, is much better balanced.

Burj Al Arab, Dubai

20mm, 1/30 secs, f/18, ISO 200

The obvious alternative crop (portrait) is too flat, and resembles a run-of-the-mill holiday snap.  Although I tend not to opt for (or even spot) a square crop, it works very well here.  The building on the right that's flooded with evening light and the boat in the right foreground gives the viewer a greater sense of context.


Holy Island, Northumberland

18mm, 1/60 secs, f/18, ISO 200

I do like the original shot, framed to some degree by the reed on the left of the image - without it, all points of interest in the shot would be on the right hand side of the scene.  The landscape crop arguably provides greater balance but it suffers from the loss of the grassy area in the foreground.  The portrait crop works extremely well; conforming to the rule of thirds - firstly with the horizon and the shoreline, but also with the boat sitting on one of the intersections and the castle on another.


In conclusion, this was a nice little activity. Of course, composition is part of the thought process before a shot is even taken.  Following which, in post-production I may tighten/straighten up a little or occasionally I'll seek to find an alternative to the original composition.  This exercise has taught me that one image can yield several alternatives.

Exercise thirteen: Vertical and horizontal frames

There have been a number of obstacles to maintaining the pace that I'd originally set, but in some way this exercise was one of them.  The thought of having to take 40 images seemed like a sizeable effort - certainly the biggest one yet.

To recap, 20 pairs of images were needed; each pair consisting of a vertical and horizontal shot.  Intrigued by this exercise I've trawled through my library and I seem to have a tendency to take portrait shots (which probably breaks from the norm).

Here are the images I've compiled for this exercise.

120mm, 1/80 secs, f/16, ISO 100

18mm, 1/80 secs, f/16, ISO 100

105mm, 1/125 secs, f/18, ISO 400

75mm, 1/125 secs, f/18, ISO 400

18mm, 1/1000 secs, f/8, ISO 800

20mm, 1/80 secs, f/8, ISO 800

10mm, 1/500 secs, f/18, ISO 800

10mm, 1/320 secs, f/18, ISO 800

30mm, 1/50 secs, f/22, ISO 400

30mm, 1/50 secs, f/22, ISO 400

55mm, 1/4000 secs, f/5.6, ISO 100

55mm, 1/1000 secs, f/5.6, ISO 100

22mm, 1/60 secs, f/20, ISO 800

22mm, 1/60 secs, f/20, ISO 800

18mm, 1/13 secs, f/22, ISO 100

18mm, 1/20 secs, f/22, ISO 100

18mm, 1/40 secs, f//22, ISO 100

18mm, 1/40 secs, f/22, ISO 100

18mm, 1/60 secs, f/22, ISO 100

18mm, 1/60 secs, f/22, ISO 100

55mm, 1/800 secs, f/22, ISO 100

55mm, 1/800 secs, f/22, ISO 100

15mm, 1/400 secs, f/16, ISO 400

10mm, 1/400 secs, f/16, ISO 400

18mm, 1/1000 secs, f/10, ISO 400

18mm, 1/1000 secs, f/10, ISO 400

50mm, 1 secs, f/22, ISO 400

18mm, 2.5 secs, f/22, ISO 400

45mm, 1/1000 secs, f/5.6, ISO 100

35mm, 1/1000, f/4.5, ISO 100

45mm, 1/160 secs, f/5.6, ISO 100

24mm, 1/160, f/4, ISO 100

55mm, 1/60 secs, f/11, ISO 100

55m, 1/60 secs, f/11, ISO 100

50mm, 1/200 secs, f/11, ISO 400

55mm, 1/200 secs, f/11, ISO 400

20mm, 1/160 secs, f/11, ISO 400

24mm, 1/160 secs, f/11, ISO 400

50mm, 1/160 secs, f/2.2, ISO1600

30mm, 1/125, f/4.5, ISO 6400

Conclusion
As the exercise brief suggests, by this point of the course most students will have a bias towards shooting landscape.  I on the other hand am probably guilty of the opposite.

It still proved to be a valuable experience.  Very few shots only work in one of either landscape or portrait, and breaking with convention can work very effectively (both portrait shots of the Tudor buildings are a prime example).  Granted, a change of focal length, composition, angle of view and/or altering the distance from the subject may be necessary.