Triangles

First in the set of three real triangles is a bacon sandwich there are two triangles on display in this picture.

The triangle by perspective is the peacocks body.

Picture three is the inverted triangle that 'frames' the cat.

Implied triangles are shown in pictures four and five they are both still life photographs taken of golf balls showing the apex of the triangle at the top and at the bottom.

The final picture in implied triangles is of a young family the triangle shape is formed by the positing of their heads (inverted triangle) and if you look at the way the two adults are sitting there is another triangle formed with the apex at the bottom this time.

Triangles as a design feature in photographs, I am really starting to notice how much more care and thought I put into taking photographs by looking at the shapes that can be seen and how they can alter the design and prospective  of the photograph. I have looked back over the photographs I had taken before the course started to see how many shapes i could see in them, a very worth while exercise as I found the ones I liked the best had shapes formed within them, which I had done without being aware.

curves

Photograph one is a row of curves on a ceiling the movement is shown by drawing the eye along them.

Photography two a bridge over the Swale here you have not only the curve of the bridge to show movement but also the columns that support the bridge are curved.

Photograph three is of steps these curve from the bottom left of the picture to the top right leading the view to follow them.

Photograph four this one is slightly different in that its the branches of the tree that have the curves to them, I looked at this and found myself wondering why the branches had grown in such a way.

What have I learnt from curves? I have learnt that they show movement in a picture and that I enjoyed looking out for curves.

Now I am going to do some tv viewing of a programme called how to take stunning photographs, the one I am watching today is about portraits and although I don't need the information at the moment I thought that it would be worth watching and also writing down some notes for future reference.

Diagonals

Diagonals, well this one was challenging to begin with, I wanted to do a still life and this idea came to mind of the pencils in a diagonal shape I didn't know quite how difficult this would be to achieve what I wanted and it took many attempts to get close.

Above is one of my attemps in colour but I prefer the black and white one and would be happy to have some think like this on a wall in a modern house.

This one is a country church I noticed not only the diagonal lines leading to the front but also the horizonal shadows across from the pews, also I noticed how the eye is drawn to the front by the lines.

This one was a chance sighting I liked the way the eye was drawn down the passage way making you wonder what is at the end of it.

Herne Bay Sea Front and this time the diagonal lines are leading the viewer out of the picture and into the distance.

Having completed several of the exercises in this project now I have noticed that I am looking at  how lines  change the view of a photograph alot more now before I take it.

Horizontal and Vertical Lines

The first part of this project is horizontal lines, I choose take some of my shots at Whitstable as I thought there would be a good selection of things to photograph. Photograph one is of a line of small boats, in this picture there are actually two sets of horizontals I think the first one is the horizon but also the line of boats is the other, although I had to stand to the side on this one the boats do in fact line up horizontally to each other.
Photograph two is a sea scene here the horizon is the point of the picture but interest is added with the windsurfer and the windmills.
Photograph three is part of the groynes, I stood face on to this and you can clearly see the vertical lines in the wood.
Photograph four was a still life one I wanted something a bit different, I tried lines of pencils but I wasn't happy inspiration struck for this one when I went into the conservatory and saw the blinds.

Vertical lines, these were quite interesting to do and I enjoyed finding these.This time I headed to Herne Bay ( I like to get to the coat when I can I usually find I get inspired there), Photographs one and four were taken of a shelter along the promenade the first one is of the supports and the other one was taken of the detailing on the roof. Photograph three was of the roller rink on the pier I was watching people crabbing from the pier when I noticed the shapes along the side of the roof.
Photograph three was again taken walking along the promenade there are some garden just down from it slightly and this is the ornamental walk that houses it.
Overall Ifound this a very interesting project to do and have found that I look out for these lines more now.

Multiple points

The object of this exercise is to take about 10 objects all compact and to create a still life photograph.
Still life and food are both things that interest me so I decided to combine the two.
Picture one shows a single clove of garlic, I decided to place it just off centre with the idea that I could build the rest round it but I thought a central posisition would be too static.

On picture two i added another two cloves, I left the original one where it was then place ne just about in the right hand third and the other just going out of the frame, I noticed that this made a triangle which I thought would be a bit more interesting that a straight line.

When I got to place the next clove I needed to more not only the first one I had placed but the other two as well, I noticed that there is a connection or a line that can be dran between the cloves but that the shape is still slightly different.

Picture four and thing are starting to get more interesting and challenging, I left three of the cloves where they were and moved the right hand side one then added a further two.

Picture five they have all been moved again this time they are almost in lines maybe a bit too regular.

Picture six and the final one things are really challenging now, I found it difficult to arrange them in  a non regular shape that was interesting i was really tempted to pick them all up and just throw them down and see where they landed and I think I will try this at a later stage. I think the shape I finally ended up with looks abit like a star with cloves pointing away from the main group.

The final part was to produce a sketch showing the relationship between the points which as I said previously has a rough look of a star.

The relationship between points.

This exercise was as predicted a bit difficult to do, I went out on several occasions to try and find something to fit the bill, in the end I photographed two birds flying above my house, I think the bird furthest away is the stronger visual element but I think that could be mainly because it is almost a silhouette against the sky, the other bird is flying out of the picture.
The second picture again was of a seagull, this one is sitting on a cluster of rocks and there is a buoy in the water, this time I think the buoy is the stronger visual element due to the colour and also its positioning within the frame. Having looked back over this photograph I don't really think it works as the foreground is too noticable, I will look out for a better example on my travels again.

