Composition.

Due to my busy schedule last week, and with starting a new job and all, I was unable to post some photos that I shot last week for Photography Appreciation, until now. By waiting however, I will now include a photo I shot yesterday for Photocommunication. Interestingly enough, I was given the same assignment for both classes. To capture/ experiment with Composition. I used 2 different approaches to satisfy these assignments and hopefully you will enjoy them as much as I do.

NOTE: As always, I ask that you do not save images to your local computer with out permission. Information about permission can be found on the About page. Thank You.

For my first assignment in Composition, I had to arrange an inanimate object, and leave it in that spot for the duration of the shoot. This assignment is always a fun one to push the photographer work with what they are given and still create something interesting. Here are just 5 photos that I shot, out of 110 total.

Front View

Exhale

Remembering the Past

Duty Calls

Chaos

First off I want to state that the above photo is my favorite. I have experimented with zoom blur in the past, with little success, but given the subject of the gas mask and the helmet, the blur successfully, in my mind, conveys a feeling of chaos. When thinking about when these would be used, I think about chaotic situations, and that is what I wanted to portray. After shooting in color for a while, I switched to black and white, because when I think of the war, I think of the B/W photos that my grandfather has. I used 3 different lenses, and work by all 3 is represented here, I ended up slightly cropping the photo, Front View, that was originally shot with the wide-angle lens. I took many different shots, 110 total, using all different focal lengths ranging from 16-300mm, and a wide range of aperture settings as well. Some of the photos I wanted to use a tight aperture, and still use a low ISO, so I brought out my trusty tripod. I have to say I am not a fan of staging a scene. I would much rather go out and experience the world then stage something in my own environment. But this was still a valuable photographic experience.

Sanctuary

This photo is of some street art that I found under the bridge on Latsch Island. I always find street art interesting, but under that bridge is a whole new world. (to me). So many unique stories, but at the end of the day, life goes on, fading into the abyss, just like the end of the bridge. In terms of composition, there is a high level of contrast in the image. It contains both true white and true black, and every shade of grey in between. Since the sky is exposed as true white, it serves as ground, and the bridge as a whole serves as figure. There is a diminishing perspective, and the vanishing point is located just to the left of the image. I would also choose to classify this image as a mainly content image due to the fact that it is clearly a recognizable object.

I am not going to try to make you as a viewer feel what I feel when I view this image, but maybe to provide some insight to my personality, I will tell you that I feel calm, peaceful, almost Tranquil when I view this image. This may be because it takes me back to when I shot it, and it was a still winters day, and it was peaceful to see all the street art. Who knows. But until next time, Enjoy!!

March 1, 2011 | Categories: Photography | Tags: 35mm, b&w, black and white, bridge, gas mask, graffiti, Latsch Island, photography, spray paint, street art, WWII | 1 Comment