Positioning a point

In this exercise I am exploring the different positions a point can be placed in the frame. In this case the point in the frame is the distant farmhouse.


Point at centre;  A fairly static composition with regards to the point although this is helped by the distant line of trees on the left leading the eye to the centred point.

Point at the edge, in this photo the there is a sense of movement to the lower right of the frame, not only with the positioning of the point but guided by the lighter tones of the snow and sky and the darker tones of the trees on the left.

Point slightly off centred vertically and horizontally. I find this the most pleasing composition and the point sits nicely in the landscape and draws the eye gently. The point implies a subdivision of the frame both horizontally and vertically and in this case a most pleasing way.

Today's thoughts

At the moment I'm trying to get out with my camera to do the exercises and photo's I need for the next assignment on Elements of Design.
I have re-read some of 'The photographer's eye' (Michael Freeman 2007 ILEX) as there are lots of relevant sections on Points, Vertical and Horizontal Lines, Circles and Implied lines. This is good to refresh for this section of the course.
We've had lots of snow this weekend and I managed to get out on a long hike with my camera along the Wye Valley through woodland on the Offa's Dyke path. I'm quite pleased with the results.

 "Winter phone-box"

"The little lane"

"Footpath to trees"

"Woodland Snow"

"Reaching up"

"Abstract limbs"

"Snowy Gateway"

"Wise and mystical Yew"

"Winter Stile"

"Snow, Grass and Trees"

Assignment 1 photographs - Contrasts

Here are my sets of contrasting photographs for assignment 1.
“Dark”This photo was taken just after sunset in Cornwall at Marizion with the view across to St Michaels Mount. The silhouettes are of my two sons and there was just enough light to reflect off the sea and also highlight the distant cloud formations. I had a ‘blue’ and ‘dark’ feeling when I was taking the photo which I quite often get at sunset. I have been told it is due the lowering light levels stopping production of natural serotonin in the brain, or was it because something happened at sundown to me in a past life? I think the picture achieves the representation of dark very well and I am pleased with the compositionTechie Stuff    ISO400, 18mm, f/3.5, 1/125
 “Light”I was really pleased to take this photo on the Thames Embankment in London last week. I caught the ‘ghostly colours’ of the giant bubble, as light as air in front of the panorama of buildings on the other side of the river. The atmosphere was light and the sky was bright and plenty of ‘light’ which lifted everyone into good spirits. I feel that this contrasts well with dark despite both photo’s being ‘landscape’ as they are very different in atmosphere.Techie stuff    ISO400,   26mm,   f/9,    1/320      

 Light and Dark

"Light"

"Dark"

“Moving and Still”

I took this picture to contrast with” Moving”, this little stone angel in the Victorian cemetery in Redditch Worcestershire struck me as being such an opposite to my lively vivacious lad in the first photo. It is inanimate, silent and a constant reminder of the person who’s grave it adorns, so we remember still..... I tried to achieve a high contrast with the available light to bring out the 3 dimensional detail in the carving. I found myself feeling a sense of sad serenity and thoughts about mortality......

This contrasts so much against the vivacious and lively pic of my son Skye where I’ve used the panning technique to give a great sense of movement to the shot.

 

"Still"

"Moving"

“Curved”

I took this picture inside the Museum of Natural History in London. The architecture is simply stunning and I loved the curved structure of the roof, mirrored in the various arches visible. The composition is really pleasing as the eye is first held by the curvature in the top of the picture and then looks beyond to the arches and finally to the point figure of the statue of Charles Darwin in the low centre of the frame.

Techie Stuff    ISO400, 18mm, f/4, 1/60 

“Straight”

This is a very industrial theme to represent ‘Straight’. I took this photo in the Docks area of the port of Le Havre in France. I was struck by the fact that there is barely a curve to be seen in the frame. I like the composition and perspective. My thoughts while taking pictures around the docks area was that the industrial setting can be so ugly yet are beautiful too.

Techie stuff    ISO400,   45mm,   f/5.3,    1/1250       

"Curved"

"Straight"

"Few"

"Many"

"Continuous"

"Intermittent"

"Rounded"

"Diagonal"

"Transparent"

"Opaque"

"Hard"

"Soft"

"High and Low"

Todays thoughts xmas 2012

So xmas is now out of the way and a good time was had by myself and my 4 lads.....now it's back to work,. I'm still revelling at the amazing cinematography in Peter Jackson's Hobbit, the 3D was awesome and something that particularly interests me. I loved the amazing planes of depth and perspectives as well as the beautiful landscapes and fantastic world portrayed. My youngest son Skye had the Sword (sting) which glows blue and I had a little fun on xmas afternoon with him, his new weapon and my camera.

