Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Looking through the viewfinder.
Exercise: Object in different positions in the frame.

For this exercise the subject, here two tugs steaming along in a harbour was placed in different positions in the frame.  The results were then compared one to another and put in order of preference, A-G.

A: Hong Kong Tugs 4, Subject a little way from the centre.

This photograph is the best of the set.  The tugs are placed slightly to the left of centre.  There is room for the tugs to move into the picture.  The subject is prominent in the scene and the relationship between the subject and its background is good.

B: Hong Kong Tugs 6, Subject close to left edge.

This framing is the next best image.  The tugs are perhaps a little too close to the left edge of the frame but still have room to move into the frame.  The background is more dominant in the frame than the subject.

C: Hong Kong Tugs 8, Subject close to bottom left corner.

Here the subject is placed in the bottom left corner of the frame.  The background is tending to overshadow the subject.  The subject is not particularly prominent in the frame.

D: Hong Kong Tugs 3, Subject right in the centre.

Here the subject has been placed directly in the centre of the frame.  As the tugs are also steaming straight ahead, this has given the photograph a static feel.  The subject is prominent in the frame.  The subject does not work well with the background.

E: Hong Kong Tugs 2, Photograph taken quickly without much time for composition.

Although this photograph was taken quickly and without much thought given to composition, I like it better than the photographs below.  There is a reasonable balance between the subject and the background.  The subject is below the horizontal centre line of the frame and slightly to the right of the vertical centre line so it does not have quite the static feel of photograph D.  There is still sufficient room for the tugs to steam into the frame.

F: Hong Kong Tugs 7, Subject close to top right corner.

I feel that the subject is not well placed within the frame.  The tugs appear to be about to steam out of the picture, which gives the photograph an odd unbalanced feel to it.  The relationship between the subject and its background does not work well.

G: Hong Kong Tugs 5, Subject on right edge.

Once again I feel that the subject is not well placed within the frame.  The relationship between the subject and its background does not work well.  The tugs here also appear to be about to steam out of the picture, which gives the photograph an odd unbalanced feel to it.

What have I learned from this exercise ?

When taking pictures it is important to keep the camera to the eye in order to be able to "see" potential photographs.  The position of the subject within the frame and its relationship to the background can alter the way in which they work together.  Don't make rules out of techniques of composition.

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Looking through the viewfinder.
Exercise: Fitting the frame to the subject.

For the exercise I chose to photograph an old clock that was sitting on a mantelpiece over a fireplace.  Four photographs were taken with the subject taking up different amounts of space within the frame.  Finally I tried different crops of the fourth photograph to experiment with the placement of the subject within the frame.

7109 Quick shot without too much time on composition

This photograph was taken quickly without much care for the composition.

7110 The subject fits the frame

With this photograph I moved in close so that the subject precisely fitted the frame.  I took the photograph in portrait because this fitted the overall shape of the clock.

7117 Close up on the clock's dial

When taking this photograph I moved in close so as to fit just the clock face into the frame.  This eliminated the case of the clock from the photograph.

7116 Placing the subject within its surroundings

For this photograph I moved further away from the subject so as to show it within its surroundings.  This type of framing stresses the surroundings where the subject is found rather than the subject itself.  It also gives more information about the function of the subject, in this case a mantelpiece clock.

Using the above photograph, I experimented with other crops of the photograph.  Each was designed to place the subject in different positions within the frame.

7116A Wide crop.

7116B Subject at the bottom of the frame.

7116C Subject at the top of the frame

Of the three crops of photograph 7116, I prefer number 7116A as this shows the subject arranged with objects of a similar size.

What have I learned from this exercise ?

Manipulating the position of the frame of the image can significantly alter the composition of the photograph.

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Photographing Movement

The two images below were scanned from postcards bought in Pembrokeshire.  They were produced by a local photographer, Philip Clarke.  The first photograph is of frozen movement.  The wave is frozen in mid air with all parts sharp.  The sunlight on the wave adds to the drama of the image.  In contrast the fence that can just be seen on cliff-top seems puny in comparison with the power of the sea.

In the second photograph, a slow shutter speed has been used.  The waves breaking on the rocks seem like a mist.

Philip Clarke - Winter Storm

Philip Clarke - Aberbach

The third photograph has been scanned from a travel brochure.  The movement of the man in the photograph has been frozen along with the background.

Arab Man in Temple

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Photographing Movement.
Exercise Panning With Different Shutter Speeds.

With the help of my subject and a plain background I took a number of photographs at different shutter speeds from 1/10 second to 1/1000 of a second.  The camera was panned on the tripod, keeping the subject in the middle of the frame.  The aperture was adjusted with each change in shutter speed to ensure the correct exposure.

I asked my subject to walk backwards and forwards at a steady speed in front of the camera.  I adjusted the shutter speed after each pass.

The photographs taken are shown below:

7070 Shutter speed: 1/10 second

The background of this photograph is streaked and blurred.  The subject is mostly sharp.  The legs are blurred as they were moving faster than the panning camera.  There is a good sense of movement.

7071 Shutter speed: 1/30 second

The background of the photograph is blurred but not as much as with the shutter speed of 1/10 second.  The subject is mostly sharp.  There is a reasonable sense of movement.

