Exercise 14

Project - Cropping and extending

Exercise - Cropping

The aim of this exercise is to take 3 previously taken photographs and crop them in order to create a different image from the original.

I actually found it reasonably hard to find 3 suitable images for this from what I have taken up to this point as most of the images I've taken have been very simple and the subject has been in a very singular position where it wouldn't work if cropped.

Crop 1

I decided to crop off all the sky which ran down the right of the frame. In turn this elongates the shot and stresses the compression of the straight lines of the buildings.

and here's the original

Crop 2

Here is closed right in on the person running. Clearly this adds focus to the subject.

and here's the original

Crop 3

In this shot I closed in on the gate - removing the excessive ground before and the sky above. I also went for a straight square crop. This makes the shot a very simple, graphical composition which I quite like.

and here's the original

Thoughts for Assignment 1 (2nd attempt)

I wanted to have another go at capturing my thoughts on how I should complete Assignment 1. I had a go with this post, but felt that was a bit brief and didn't really involve much analysis. Moreover, as I noted in addition to the post on 27/7, my ideas often didn't reflect what I've learnt about the kind of photography I'm interested. I've tried to include more of these types of subjects in my ideas below.

General thoughts
Important to remember that subject can be amongst other things, it needn't be the only thing in the frame.

I think literal interpretations will also work best in most instances.

I think for the most part I want to use subjects which can display both qualities rather than totally different subjects. I think this will mean that the 2 images have more unity and feel more like a pair.

I'm also going to be in Paris for a few days soon so I'm going to see if I can complete the shots using subjects in France.

I guess it's also important to make sure I show that I've taken something from the exercises, so need to show awareness of focus, depth of field, movement/shutter speed, focal length, composition, approach to the subject.

I've * the ones I'm most interested in completing for the assignments.

Large/Small *
Different sizes of same subject. Or same object at different distances. Perspective to emphasise, or even fool the viewer. Eiffel tower should present good opportunity with this. Could even be real thing and a small ornament.

Many/Few **
Something which can be shown as many instances in one shot, but also singled out as one. Or something which is always many and something which is always one. One person and crowd may work well.

Transparent/Opaque *
The same subject being both - water, or subjects which are inherently one or the other - glass, bricks. The pyramid near the louvre may offer opportunity to do both - could compose 1 shot but focus on foreground/background to emphasise transparent/opaque.

Broad/Narrow **
I can only think of streets or rivers for this. Which I think is fine.

Diagonal/Rounded
I think this one would require different subjects for each shot, so its of less interest to me. Irrespective I can think of few examples - I'll keep an eye out when wandering round - there could be some interesting examples in the detail in buildings.

Continuous / Intermittent
This one is intriguing, but I can't think of an interpretation which maps to photographable subjects, other than maybe streams of people or cars. However, I think I'll be covering those elsewhere.

Liquid / Solid *
Ice and Water may work for this, but again would require a close up which I'm not too excited by...

Light / Dark *
Obvious one here is over/under exposed subject. Still life would be easiest - there is a simple ornament in the corner of my living room which may work quite well. Alternatively the same scene in night/day would work.

Smooth / Rough *
Smooth surface of car and wheel on rough road surface. Or again, keep a look out for details.

Much / Little **
A non literal exploration of this could work well - a rich person and a poor person?

Light / Heavy
Could be an emotional light and heavy - Graveyard and Disneyland?

Black / White
Could be an ethnicity take on this. Or something which emphasises the colours - but again, not sure what. A Tudor building could also combine the two in one shot.

Still / Moving **
People. Still - waiting to cross the road/watching something/frozen with fast shutter. Moving - walking down the street.

High / Low *
Same subject from up high and down low - Eiffel tower is obvious candidate.

Straight / Curved*
Roads? Or maybe buildings for straight and a tree/flowers for curved.

Sweet / Sour
Really can't think of anything for this other than food - which really don't interest me very much. Alternative is to go for the sweet and sour emotions?

Strong / Weak
Hard / Soft
Thick / Thin
Long / Short
Pointed / Blunt
The above options all fall into the category of being types that I will need to keep me eye out for as I have no specific things I can think of which I'd like to capture to represent them.

Exercise 13

Project - Frame shapes and sizes

Exercise - Vertical and horizontal frames

The aim of this exercise is to take a series of shots in vertical/portrait format and then take the same subjects in horizontal/landscape format and to see how this effects framing and how each format presents different options and constraints.

I chose to take my series on a stretch of 2 miles of road that I travel down every day on the way to work. I'd previously been tempted to shoot some of the scenery off the side of the road, but more recently became more intrigued by the prospects of the road itself.

I also liked the idea of taking a series which might work as a total and to impose a series of additional constraints on myself in order to increase the consistency of the shots. So I limited myself to using an equivalent 35mm focal length, only shooting directly across the road and not including any humans/cars in the shots. All these aspects were inspired by Lewis Baltz.

There are a lot of shots, so I'm not going to comment on each one, however, I will say that this is was one of the most enjoyable exercises I've completed and certainly one which I'm most pleased with the outcome. The imposed vertical and horizontal framing encouraged me to concentrate of the graphical nature and how the opportunities presented were different for vertical and horizontal - partly from what was actually available to fit in the frame and partly because of what lines & shapes could be formed for each framing.

I also tried putting a few of my preferred shots into black and white in order to emphasise the graphic nature (again, inspired by Lewis Baltz)