25 August
Assignment 1
Please see the OCA site for my contrasting pairs. Below is the text submitted.
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.
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.
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.
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