Looking through the viewfinder is key. Page 39 in the Art of Photography course hits home a problem I have had for many years in areas where I live - inability to see potential pictures with the eye because of familiarity with local surroundings. I refer to this in my blog. I am looking forward through this course to training my eye "to see and evaluate pictures almost anywhere." So, as explained in the course material, "Making a picture is, for the most part, a matter of selection rather than building from scratch." ... and ..."if the process of making photographs hinges on choosing a potential image from the viewfinder, then the most important skill to learn is how the various parts of an image inside the frame fit together, in other words, composition." Looking around the room of my lounge through the viewfinder, I can use this technique to creates new image finding possibilities. I remember sometime past of using the thumb and forefinger of each hand, overlapped, to create a frame. Today I have made a pair of L-frames as suggested in the exercise to assist framing and cropping.
The first exercise in this section is about fitting the fame to the subject. We are asked to take at least four different photographs - entire subject as we would normally take it, tightly framed subject, close up of part of the subject and finally a photograph where the subject occupies only a small part of the frame - a quarter of less. For this exercise we are using Noddy! Click on each image as they are best viewed enlarged as the thumbnail images are clipped, especially the second one which is in vertical format. Images at f11 @1/125. The L frames provide further options to experiment with re-framing the images. My preferred photograph is the close up as I think the eyes give impact.
The first exercise in this section is about fitting the fame to the subject. We are asked to take at least four different photographs - entire subject as we would normally take it, tightly framed subject, close up of part of the subject and finally a photograph where the subject occupies only a small part of the frame - a quarter of less. For this exercise we are using Noddy! Click on each image as they are best viewed enlarged as the thumbnail images are clipped, especially the second one which is in vertical format. Images at f11 @1/125. The L frames provide further options to experiment with re-framing the images. My preferred photograph is the close up as I think the eyes give impact.
The next exercise was to photograph an object in different positions in the frame. The course manual mentions the rule of third which I am very familiar with and often have this grid switch on in my camera as a guide. Some camera club judges are obsessed with this rule - but rules are meant to be broken sometimes! I started with a bowl of roses but decided to concentrate on photographing just one rose as isolating one of the bunch looked better. It was suggested that the object should be photographed against a large even background. I chose one of my black studio backdrops and used natural window light coming from the north. Whilst I often prefer photographs where the subject is off centre, in this instance my preferred photograph is the second one where the rose is central. This might also work well in a vertical or square format. My least preferred photograph is the last one which I think is unbalanced. However, if this was a shoot for a magazine cover or for a product promotion shoot such as a perfume, there is great scope for graphics and lettering in the black area!
The next exercise was a sequence of composition. The aim is to think about the process of composing an image and the brief was to hold the viewfinder to the eye and move around a situation thinking about possible pictures and taking about 20 - 30 best images. The manual describes this as "a sort of stop-frame movie". After taking the pictures the brief was to review them and described why you moved on to the next viewpoint.
My shoot was in Cardiff's historic market focussing on Ashton's fishmarket. This business was established in 1800 and has been in Cardiff Market since 1890 with the Aston family selling to the Adams family in 1973. Mr Jonathan Adams (in photo 3) is the managing director of Ashtons. The shoot and composition options that were open to me in some ways follow how I would have tackled the assignment if shooting a video. We start with a picture indentifying Cardiff Market and then move inside and identify the total Ashtons business. Then we move on to photographing staff, customers and products using a mixture of group, individual and close up photographs to maintain variety and interest. Towards the end we come back to customers in the context of the market and then go to the rear of the business to see fish preparation before closing with a final shot looking back into the market and finishing outside, where we started.
The exercise was an interesting experience and recently I have learnt to be more confident and positive in approaching people for this type of photography. I thought through a sequence plan before I started, but was prepared to be flexible in the light of changing circumstances. I cleared the shoot with Jonathan Adams and neither the staff nor customers were concerned about being photographed. One person did not want to be photographed and I respected their privacy of course.
My shoot was in Cardiff's historic market focussing on Ashton's fishmarket. This business was established in 1800 and has been in Cardiff Market since 1890 with the Aston family selling to the Adams family in 1973. Mr Jonathan Adams (in photo 3) is the managing director of Ashtons. The shoot and composition options that were open to me in some ways follow how I would have tackled the assignment if shooting a video. We start with a picture indentifying Cardiff Market and then move inside and identify the total Ashtons business. Then we move on to photographing staff, customers and products using a mixture of group, individual and close up photographs to maintain variety and interest. Towards the end we come back to customers in the context of the market and then go to the rear of the business to see fish preparation before closing with a final shot looking back into the market and finishing outside, where we started.
The exercise was an interesting experience and recently I have learnt to be more confident and positive in approaching people for this type of photography. I thought through a sequence plan before I started, but was prepared to be flexible in the light of changing circumstances. I cleared the shoot with Jonathan Adams and neither the staff nor customers were concerned about being photographed. One person did not want to be photographed and I respected their privacy of course.