For the third photograph I did as suggested in the notes and took a close up photograph of someones eyes (thank you long suffering hubby), this I found to be a very strange and almost eerier photograph and I could see at once exactly what was meant that both points demand the same attention, I printed the photograph  but I found looking at the image on the screen to be the most unsettling. I understand the principles with a single and two points now so I am looking forward to the next section which is multipule points.

Positioning the point

Well here goes part two elements of design and the first project is positioning the point:

I have been thinking about the single point and many ideas have come to mind several of which I had to discard like a single bird in the sky as I didn't want just a standard bird but there aren't any owls falcons or the like flying free near me, so this idea is on hold at the moment. Another idea I discounted was a person in an empty space as I had done this previously.

The first picture (above) was of a cargo vessel I spoted on a trip out I liked the fact that it was far enough away to not dominate the picture but also close enough to be recognised. I  positioned it just slighly above half way in the frame and then entering the picture from the right to give a sense of movement into the frame.

The second picture is of a sea scene the point being the top of a gryone just poking through the water where the tide was going out (I think it was anyway it was too cold to wait around too long) this one i positioned to show some beach and some water to rather than have just the sea but I don't think that the beach takes the focus from the gryone.

The final picture i have gone for is a still life one, I like the example shown in the notes for the course and decided to have a go at it myself. I chose a gerba and then I admit I did play with the colour as the original one just didn't look right. I chose this position just off centre to show as much of the flower as I could but also to show the point which almost looks like a dark hole that could open up.

I have been trying to read the book 'The Photograph' by Graham Clarke but I must admit I find it quite hard going so I have been reading 'masters of photography' by Reuel Golden this is about classi photographic artists of our time and looking at various photographers styles (Capa being among the ones I have been looking at, I have also started reading 'The Photographers eye' by 'Michael Freeman' which I am finding much more interesting and easier to understand.

assignment one Contrasts

Assignment one: contrasts
This is my first attempt at an assignment, so I am not completely sure if its correct,

I have enclosed not only my prints but also smaller photographs on plain paper with the setting I used for each.

My thoughts at the begining of the assignment was a bit of a mixture, I was apprehensive as to whether I was ready of not but my tutor assured me that I was so that was a plus to begin with, but I was also excited to have finally got to this point.

A couple of the photographs came about almost by accident, the diagonal on the door was a result of a diffenent photo assgnment but I happened to see this shot and knew it wold fit it nicely with the ideas I had stated to form.

The one of the oyster shells again was abit of an fluke, I had taken various photographs for rought but was not really happy with any of them but whilst looking through some photographs i had taken a week or so before i came across it and realized that when I looked at it the first thing I noticed was how rough the shells were.

Some of the pairs I found alot easier to do than others, sometimes I would have one part of the pair only to find that I just couldn't get the image that I wanted with the second one.

here are my thoughts on the others:

1 Diagonal, As I have just said this was abit of a fluke as I spotted it whilst out do some other photography.

2 Rounded: this one caused a few problems I found plenty of things that were round, globes and chocolate oranges were other ideas I had, they didn't work out but I ate the orange to de stress! one afternoon I was in the garden moving things around when i saw the umbrella stand, I liked the idea that it showed the decking underneath as well.

3&4 Few and many, i will cover this as one, I went for these shots as I liked the idea of plenty of colour to show the amount of something up on a black background.

5 Rough: I have said how this photograph came to be included I had the pebbles as smooth so I thought this worked well as a contrast.

6 Smooth: I had done this photograph first and was struggling abit for the rough half of the pair, again various ideas went through my mind sand paper was one and also a photograph of a amn with stubble, The pebbles on this was one of my first photgraphs in thought and I am glad that I stuck to it.

7&8 Large and Small: again I will cover these as one, I liked the idea of a tiny shoe hence the decorative one and I also liked the idea of a pair of old boots slightly worn also to give a bit more contrast to the photographs, luckily my son had the boots which I 'borrowed' I was pleased with this set, but I think it may have worked better if I had a pair of tiny baby shoes as the small.

9 Hard: This again was the slightly harder side to do, I thought of nails but found them difficult to photograph as I wanted, having then walked into a wall, I realised that it was hard and would be a good subject to photograph.

10 Soft: I already knew what i wanted for this one a very soft and cuddly teddy bear that a small child would want to pick up, I was pleased with how this came out.

11 & 12: Sweet and Sour: These two I found the easiest of all to come up with the ideas for, the lemon was fairly easy to photgraph but the honey was slightly more difficult as I wanted to show how sweet and sticky it looked, i was very please with these final two shots.

13 Black: Again all sorts of ideas went through my head but I decided i wanted something slightly different, I didn't want any thing too glossy so I went instead for a tube of paint squeezed onto white card and a slight grainy effect to the photograph to finish.

14: White: This glass was spotted on a shopping trip and I fell for it straight away as I knew it would be a good shape to photograph.

15 &16 Transparent and opaque, the transparent part of this was fine, i had a few problems to begin with photographing the glass but I got there in the end, the opaque part was a completly different story, it was the last shot that I did and I think the hardest one overall, however I was pleased with the final result.

17 Curved and straight, I choose an electric guitar as my final choice for showing these two contrasts, I like the curve to the front then the way the eye is drawn to the straight part and then off the page.

My final thoughts on the assignment, I really enjoyed most of the photography some subjects I struggled with either the ideas weren't there or I couldn't get it quite as I wanted.

Overall I think I have learnt alot from this first section and I am looking forward to starting part two.