Exercise seventeen: Multiple points

Drawing a conclusion to the points project and progressing from the previous 2 exercises, the aim here is to arrange a still life containing multiple points. Although it sounds simple, the challenge is doing so without it appearing obvious or creating strong shapes - the more points, the greater levels of complexity. I  rearranged the selection several times before settling on the following arrangement.

35mm, 2 secs, f/25, ISO 400

With the background set there were a couple of decisions: which marble to use and where to put it.  With the light source over to the right I chose a position slightly off centre with the marble's shadow pointing in to the frame.

35mm, 2 secs, f/25, ISO 400

Of course, as we saw in the previous exercise, adding a second point creates a connection, a line. I placed it here to achieve a degree of balance.  The white marble is still the dominant point.

35mm, 2 secs, f/25, ISO 400

A third point introduces the prospect of a stronger line if all in a line, or a triangle. A line would have looked contrived so I created an obtuse (and weaker) triangle.

35mm, 2 secs, f/25, ISO 400

The fourth marble creates a small right angle triangle in the foreground. The extended line on the left hand side softens the appearance of the triangle and prevents the scene looking contrived.

35mm, 2 secs, f/25, ISO 400

My intent here was to soften the small triangle further. The result is a composition of two lines - one down the left hand side and a new one starting on the right running slightly diagonally upwards.

35mm, 2 secs, f/25, ISO 400 

With the last placement I wanted to avoid extending either of the lines - it would have looked contrived otherwise.

35mm, 2 secs, f/25, ISO 400

It wasn't until I overlaid the final image with lines did I understand how difficult it is to truly fit the brief. Triangles are such a powerful and recognisable shape and there are 3 of them of a similar size in the final shot. In hindsight choosing a solitaire board, with its regular pattern, makes it more difficult for an arrangement to feel random - and each point is uniform too.

The more I look at the final image, it's not the triangles I see - it's the diamond shape that occupies the centre.

In summary, I didn't make things easy for myself but I do feel that I have managed to avoid the rather easy pitfall of the image appearing obvious/contrived.