"Sting"

 A brave hobbit with 'Sting' in action.......he would have been just as happy with a 'light saber' as you can see from his tee shirt.......

I also managed to be given two new photography books as presents which were most welcome;

20th Century Photography - Museum Ludwig Cologne, Taschen 2007

I love this book of Iconic images of photographic art which you can browse through for hours with fantastic art from so many photographers.
A couple that instantly captured my imagination were;

Philippe Halsman "Dali's Skull of Nudes" 1950
the eye see's the familiar form of the skull shape and then recognises the form is of nudes posing.

Robert Doisneau "Pablo Picasso in Vallauris with Francoise Gilot"  1950
my eye first sees the the beautiful french look of Francoise in the left foreground and then leads to the famous artist sitting cross legged in the background in a very simple domestic setting.

 This lead me to seek a look at other work by Doisneau and I hadn't realised he was the photographer who took this iconic image of a sailor kissing. I love his work, out in the street, real life and artistic but a documentary too.

The other book was an interesting technical book;
Mastering Filters for Photography, Chris Weston, Amphoto books, 2009

I've only had a brief look so far but there is so much you can do with filters and up to know I've only used a skylight and polarising filter so this is a huge area to explore...much food for thought and experimentation.

Todays thoughts

With xmas approaching it's a very hectic time both at work and socially. I've just had my tutor's report to my first assignment back which is very encouraging and gives me a good bench mark to work towards in my second assignment due February. I will upload assignment one here shortly however I am going to re-work one of my contrasting pairs of photo's 'Hard and Soft' as they were my weakest set. Overall though I feel pleased but determined to improve as well.
I have just been reviewing some recent photo's from my last trip to Cornwall. I particularly like this sunset shot of St Michaels Mount. I love the reflection of colour in the river as it winds out to sea leading your eyes towards St Michaels Mount on the horizon.

 In this photo I managed to capture the fantastic site of the gathering of migrating birds, thousands and thousands of them flying together at sunset like giant waves in the sky. I've never seen anything like this before and for once my Nikon was in my hands already!

I love the deep contrasts in this next photo of my son Jack, at the shoreline with the last remnants of the evenings sunset through the distant clouds on the horizon

Various thoughts and Le Havre Docks

Today I read an article on the BBC news website which made me think about some ethical questions. The article entitled "Fallen Soldiers : Is it right to take images of bodies?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20223626






This article caught my attention as at the beginning of my Photography Course I had just visited the First World War sites around Ypres in Belgium and was fascinated and inspired by the 3D photography taken at the time in 1914-18. My feelings are that it is fine to take these images as long as there is due respect shown for the dead and their surviving families. These images become a historical record eventually and there are some very powerful images both macabre and moving which gives them a validity. Others may disagree.

(Photos taken from BBC website and are Getty Images)

Photography in Low Light.

I have been doing a bit of research into the camera I should have to take band/music shots of musicians at gigs. My past attempts have not been great. My Nikon D80 struggles in low light despite large aperture/ slower shutter speed/higher ISO combinations and get blurry which isn't always what I want. I know the top range Nikons D3 and D4 are very good but they are also completely out of range of my budget. I have discovered that the older D700 has a fantastic reputation for this so I am going to try and borrow one. I want to work without flash and use the available light if possible as I don't want to change the natural atmosphere if I can help it, please post any advice if you have any.

Industrial Photo's Le Havre France

Tonight I have been sorting through photographs taken around the port area of Le Havre on last week's trip to France while waiting for the ferry. I felt the slight worry of being arrested by the Port police as it felt 'dodgy' but I was enjoying the industrial setting;

 The above two photo's are taken at the massive EDF coal fired power station. The main electrical output runs across these bizarre and abstractly shaped insulators which are alien taken out of context.

 I loved the light coming in behind the above shots of the chimneys and electrical 'gubbins' at the power station. The dramatic sky when the sun was trying to break through the clouds beautifully silhouettes everything in front giving a powerfully and contrasting image.

I liked the uniform shapes of the shipping containers stacked up, brightly coloured and very geometrical. I shot these pics through a chain link fence which gave a very unfocused shadow mask in front which itself imparted an interesting effect. In the middle photo where it stands out more I like the feeling it gives of being an 'outsider' looking in and a slightly illicit feeling which could be an effective trick in future work.

 This geometrical building captured my interest and wondered if the designer had tried to break up the solid and boring box with the different coloured panels.

 This scene of tons of machinery looked like a vision of hell to me being a 'countryside lover'. It just looked like a huge mess of steel that makes no sense to me.

 Two very proud looking 'cranes' for handling shipping containers looking like twins against the skyline.

 I liked the perspective and geometry in this photo.

These shipping containers looked liked they had been carefully and aesthetically arranged as if by an artist, the colours just complimented each other so well.