25 August

Assignment 1

Please see the OCA site for my contrasting pairs. Below is the text submitted.

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Being a keen landscaper I am afraid many are in the spirit. All were taken on my Canon 30d with the Canon EF 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.5 II USM zoom fitted. Some had polarising filter.

Broad / Narrow. I’ve represented this by showing a narrow and a broad stretch of water with (bad pun) narrow boats. This is actually the Caen Hill lock system but you could think of the Norfolk Broads, taking the pun to excruciating levels. The broad stretch of water is accommodated in a landscape frame and uses a line of narrow boats, the narrow boat negotiating a lock is also in a landscape frame but the narrow lane of water makes its own frame coming into the boat. I tried to place objects off centre, near thirds, to draw the eye a little.

Diagonal / rounded. OK, so my diagonal is open to artistic interpretation but I’ve used windows as this theme – one a round window, one an angled window that makes a rough diagonal across the frame. I’ve allowed a bush to take up some of the round window – the bush itself is rounded and a portrait frame allows me to build one on top of the other placing the window off centre. In the corner picture the window frames itself within the landscape frame.

High / low. I used buildings for this one – two pictures from Lindisfarne. The landscape oriented picture accommodates a range of lower buildings in what I thought was a nice grouping of pyramids, but there is still a hint of ‘high’ in the distant castle which I tried to get on a ‘third’. The red roofs also make a nice contrast to the rather bland range of colours on a day of rather bland light. The portrait frame lets me go for the height theme and the tombstones echo the tall ruin, maybe a secondary theme of decay. I tried to position the windows of the ruin on a third. With the sun on the ruin I can pick out the texture of the stone.

Many/few. Here I had pictures of trees. The few is of a solitary tree which I consciously placed off centre to make a pleasing combination of tree, sky and crops – trying to keep it simple. The ‘Many’ picture I have more trees (well, two) and it is probably not such a nice picture though I particularly liked the foreground crops leading into the trees. Interestingly, both were taken within yards of each other.

Pointed / blunt. Here I have chosen objects in a river. The stones made good blunt, massive objects in the river and the portrait frame lets me place them on the bottom, reflecting the curve of the trees and making a nice oval. Sadly the sky is a bit burnt out. The light on the day was not easy. For pointed: just a few feet away from the stones a sharp branch lay in the water and I put that in a landscape frame. I cropped this photo to take out some grasses in the foreground and the reflections come up quite well. Possibly not a prize winner…

Smooth / rough. Two opposites concentrating on texture. Both taken in our garden, one of a rock another of drying sheets. I liked the shadows cast on the sheets making a nice smooth pattern that is fairly abstract. The stone’s texture speaks for itself – both were taken using evening light.

Still / moving. For this I chose a water theme. The moving picture if of part of a waterfall and I could have gone for portrait frame but the landscape frame concentrates on the water coming down, splashing on rocks and creating a rainbow, and running off on its journey to the bottom left. The 1/30 second exposure time gives a sense of motion in the water. For the still picture I keep the water theme and have (reasonably) still waters in a harbour. I tried to capture the way wall and boats lead the eye from a snaking route from left to right into the distance.

Transparent / opaque. Back to the river for these two and they were taken in black and white on the camera – not converted from colour. Both of the same objects but the different angle and use of a polarising filter let me have one with the water quite mirrored (opaque), and the other allowing the river bed largely to be seen (transparent). I found it difficult to position these objects because the river bank was close by.

Contrasts in one picture. Here I’ve gone back to the stones in the river. This was taken in black and white, not converted. I liked the contrasts the picture presented: light, shadows and surface textures on the stones; the light reflected in the river and the shadows cast by the trees also causing the water to reflect like a mirror in one part and be transparent in another; the tangles of grasses against the stones; the use of black and white providing a ‘contrasty’ picture in itself. I think it works better in black and white over colour because of the light and the opportunity for opposites. The use of portrait frame lets me compose the rocks in what I feel is a pleasing line. I chose this picture also because I like it – probably because of these contrasts.

