Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Dividing The Frame.
Exercise: Positioning the horizon.


For this exercise I found a viewpoint outdoors that gave a reasonably interesting landscape in which there was an unbroken and clear horizon.


I then took a short sequence of 6 photographs in which the horizon was placed at different positions in the frame from the top to the bottom.

7239

 In this photograph the horizon is placed at the top of the frame.  I like this image because it has foreground detail and detail in the middle distance.  The viewer's eye is encouraged to move between the foreground and background of the photograph.

7238

Here the horizon has been placed in the centre of the frame.  This has created quite a static composition.  There is little foreground detail to help with the composition.

7237

In this photograph the horizon has been placed just below the centre of the frame.  This has given greater prominence to the interesting sky.  The cloud formation gives 3 distinct areas of the frame.  This makes a more interesting composition.

7236

Here the horizon is placed approximately one third the frame height from the bottom of the frame.  I find this photograph the most interesting because with the help of the cloud formation, the frame is divided roughly into thirds.

7235

The horizon in this photograph is placed towards the bottom of the frame.  The composition is quite dynamic.  With the sky prominent, it gives the photograph a greater feeling of depth.

7234

Here the horizon is placed at the bottom of the frame.  The sky is very prominent.  As there is little detail below the horizon the resulting composition is not very pleasing.

What have I learned from this exercise ?

A centrally placed division of the frame creates a very static composition.  A higher or lower division will be more dynamic and give the picture a greater feeling of depth.  Adding foreground detail makes the static effect of a centrally placed division less important.

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Looking Through The Viewfinder.
Exercise: A sequence of composition

The object of this exercise was to experience the practical process of composing an image.  I visited St Albans market early on market day and took a sequence of images as I toured the market looking for an image that would be representative of the quality of market stall and the variety of produce available on the market.

After processing the images, I laid them out in order and made a note describing why I moved onto the next viewpoint.

1684

This is the first shot taken on arriving at the market.  There are few people around due to the early hour.  I moved on to look at the other stalls.

1685

Again an early photograph with few customers at the market.  Moved on to look at the other stalls.

1686

The stall holders are still setting up their stalls.  I moved on to find a stall with more interesting items for sale.

1687

Again, stall holders still setting up their stalls.  Moved on to find a stall with more interesting items for sale.

1688

It is still early and the market is almost deserted.  Moved on to look for more people.

1689

Again, the market is almost deserted in this photograph.  Therefore moved on to look for more people.

1690

This is an interesting photograph.  Although the stall is deserted the background empty shop window is painted with an image of the market.  Moved on to look for interesting products.

1691

Here is a close-up photograph of products on sale.  They are not very interesting so I moved on.

1693

"Cheese Man" stall.  This is a novel stall with a man buying cheese.  I moved on to look for more customers.

1696

This stall has a good display of fruit and vegetables.  There is a customer buying fruit.  I moved on to look for a better display.

1697

This is a close-up photograph of fruit and vegetables on sale.  I moved on to look for a better display and maybe more people.

1701

This photograph of a fabric stall shows the variety of goods for sale in the market.  I moved on to investigate other stalls.

1702

Photograph of an interesting display.  I moved on to investigate other stalls.

1703

Photograph of a stall holder making his final inspection of his stall layout.  I moved on to look for more customers and stallholders.

1705

"Bag City".  Moved on because there was no human life in the photograph.

1707

Photograph of a man buying an early morning snack.  Moved on to find more traditional stalls.

1710

This footwear stall had very clear pricing labels.  I moved on to look for more price label examples.

1713

This bread stall had an interesting range of bread for sale.  Moved on to see what other stalls present.

1716

This photograph of a flower stall has more action.  I moved on to find an image that shows a typical stall with high quality produce, well presented.

1717

This is a photograph of a large fruit and vegetable stall.  It has large pricing labels, customers and the stall holder.  This image encapsulates the good quality of stalls and produce available in the market.  It includes a mixture of building styles to be found in St Albans.

What have I learned from this exercise ?

When photographing a location or event, keep the camera to the eye as much as possible so as to see the image when it presents its self.

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Dividing The Frame.
Exercise: Balance.

For this exercise I took six of my own already-taken photographs and decided how the balance worked in each one.  I added small rectangular boxes around the dominant parts of the image.  I also created a sketch of the balance for each of the pictures and have placed this below each image.

Hong Kong Tugs 5

 Here the tug boats are balanced by the tall dark building on the left of the picture.

7167

In this photograph the balance is provided by the two objects either side of the frame.  The composition of this photograph is simpler than the previous one, with fewer objects.  This made it easier to identify the balance.

Hong Kong Tug

 In this photograph the two tugs are balanced by the group of large, dark coloured buildings on the right of the frame.  The balance in this image was difficult to identify due to the large quantity of objects in the image.

7116A

In this image the composition is simpler than the images with the tugs and it is therefore easier to identify the balance.  There is not a perfect balance in this photograph as the objects on the right hand side are larger than and appear heavier than those on the left hand side.

7172

Again in this image there are few distinct objects making it easier to identify the balance.  The blue post in the foreground on the left is balanced by the dark building on the right of the frame.

7157

With only 3 distinct objects in this photograph, (the three buildings) the balance was easier to identify than in the images with the tugs.  The two dark toned areas on the left and right of the frame help to balance the image.

What have I learned from this exercise ?

Balance does not have to be simply between two obvious, clearly-defined objects.  It can be between an object and a background, or between two different areas of tone, or colour.  In general the simpler the composition of a photograph, the more obvious the balance will be.

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Focal Lengths.
Exercise: Focal Lengths and different viewpoints.

Two photographs were taken, one with the zoom lens set to its shortest focal length and one with the zoom lens set to its longest focal length.

The first photograph was taken of a beach hut with the focal length set to 105mm.  A tightly framed composition was made.

7165 Focal Length 105mm

The building has a flat, almost 2 dimensional look.  There seems to be very little distance between the front uprights and the doors of the hut.

7166 Focal Length 27mm

In this photograph the building has more depth.  Although the uprights are distorted there is more apparent distance between the front uprights and the door of the hut.  The hut appears to be closer to the camera, mainly due to being able to see the open sides of the verandah.

What have I learned from this exercise ?

A telephoto lens will give the image a flatter, more compressed perspective and a shorter depth of field.  A wide-angle lens will give a deeper perspective and a longer depth of field.

Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Focal Lengths.
Exercise: Focal Lengths.

 For this exercise I chose a view which was open and had some details in the distance and in the middle of the view.  I placed the camera on a tripod and kept it in the same position for all of the photographs.  Starting with the longest focal length on my zoom lens I took a series of six photographs, changing the focal length each time.  The images below show the effect of the changing focal length on the amount that is included in the scene and the relative size of each element of the scene.

7167 Focal Length 157mm

7168 Focal Length 105mm

7169 Focal Length 78mm

7170 Focal Length 52mm

7171 Focal Length 36mm

7172 Focal Length 27mm

What have I learned from this exercise ?

The focal length of a lens determines the angle of view.  The angle of view has an important effect on the character of an image.

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.