Photography 1: P & P, Proj 12: Close & Involved

Project 12: Close and involved

For this exercise I used a wide angle setting on my zoom lens.  This enabled me to get close to people.  This has the effect of putting the viewer right inside the situation.

The two images created are shown below:  

5570

5579

Both of these photographs were taken in Beijing, China.  They were both taken on a sunday, when people collect together in the park to socialise.  The people in the photographs are involved in and enjoying what they were doing.  This made it easier for me to get close to them to take the shots.  This is an advantage when working with a wide-angle of view from very close to the people you are photographing.  Another advantage created by working from very close is that the viewer will feel part of the action.

The problems created by working with a wide-angle of view from very close to the people you are photographing is that you can often be presented with a close-up view of the back of someone's head.  This is what happened when taking the photo ref. 5579 above.  Also, when you are working very close to people, they often notice you taking pictures and stare at the camera.  Fortunately, in these two situations the subjects were involved in what they were doing and ignored the camera.