Learning outcomes: It is too easy to take a bland picture! Looking for contrast takes effort and bringing contrasts together within one picture is going to take a good deal of effort on my behalf. I think I have a lot of learning to do here.

13/7/09

Project 2 and 3

Well, I started out with what I thought was a good idea. With rain threatening – the row of houses in our road taken from our upstairs window.

In practice – not quite so good. All the houses are too far away meaning the experimental focus ranges are negligible. My nearest point of focus is too far away and it means everything else falls into the hyperfocal area beyond my focus point and is pretty much in focus. Maybe a longer lens would have let me play with the focus.

Now it is raining!

Intermediate learning outcome: revisit this with a much tighter, longer line of objects and perhaps with a 300mm lens.

Back soon!

17/7/09

Update:

Using a line of chairs in our garden I’ve completed Projects 2 and 3. Equipped the camera with the Canon EF 75-300mm USM III zoom. It can handle F4 widest.

In project 2, I much prefer the ‘near’ focus chair – it is picked out from the distant field and makes for dramatic emphasis (so far as a plastic chair can have dramatic emphasis!). Please see the two photographs uploaded.

Learning outcome: dramatic emphasis on an object with a narrow depth of field is a known technique, so long as it captures the viewer’s attention satisfactorily. To capture the attention, the object could be the main subject, or positioned nearer the viewer so the viewer does not have to find the focused object somewhere in a larger field of unfocussed objects. The ‘near chair’ picture stands out and catches the eye a little more.

Project 3

Wide and narrow apertures

I upload the ‘near’ and ‘far’ chair photos – I’ve not uploaded the middle one. In the wide aperture picture (F4) the field of view is as expected, very slim. (I had some focusing issues with the camera eye viewer – time to see an optician?).

In the narrow aperture (F32) the whole picture is in focus from the black pencil box at the back to the arrowed object intruding (un-artistically) in the foreground. The ringed flower head is blurred because the narrow aperture forced a slow shutter speed (I did not compensate with altering the ISO) and it moved in the breeze.

Learning outcome: being a landscaper at heart this is all as expected for me and I would normally compensate for shutter speed issues at narrow apertures by upping the ISO a little, if necessary. Having said that I would not usually use F32 unless absolutely necessary – I tend to go to F22 as a maximum to avoid any distortions.

Start up and Project 1

June 2009

Hi and welcome along to my OCA Art of Photography Learning Log.

Quick note to orientate visitors: I'm studying the Open College of Arts distance learning Art of Photography 1 module. I have some fair experience of photography as an interest, and I primarily use a Canon EOS 30D with a set of Canon and Sigma lenses, EX flash etc. I use a Fujifilm Finepix F45fd compact as a 'pocket' camera.

I also use a Bronica medium format and have a range of Zenzanon lenses and bits to go with it but that is a new venture for me - still to print my first films!

My biggest problem is seeing the image and initial creativity right from the start. So I trust the OCA course will help me learn how to develop some skill in this.

I'll plunge right in with my experience of the first project and continue as I mean to go on.

PROJECT 1 (Page 49)

I fitted my ‘standard’ Canon EF 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.5 II USM zoom (which is the lens I use for everyday pottering about) and tried out Project 1.

The “standard” focal length appeared to come out at around 65mm rather than 50mm – maybe because it is an EF rather than AF lens. (Judging by the scale on the lens.)

Took three photos – one at standard (@65mm) and one at 28mm and one at 105mm.

Printed out – the standard is actually 63mm (from the exif information) and at comfortable arm’s length it matches the view. My arm’s not long enough to get the telephoto in!

NB – printed out only in rough to save ink and photo paper.

Learning outcome: I had always thought 50mm is ‘as you see it’ or near enough. Therefore learnt that for this lens – it is not. Will need to bear this in mind.