Rhythm and pattern

 Rhythm and pattern in photography are fairly similar in the sense that both are a form of repetition. The difference between the two is that rhythm encourages movement of the eye across the image whereas pattern is more static. Pattern is most effective when it fills the frame with the suggestion that it spills out from all sides.

 

This example of pattern was taken on my phone in Nando’s when I saw the bottle tops stuck to the wall.

 

With rhythm, the repetition usually flows in just one direction. The rhythmic subject may spill out from opposite ends of the image, however some of the more interesting rhythm photography shows a natural break in the pattern.

These images by Hena Tayeb; (http://emptyeasel.com/2009/07/22/hena-tayeb-brilliant-rhythmic-photography/)  show skilled examples of rhythm:

 

 

 By showing the archways from an angle instead of straight on, Hena shows depth in the image. The shallow depth of field in the alligator tail also shows depth in the image which I have attempted to replicate in my dinosaur bone image.  

 

The bones flow from the bottom of the image to the top, with the rhythm being broken by the child’s hand at the top.

 

My rooftop shot shows a much more simple example of rhythm, leading the eye from left to right across the image.

 

 

Real and implied triangles

The triangular rock in this image leads the eye in several directions. The top point leads upwards towards the girl, who is the primary focal point. The side points lead the eye downwards and out to the sides, grounding the image and giving it width.

 The perspective in this shot makes the parallel lines in this phone box appear to converge towards the top. In hindsight, I feel the image would have benefitted from a more dramatic convergence gained with a wider angle lens or a steeper perspective.

In this shot, I feel I have gained a much steeper convergence. Although the same lens was used, this effect is as a result of the bridge being much longer than the phone box.

When using several items, I achieved the triangular shape by using a single tall item at the back and getting gradually smaller and wider towards the front. I also ensured that I had more items at the front to increase the width.

To achieve a triangle with the apex at the bottom, I used much shallower items in a line to form the back row. Slightly smaller objects were placed in front to form the apex and in this image, the light from the candles helps to enhance the triangular shape.

The faces in this image form a triangle which I feel creates quite a lot of movement. Although the faces are in a triangle, I feel that the implied lines form a bit of a zig-zag, going from the photographer’s camera to the younger man, following his eye line to the other photographer and then from his eye line and camera to the ground.

 

Implied lines

I took several photos of my niece and studied why some appealed more than others when essentially, they were all so similar. The coloured lines in these shots show the direction of movement through the image. The first image shows a curve to the top, yet it flows straight down at the bottom which I find quite abrupt. The second shot shows a flowing S shaped curve, so the line implied by Evie’s posture is much more pleasing to the eye.  I also feel that the soft flowing curve fits with the nature of the subject.

The two implied eye lines give a cue to follow down to the money bowl which was the main purpose of the encounter. The arms of the two men back up this cue to create quite a strong message that the bowl could be the main subject of the photograph.

There are two types of implied line in this shot; the circular line flowing down the tree and round to follow the branch above frames the children while the dino-tree’s eye line leads behind the big tree to show the direction they would be moving if it were a real dinosaur.

The major implied line in this shot is from the lighting equipment. This line works in a similar way to an implied eye line.

The implied lines leading from Jordan’s feet point directly towards the top corners of the frame. I think this has an anchoring effect on the image which could explain why an expectedly flowing shot would turn out so static.   

This photo shows how an implied line can lead the eye through an image. A similar effect would occur in pictures of roads, bridges or corridors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curves

I have found that curves also create movement in an image, however it is a much more flowing movement than with diagonal lines. The trunk of this tree makes the eye flow across the image in a sweeping motion.

The curve of this wall pulls the eye forwards into the shot and then sweeps round to the right.

The curve in this photo of my nephew sweeps round from the bottom and draws the eye up towards the face in a much more gentle way than a straight line would have.

The curve in this shot creates a complete circle which I feel make the shot even more static than horizontal lines. The only movement created is from the cat’s eye line, added to by the tail pointing in the same direction.

Diagonals

Standing alone, this house would have made quite a static photograph, being mainly horizontal in shape. The fence, as well as giving some foreground interest, creates movement and tension with its diagonal lines.

Although this road would look like a straight line from above, perspective has made it look like a triangle, converging to a point in the distance.

Perspective is also used to create a triangular effect with this branch. In this case, the triangle points towards the subject.

Had I taken this photo straight on, the vertical and horizontal lines of the children would have created a much more static shot. The angle chosen produces diagonal lines instead creating more movement to suit the fun nature of the image.

