Exercise Diagonals.

Exercise: Diagonals

We were asked to take 4 photographs which use diagonals.  One thing I have noticed whilst doing this exercise, is that it is easy to create diagonals by canting the frame.   Diagonal lines produce movement, dynamism .. they are highly active.. and bring life into the picture because they represent unresolved tension (1).

1. there are parallel diagonals here, the branch going left to upper right and the individual leaves forming diagonals off the branch.

2. again in this image, depending on the cant of the frame, parallel diagonals (I have tipped the frame slightly to highlight the contrast of vertical and diagonal).

3. movement is present, the columns form diagonals in one direction, whilst the top diagonal line of the building pulls the eye in another direction demonstrating unresolved tension.

4. I spotted this diagonal shadow forming across the bottom of the statue -

5. the staircase is a natural diagonal, I originally canted the frame to get an abstract view of the tower, in doing so, the tower itself creates a diagonal suggesting movement, perspective and depth.

Conclusion:

Horizontals and verticals  lines produce stability which arise from their symbolic associations with gravity. Diagonals have a stronger sense of movement and expression.  As I experienced in this exercise, diagonals can be created in the viewfinder by canting the frame - as Freeman notes, this ability means that they are much more under the control of the photographer(2).   Diagonals emphasise depth and distance, I have looked back through the early exercises in Part One, and noticed that I had quite a few diagonals emphasising depth and distance. I am now able to appreciate that diagonals form strong graphic points of reference, or movement.

Reflection:  whilst, participating in these exercises, I have been inspired to read about Cubism and its response to the Renaissance order of painting. I have always liked Mondrian, especially his later works, with lines and three colours. I am now able to understand a bit more about the graphic qualities in his drawings.  http://www.theartstory.org/artist-mondrian-piet.htm, and http://www.moma.org/collection/provenance/provenance_object.php?object_id=79879.

Trafalgar Square by Mondrian http://www.moma.org/collection/provenance/provenance_object.php?object_id=79879 (accessed 19/9/12)

(1)Freeman, Michael, (2007). The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos, The Ilex Press. p 76 -77

(2)Freeman, Michael, (2007). The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos, The Ilex Press. p 76 -77

 

Exercise: Focal lengths for cameras with variable focal lengths (zoom)

The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate the impact different focal lengths can have on shots of the same image. We were required to take a number of photographs of the same image, but using different focal lengths on the lens.  My lens range is 24 - 105mm, so I took a photograph at the widest angel setting / focal length of 24mm, one at the mid range about 45mm and then a telephoto @ 105mm.

Photograph one 24mm wide angel.

This photograph uses the smallest focal length and gives us the widest angel of view. This angel captures the wide expansive skyline, hills on the distant horizon and the large expanse of foreground.

Photograph two 45mm standard view

I decided on 45mm as the mid range standard view point on my lens.  Here the hills in the background are more noticeable. The foreground decreases and the bee hives become closer. After viewing this on the monitor, iam more aware of the "long white cloud" - the Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa which means the land of the long white cloud.

Photograph three

The long white cloud has disappeared into the top of the frame, and the hills in the background are much more prominant (with the naked eye, they have a 3-D effect, on this picture though they are flat). The bee hive at the forefront is now the dominating feature and the foreground has reduced dramatically.

It has been a day or two since I took the above photographs, and I wanted to re-cap on the intention behind this exercise - basically to consolidate a few points. 

• we have a horizontal gaze which focuses sharply in the middle to vaguely across a wide angel (oval shaped) with our peripheral vision (p 46 of the course materials Photography 1 The Art of Photography). 
• when we use a standard focal length lens we get a similar view as with the unaided eye - albeit sharper across the whole image (in my opinion) not just in the middle as with the unaided eye.
• a telephoto lens, draws the image closer - however, this is not the same thing as moving the camera closer to the subject. As the focal length changes, the character of the image changes, as you can see, with Photograph one, the smallest focal length of 24mm,  gives us the widest angel of view - thereby capturing the distant hills and the wide expansive skyline. In contrast, the narrowest angel of view is captured using the telephoto focal length of 105m. This magnifies the bee hives and draws them closer - the crux is the angel of view narrows as the focal length increases.

The next exercise, focuses on "moving" towards the subject to explore the effect of focal lengths.