Project 31 - Analysing a Colour

For this project I have to find and record individual colours.  This will be an on-going project and I will keep adding to this post continually. 

Green

This first photo was taken in Rotorua, New Zealand where the light quality is superb and colours are much more vivid.  There appears to be thousands of variations of a single colour.  I said when we lived there that there were more shades of green that I'd ever thought possible.

                       

By comparison this is a photo of the grass in my back garden in England.  Still some variation in colour, but not much !

Blue

Again taken in New Zealand at Hataitai, Wellington.  The blue sky and water in the harbour gives the image a relaxed feel.

Purple

This is detail from a Michaelmas daisy.  It shows a lighter shade of purple, more lilac with definite blue tones.

Yellow

This is a yellow chrysanthemem which shows various shades of yellow, caused both by light and shadow, and also the colouring of the petals.

Note for self

return to.....


project 18 - relationship between points
project 19 - multiple points
project 23 - implied lines
project 26 - real and implied triangles (real triangle already shot)
project 27 - real and implied circles
project 28 - rhythms and patterns
project 29 - applying the elements of design (detailed notes of ideas in folder)

Project 20 - Horizontal and Vertical Lines

For this project I had to produce 8 photos showing examples of horizontal and vertical lines.

Firstly my vertical lines

Trees growing tall and straight.  I also like that the trees are reflected in the lake and the trees in the background are out of focus.  As the trees are shown only in part, the vertical aspect is emphasised.

Support pole on a building site.  There are horizontal lines around it, but the upright pole is clearly the main subject in this image.

The vertical pattern in a fence panel, together with the vertical fence post.

Vertical soldiers on a flight of stairs. 

The trees give the natural vertical lines - the others are man-made.

My horizontal lines

The horizon which is probably the most obvious horizontal line in nature to photograph.

Breeze block wall - the blocks form a horizontal line across the frame.  Your eye is drawn from side to side.

Wooden joists.  The joists are photogrpahed in horizontal lines and the shadows add more horizontal lines to the image.

Stairs giving horizontal lines to this image.

When shooting this project I became incresingly aware of the lines around us.  I found it easier to find vertical lines to shoot; tall buildings, people, bus stops, trees etc.  I particularly like the lines created by the contrast in light as shown in the phot of the wooden joists above.  I also like the direction and movement implied by lines, for example in the photo of trees above, your eye moves along the height of the trees.  I was also intrigued how a line of verticals can equal a horizontal line as in the photo above of the stair soldiers.  Your eye moves up and down the soldiers but also horizontally along the line.

I intend to return to this project at a later date when I have a bigger collection of photos, as I enjoyed looking at the way the different orientation of lines within an image works.

Project 16 - Defining a Point

In this project I have been asked to list as many types of situation I can which would make a clear photo of a point, thinking about the types of background, types of subject, lighting etc.

For a subject to be considered a point in a photograph it must be small in the frame and contrast with its surroundings.

• small object against a plain background
• dark coloured subject against a light background
• light coloured object against a dark background
• object with a strong focal point within it ( I am thinking about the flower close up in the coursework folder for project 16, page 102, where the centre of the flower contrasts with the dark petals around it )

Specifically :

• poppy in a wheat field
• horse in a field of green grass
• car on a road
• aeroplane in  the sky
• dog on a beach
• kite in the sky

Colour can be an important factor in determining a good photograph of a clear point, but we shall be covering colour later in the course. 

I looked through my photo collection and also photos I have saved from magazines, for ones which I felt were good examples of the use of a point.  I have attached a couple of my favourites.

When searching for one of an aeroplane in the sky, I found it difficult to find one with the 'plane small enough in the frame.  This shot is of a Mustang and was taken at a local air display earlier this year.  Althoough there is a large cloud popping up in the frame, the darker and distinct shape of the 'plane is strong enough to be a good point in the image.

                                     

This image is of a poppy in a field of unripe barley.  Here it is the colour of the bright red poppy which contrasts against the green-yellow of the barley creating the point.  The background is actually quite fussy, but the colour contrast emphasises the flower, and the eye is drawn to it.

Getting down to it.....

Well yesterday turned out more successfully that I thought it would.  I managed to get 2 of the remaining projects posted on here, which just leaves project 14 - vertical and horizontal frames and project 15 - cropping, to go.  I have got, I think, 15 pairs so far, so I am wanting to get the other 5 pairs shot and resized today, and maybe begin the post.

Then I have a couple of projects to revisit (which I may do now or, more probably, leave til the end of the course when I will be doing the "tidying up") and I have to finish the amendments recommended by my tutor to my first assignment.  Then I can begin the second section, with an aim of having the second assignment sent off by the end of the month.  Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......

