Assignment 1:Contrasts

Wednesday 25th May 2011

Whilst preparing for my assignment, I carried the list of contrasts in my field book. It was interesting to go out looking for contrasts, and decide how best to illustrate a contrast - for example I took what I thought was a good curved bluebell but was it curved enough? Were my railway lines straight or diagonal? I narrowed down my selection, and then decided to retake a few.


My other issue I had was presentation of the photos to be submitted. I read a thread on the OCA Flickr group and was confused with the choice. I sought advice from fellow students and found a video on the OCA Website which I thought was helpful. So now I have an idea in mind.

Many/Few

Many

Whilst on a family cycle ride, I spotted a lovely field of dandelions with great seed heads.  I jumped over the fence and set my camera up on a mini tripod whilst lying on the ground, much to the amusement of passers by! I think this shows many dandelions at different stages of their life. My criticism is that I should have been further into the field and just to have the back row of trees in the picture, rather than those at the left hand side. I have shown a shallow depth of field with the dandelions in the foreground really sharp to try and give the feel of many.

1/320 F8 ISO400 Focal Length 40mm

Few
I was walking through a field in Cromford,Derbyshire, which had clumps of English Bluebells. These are different from Spanish Bluebells in shape and fragrance. They are not as common as Spanish Bluebells so I recorded them to compare with our local bluebells. To me, this is few. There are only 3 in focus and the ones behind show up as a colourful blur.

1/640 F5.6 ISO400 Focal Length 110mm

 Moving/Still

Moving
The motor racing circuit at Oulton Park, Cheshire is one of the tracks used by British Superbikes. During a practice session, I took pictures of the riders out on the circuit. Druids Corner is one of the places close to the track and the bikes were slower because accelerating out of a corner. It makes interesting viewing and is a place where media photographers stand. At a race event, there are photographers with several cameras and huge lenses and then those with those with 18-200mm zooms. People are always friendly and share experiences with each other when races are stopped.

My husband enjoys this area of photography and I am still learning. However, I took myself off to find my own piece of the track where I could take different photos and consolidate my learning and then we compared notes! He said some of mine were better than his! I found having done the first few exercises, knew my camera and did not need support from him.

I was pleased with this photo of Ian Lowry.This is a bright bike against a dark background. The track is grey so the bike shows up well. The white on the boots and leathers is still clean because it was the second race meeting of the season. At this point his speed was somewhere around 95mph.

1/400 F8 ISO200 Focal Length 130mm

 Still
This tranquil canal is in Cromford, Derbyshire. It is not navigable any more; instead it is a home to wildlife and walkers. It is a complete contrast to a moving bike. I aimed for a reflection of the trees in the water. The weather was very bright and I had to use exposure compensation to prevent the photo from being over exposed. At this point in the river there were no ripples from the fish.

1/800 F8 -12/3 Exposure Compensation Focal Length 35mm

Diagonal/Rounded

Diagonal

This is part of the old railway line at Cromford, Derbyshire. I reviewed my photos and converted this into black and white because I thought the colour contrast looked better. It made the tiny cobweb stand out too. The question I posed myself is whether it is straight or diagonal? I classed it as diagonal because the track lines are stronger than the sleepers.

1/125 F8 ISO400Focal Length 100mm

Rounded
This is a photo I took at Rufford Country Park during my vertical and horizontal frames exercise. I liked the way the walls of the children's maze were made from rounded poles, and viewed like this, I could see rounded columns and circles.

1/125 F16 ISO100 Focal Length 50mm

Rough/Smooth

Rough

This is part of the mechanism at the wharf of the High Peak Railway at Cromford, Derbyshire. The railway used to carry minerals between the wharf and Whaley Bridge. It fell into decline in the 1960's, leaving the machinery behind as a reminder of the past.
This picture was going to be my diagonal picture, but I love the colours and texture of the rust. To me it is rough. The winding mechanism was hidden in the ground, but because the weather was bright, I still needed to use exposure compensation to avoid over exposure.

1/800 F8 -1 Exposure Compensation Focal Length 200mm

Smooth
Surgical Instruments have to be well constructed from smooth stainless steel.  These surgical instruments were on display at the St. Georges Day Parade in the 1st World War hospital tent. They are not very different from those used today.