7072 Shutter speed: 1/60 second

Due to the relatively slow pace of walking of the subject, even though the camera is panned most of the photograph is sharp.  Some motion blur is present on the moving leg, which is moving in the opposite direction to the panning camera.  There is not much sense of movement in the photograph.

7073 Shutter speed: 1/100 second

Again due to the subject's relatively slow pace of walking all is sharp in the photograph.  There is no real sense of movement.  This photograph is the first where both the subject and background are sharp with no particular sense of movement.  The following photos were all taken at faster shutter speeds, so the subject and background are sharp in each one.

7074 Shutter speed: 1/125 second

7075 Shutter speed: 1/200 second

7076 Shutter speed: 1/250 second

7077 Shutter speed: 1/400 second

7078 Shutter speed: 1/640 second

7079 Shutter speed: 1/1000 second

Looking at all of the images from both exercises in this project my favourites are given below:

Exercise 1: Image 7060 (1/10 second).  In this photograph there is a good sense of movement.  The subject is still reasonably recognisable.

Exercise 2: Image 7070 (1/10 second).  In this photograph the subject is mostly sharp, except for the faster moving legs.  The background is nicely blurred giving a feeling of movement.

What have I learned from this exercise ?

Panning the camera with the shutter speed set at 1/60 sec or 1/30 sec will give a fairly sharp image of the subject while the background will be streaked.  1/10 sec is better for a relatively slow walking subject.

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Photographing Movement.
Exercise: Shutter Speeds

With the help of my subject and a plain background I took a number of photographs at different shutter speeds from 1 second to 1/1250 of a second.  The aperture was adjusted with each change in shutter speed to ensure the correct exposure.

I asked my subject to walk backwards and forwards at a steady speed in front of the camera.  I adjusted the shutter speed after each pass.

The photographs taken are shown below:

7059 Shutter speed: 1 second

The camera was not able to adjust the aperture to a small enough size to give a correct exposure.  All the motion is blurred and the subject cannot be seen.

7060 Shutter speed: 1/10 second

The subject is blurred but still discernible as a person walking.  The leg in motion is very blurred.  Overall a good sense of movement, useful for crowd shots.

7061 Shutter speed: 1/30 second

The subject is slightly blurred but quite clear.  The leg in motion is blurred but still clearly a leg.  Good sense of movement.

7062 Shutter speed: 1/60 second

The subject is slightly blurred.  There is no real motion blur.  There is not a particularly good sense of movement.

7063 Shutter speed: 1/125 second

The subject is slightly blurred.  There is no real motion blur.  There is not a particularly good sense of movement.

7064 Shutter speed: 1/250 second

 This photograph is the first where the subject is sharply frozen with no particular sense of movement.  The following photographs were all taken at faster shutter speeds so the subject is also sharply frozen in each one.

7065 Shutter speed: 1/320 second

7066 Shutter speed: 1/500 second

7067 Shutter speed: 1/800 second

7068 Shutter speed: 1/1250 second

What have I learned from this exercise ?

Different situations require different shutter speeds in order to freeze the movement, if required.  Also, in some situations different parts of the image will be frozen and others blurred.

Visit to BP Portrait Award 2010

Today I visited the BP Portrait Award Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London.  The exhibition was very interesting and the standard of the exhibits was very high.

There were two images that I particularly liked:

Gillian by Miriam Escofet

I particularly liked the fantastic detail on the model's hair and clothing.  The artist has used natural light from a window to light the subject.  This has resulted in a very striking and natural representation of the model.  I also particularly liked the serene expression on the model's face.

Lila Pearl by Thea Penna

Once again I thought that the lighting in this picture was excellent.  I also liked the way that the artist had captured the vulnerable look on the face of the child.  Also the way that the child seemed to be pushed into a corner for security emphasising her vulnerability.

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project Focus
Exercise: Focus at different apertures.

I took 3 photographs using the same lens.  All three images were taken at a focus point of 2m.  For the first image I used the widest aperture for the lens, F2.8.  For the second image I used the mid-point of the lens's aperture scale, F9. The aperture for the third image was the smallest available for the lens, F32.

Aperture F2.8

Aperture F9

Aperture F32

The apparent depth of field for each image is indicated by the black lines on each image.  It is clear from these 3 images that the depth of field is smallest at the widest aperture and greatest at the smallest aperture.

What have I learned from this exercise ?

The limits of sharpness, or depth of field varies with aperture.  The smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field.

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Focus
Exercise: Focus with a set aperture.

Below are three pictures taken with a set aperture, F3.5.  I have focussed firstly on the foreground, the middle distance and then on the end of the row.

Image DSC7029 Focus on Foreground

Image DSC7030 Focus on Middle Distance

Image DSC7031 Focus on End of Row

I prefer the image with the focus on the end of the row.  The reason for this is that the focus tends to lead the eye through the picture to the furthest chair.  The closer chairs seem less important as they are slightly out of focus.

What have I learned from this exercise ?

Sharp focus draws the attention, and a sharp subject stands out against the out-of-focus surroundings.