Assignment 2: Elements Of Design

For this assignment we were allowed to choose a subject for example ‘Flowers & Plants’, ‘Landscapes’ or ‘Street Details’ with which to show a group of photos with elements of design in them as specified by the headings below. The subject I chose was Underwater Macro Life.

 

1. Single Point dominating the composition:

The eye of this sleeping goat fish definitely dominates this composition.

 

 

2. Two Points:

I was attracted to the little tendrils that spider out from each hole.

 

 

3. Several points in a deliberate shape:

The eyes and knees of this mantis shrimp  (do mantis shrimp even have knees?) make an implied rectangle. I liked that the whole thing was enclosed in an actual circle (his hole) and a spot of light from the snoot I was using. Shapes within shapes.

 

 

4. A combination of vertical and horizontal lines:

I was confused a little by this one because in the exercises for this the horizontals and verticals were split out into different pictures but this title implied both. So I shot all three versions. Horizontal, Vertical and Both.

 

 

5. Diagonals:

The diagonal lines of the crinoid lead you eye to the striking little crab.

 

 

6. Curves:

This was shot during daylight hours so I used a high shutter speed to control the ambient light to achieve the black background. I wanted to emphasise the curve of this whip coral to lead your eyes down to the very well camouflaged shrimp and a blue (water) background wouldn’t have worked as well.

 

 

7. Distinct, even if irregular shapes:

I used a snoot on my strobe to create a pool of heart shape light around this pair of harlequin shrimp enjoying a romantic meal for two of starfish legs.

 

 

8. At least two kinds of implied triangle:

This decorator crab has three little polyps on his head making a nice implied triangle. And the eyes and shrimp of this coral grouper being cleaned make an implied inverted triangle. The groupers body is triangular too, more shapes within shapes.

 

 

9. Rhythm:

The pattern of this coral reminded me of a musical score.

 

 

10. Pattern:

This pattern of coral polyps looks as though it could go on forever.

 

To see the Exifs etc for these images (as I know my tutor might like to do) you have to look at them in side show mode. Click any image below to begin, please bear in mind that my lighting is external and manually controlled so this would not be taken into account by the Exif.

Assignment two – Draft Images

The subject I chose  for my assignment was Underwater Macro Life.

Note to tutor… I filled in my google docs PDF learning log with images and text for each day I did my assignment images. Now I cannot download as a PDF it so I’m putting the images here in date sections to be referred too when reading the PDF. This is not all the photos that I took each day of course but those that were intended towards the assignment that didn’t make it into the PDF. Please click on each set to open in a larger slideshow version.

 

 

22nd November 2012: Assignment 2. First day of shooting.

 

 

23rd November 2012: Assignment 2. Second day of shooting.

 

 

24th November 2012: Assignment 2. Third day of shooting.

 

 

25th November 2012: Assignment 2. Fourth day of shooting.

 

 

26th November 2012: Assignment 2. Fifth day of shooting.

 

 

27th November 2012: Assignment 2. Sixth day of shooting.

 

 

28th November 2012: Assignment 2. Seventh day of shooting.

 

 

29th November 2012: Assignment 2. Eighth day of shooting.

Exercise: Implied Lines

The exercise on p85 is all to do with implied lines. The first part of the exercise is to find the implied lines in the photographs supplied in the coursework, to make a sketch and note down what the lines might be. I’ve done that in my physical notebook. I’ll finish up the exercise here with these photographs.

Firstly this one of the diver lighting up the corals…

This photo is actually an optical illusion. The diver swimming by happened to have his flash set on slave so when mine went off so did his. Now normally this would ruin a photograph however my flash was pointed at the corals in such a way it looks like the diver had a torch on the corals creating an implied relationship (even though in reality he was much too far away). This small version here shows the implied lines, the main arrow shows the “torch beam” effect. And the smaller implied line shows the space for the diver to swim into.

The next photo has the following implied lines. This one is less subtle with the lines of ridged sand leading you eyes from the shell to the rays, the foreground rays swimming forward and right and the background rays swimming straight right.

This guy on the front of the Duomo in Florence looks as though he’s impeaching the heavens. You follow his eye line upwards but the alcove that he’s sitting in all point inwards and the star pattern leads your eye back down to him again creating a circuit within the frame.

For the third part of the exercise was to plan and take a photograph that has these types of implied lines. I took this one of my little people in their snowy landscape. Even though the man in the foreground is blurred by the DOF your eyes still go between him & the woman in yellow because they are holding eye line and waving. The people in the background are much less dynamic so hold less interest in the composition, however they are all walking inwards keeping your attention within the frame and back to the woman again.

Exercise: Points

Part Two of the course is all about elements of design. Points, lines, shapes etc. The first exercise on page seventy four for positioning a point within the frame was almost exactly the same as this one in part 1 Exercise: Object in different positions in the frame that I’m skipping over it to the second points exercise (p75) on positioning multiple points.

For this I used some small people to be my points on polystyrene (I was thinking of it as a winter scene)…

As you can see for two points I had to chance my DOF. They look like they are walking towards each other (but that is getting ahead or ourselves, into the exercise on p85 on implied lines). The are on a slight diagonal too which makes them seem more dynamic.

With three there is a (very flat) implied triangle but it still looks as though they are all walking along the same pathway in the snow.

with four there is a certain symmetry, I guess I cant stop my brain from seeing in patterns. They are leaning a bit which i’ve corrected in shot 5 but perhaps there was a strong wind on this snowing day?

For shot 5, the woman in yellow disturbs the pattern of them all walking along, she is slightly set back off the road waving to someone. I meant for it to be the lady in  purple but fro this vantage point it looks like she’s looking off screen at someone else which disrupts the balance of the photo somewhat.

The balance is restored with the addition of a 6th figure (with whom the woman seems to be waving). They are all still vaguely aligned with the snowy pathway from my imagination though.

I was having a think on how I would align them differently and this is an alternative arrangement of figures that I liked. Clearly a group os couples meeting up, the group as a whole makes a sort of diagonal line across the frame, with waving figures at each end reinforcing the group shape with implied eye lines.