1/800 F5.6 ISO200 Focal Length 130mm

Opaque/Transparent

Opaque

I set up  a still life of a dandelion in a vase and played around with different images. I like this picture because it is like an opaque window. I used exposure compensation because my conservatory was very light. I set my tripod up because my camera suggested that I needed a long exposure and I did not want camera shake. When I experimented with the depth of field, the photos with a narrow depth of field (ie F5.6) were very blurred around the outside of the head. There was much less contrast against the background. You can see through the dandelion where it is in focus.

0.3secs F9 ISO100 -11/3 Exposure Compensation Focal Length 70mm

Transparent
I set up my tripod to take pictures of shells in a vase. I added water because this made the shells shiny. Even when left to stand for 24 hours there were still tiny air bubbles  in the vase. With this picture, because the bubbles moved when the floor moved, I used live view linked to my computer and manual focus. I had to change the lens to one with a stiffer focusing ring in order to keep the focus still. I decided to focus on the bubbles rather than the shells.

1/100 F5.6 +2/3 exposure compensation ISO400 Focal Length 200mm

Hard/Soft

Hard

This sculpture of the person with the apple was taken at Rufford Country Park as part of my horizontal and vertical exercise. It is sculpted from stone. I think that the rounded appearance makes it more friendly, almost like a cartoon character.

1/50 F10 ISO400 Focal Length 40mm

Soft

Cromford Mill was built by Sir Richard Arkwright in 1771 as a water powered cotton spinning mill. In later life it became a dyeing plant. It is being restored by the Arkwright society and houses an exhibition on spinning tools. Sheeps wool has a soft texture.

1/40 F5.6 ISO400 Focal Length 170mm

Pointed/Blunt

Pointed

This photo was also take at the St. Georges Day Parade. I was composing this when approached by the official photographer who suggested talking to the exhibitors and asking them move objects around for me. One chap had just put his coffee cup down in my composition! I think the bullets demonstrate pointed.

1/500 F5.6 ISO200 Focal Length 200mm

 Blunt

This collection of spinning tools represents blunt. They were on display at Arkwright's mill exhibition in Cromford.I spent time deciding if the window sill was crooked of if it was my angle of view that was the problem. My tripod has a spirit level built in - maybe this is where a spirit level on the hot shoe would be useful?

1/80 F5.5 ISO400 Focal Length 60mm 

Broad/Narrow

Broad
This is a hosta leaf in my garden after the rain. I think the rain drops make the leaf look more colourful.

1/500 F5.6 ISO800 Focal Length150mm

Narrow
These are the chives from my vertical and horizontal and my cropping exercise. They look very colourful and have narrow, edible leaves. Because it was taken in a sheltered garden, there is not much movement so the plant is in focus. The size of the aperture enabled a large depth of field.

1/100 F11 ISO400 Focal Length 50mm

Contrast in one picture

I have chosen this picture because it illustrates light and dark colours in the wood and between the wood and the wool. The wool is soft, the wood is hard. One tool is rounded, the other is straight. There are many metal teeth and only a few staples. The colour of the blue tablecloth contrasts with the brown wood. There is light coming in from the window casting shadows on the tablecloth. The wood is made up of contrasting sheets which look like continuous lines and the staples form an intermittant line.  

1/15 F5.6 ISO800 Focal Length 80mm

Conclusion

I began Part 1 - The Frame thinking that I knew how my camera worked. I can safely say that I have now used functions that I wouldn't have thought of using and found some shortcuts because I have made the time to work on my own, concentrate and learn from what I am doing.

I enjoyed having a focus for the day because it made me look at what I would have taken in a different light. I had to learn to blog, which was not without teething troubles. I posted one exercise and all the photos were the horizontal intead of vertical. I redid the exercise and posted a different set of photos. I have now worked out how to fool my computer into posting the picture the right way round. I hope I have laid the foundations down now and can build on then in part two.

I am looking forward to receiving feedback to know where my areas of weakness are and where I can start to develop my skills.

I am looking forward to starting part two.