More delays...

Well, my assignment went off on the Friday and I wanted to spend the following week (last week) bringing the projects that I'd either not done, or not completed satisfactorily, totally up to date.  Great idea, but it didn't happen!  Last week was, well, difficult, hectic and tiring and it was all I could do to keep up to date with the 365 project I'm doing (see www.flickr.com/photos/sue-in-nz/). 

This week began the same way last week finished, but on Thursday I hope to be able to spend a bit of time on this.  Mind you I am dog walking my old neighbours' dog every morning this week, and Thursday is my shopping day.  But with a bit of rearranging I should be able to do it.

On the plus side I did take my camera (the DSLR not the compact) with me when I walked the dog this morning.  Got some lovely pictures of poppies (using vertical and horizontal orientation, which I can put towards one of the projects) which may be suitable for an exhibition later in the year, and I saw a Kingfisher by the stream.  So beautiful and too fast for me to photograph !

Right, I have 10 mins before I need to be somewhere else, so I'm going to do some work.

TTFN

Still planning but getting somewhere.....

Well, I now have 9 pairs of contrasts. I have a spare pair in rough / smooth which I added over the last couple of days. I also have an extra option for "straight" as I had already got a photo of a lovely straight road near us, but over the weekend I was out walking with my younger son and we saw crops just beginning to come through which had been sown in lovely straight lines. I'll have to decide which to use.

I have also got my photo which demonstrates one contrast in a single image. I have chosen an abstract I took of a zebra's markings. It's clearly a zebra, and to me "black and white" jump into your mind when I think of zebras.

I have also begun to pull some pictures together for project 14 which is the "vertical and horizontal in a frame" project. So far I think I have 3 pairs out of the required 20 or so pairs. Plenty to be getting on with then. I also have to give thought to the horizon placement project, project 12. I did take some photos for this at Sheringham but forgot to take one with foreground interest ! D'oh !!

I also need to look at project 8, recording a sequence. I did take pictures of a small demonstration in the city, but haven't looked through them properly with a view to using them. If they aren't really usable, maybe I will visit a market. I have got a series of pictures I took at a homecoming parade in December - they may work..... Hmmmm I'll have to give it some thought.

Project 11 - balance

3642

Unequal objects balanced as the larger object (arch) extends from the centre of the frame to the right hand side. Smaller subject (boy) is on the edge of the left hand side

3750

Two objects of similar size (both hay lorries) placed equidistant from the centre of the image. Only slight distraction is the small stack on the far right

3149

Poppy flower with stem central and petals radiating out from the central stem. Vertical symmetry.

3726

Again the smaller object (bench) is positioned towards the left hand edge of the frame and the larger object (footpath) extends from the centre of the frame to the right hand edge. It took a while for me to realise that the footpath balanced the bench in this image

0753

Moeraki Boulders, NZ. The largest boulder on the right is closer to the centre than either boulder on the left. However I think the smallest boulder could be cropped out and the picture would still be balanced because of the position of the largest boulder. The picture works best with the three boulders though. If you cover the middle boulder I don't think the picture is so appealing - perhaps the distance between the objects is too great? In this case maybe a lower viewpoint would have helped.

0441

The central character of the group is in the centre of the picture. The two children, although different heights, are so close to the central character that they give an idea of symmetry around Taz. Vertical symmetry.

The image I found hardest to identify the balance in was 0753 - the Moeraki Boulders, NZ. I really like the image and looking at it closely for this project made me wonder if a different compostion would have appealed to me as much. I think a lower viewpoint would have worked, as would getting in close with a wideangle lens as in project 10. Whilst I also think that the smallest boulder could be cropped out without upsetting the balance, I think the addition of the third boulder is more pleasing aesthetically.

note - I need to return to this project to add the balance scale sketches to my ring binder file under a tab of project 11. see original log book for sketches

Project 3 - focus with different apertures

image 3610 1/1000 sec f3.5

image 3611 1/160 sec f10

image 3612 1/30 sec f22

I found it quite difficult to find a scene to give me the desired outcome. I settled for the same wall I used in project 2, despite shooting photos in various other locations including a wheat field, fence posts around a garden and a stack of pallets on an industrial unit. I think I will return to this project and shoot a subject indoors, for example, sweets, drawing pins, buttons

I shot the same scene at f3.5 f10 and f22

I have noted on 3610 the point on the wall which I used to focus and also the area I feel is in sharp focus.

Image 3612, for which I used the same focus point, has a much greater depth of field.

note - project completed 13 7 09