Horizontal and vertical lines

For this project, I will be looking at lines and how they affect the nature of an image, starting with horizontal and vertical lines.

The horizontal lines in this shot work with the central position to create quite a static and heavy image. I think this fits well with the theme of the photo, being someone’s final resting place.

 

The eye is initially drawn to the horizontal lines of the bench slats in this image.  The lines of the branches then lead the eye  towards the curved arm, creating movement in an otherwise, very static shot.

I think the horizontal bars on this gate work well to reflect the written message. On seeing this image, I feel compelled to stop before noticing the rolling hill behind.  

 

Although the horizontal lines aren’t the most prominent thing in this photo, I feel that they definitely have a purpose. Without the shadows, the crowd would weigh down the left side of the shot, leaving the lone girl floating around on the other side. The shadows expand horizontally and give weight to the other side, giving the image needed stability.

 

 

Of my four vertical photos, I feel that this is the most stable being mostly made up of both horizontal and vertical lines. The few vertical lines in the shot create some movement as they lead the eye in towards the view of the sea.

In this shot of our holiday cottage, the vertical lines seem to be the most prominent, yet the sloping hand rails really lead the eye forwards into the garden.

 

By cropping the photo to exclude the hand rails, I have eliminated some of the movement, creating a much more static image. Rather than leading the eye to the centre, the rails now frame the image. This makes it much easier to spot my son to the right of the photo as we are no longer having to fight against the leading lines.

 

The pointed windows in this shot help the vertical lines to lead the eye upwards. Although the windows are directly above each other, the top windows being wider gives the impression that the image is wider at the top than at the bottom.

 

Although the vertical lines in this shot are quite prominent in leading the eye upwards, I feel that a lot the movement is created by the jagged skyline. I am starting to think that implied lines are often more leading than definite lines.  

 

 

 

 

 

Multiple points

When placing my first pebble, I felt that this central position worked well. If it had been a lone pebble and the bottle hadn’t been there, this would have made it quite a static shot. The implied diagonal line coming down from the bottle to the pebble however creates some movement.

I found that adjustments began from the second pebble, which was earlier than I had imagined. I felt that the initial stone needed to be further from the bottle in order for the second to balance. It was brought back in again as the third was placed to the bottom left. With the three pebbles, it is inevitable that they will form some kind of triangle.

My fourth stone seemed to work well in the middle of this triangle which was spread apart slightly to accommodate. On adding the fifth pebble, the apex of the triangle, now opened up to become the top of a square.

 

One of the lower pebbles needed to be moved in order to place the final pebble. On studying the shape of all the pebbles in place, I realised that they had created a triangle with a smaller triangle inside.

It seems that even when using what works naturally, rather than following rules, triangles often appear in forms which are pleasing to the eye.

Positioning a point

When taking this shot, I wanted to create a sense of movement and give an impression of the distance the boy was to travel. To achieve this result, I positioned him very close to the edge of the image. This had the effect of creating most of the space and therefore movement in front of him in the shot, drawing attention to the field which he was walking into.

I have used a similar position for the subject in this seaside shot but for different reasons. I wanted to create a feeling of space and stillness in the shot, yet not so much as to make it appear static. Had the rod not been pointing up towards the left of the image, I might have placed the fisherman slightly closer to the centre. I felt though, that the implied line flowing from the rod brought enough balance to enable me to place the man far right.

I have placed the candles in this shot much closer to the centre than the subjects in the previous images. This creates a much more stable shot, yet not quite so static as if they were completely central.

The dandelion shot is a re-edit of the one used for my Contrasts assessment. The central position makes a much more static image, yet I feel that the dark space is cut in half, creating a much less lonely picture than the original.

Assignment 1 (part 2): Contrasts

Links: Flickr

Moving on from delving into past photos; I set out on my mission of finding new contrasting pairs. I thought I’d start by going for a walk round the outskirts of our village, hoping that nature would throw out a few ideas. 

1.       My husband found this spiky plant which I thought would be perfect for ‘many’ and I knew just the thing to look out for to contrast. As we got back towards the houses, I found a Holly bush in a garden. The ‘few’ spikes were perfect to make up my first pair. I took both photos when I got home, using our cat’s kennel roof as a backdrop. I think the similar set up draws more attention to the differences in the plants.

2. My next two shots taken on the same walk had also been in mind for ‘many/few’ but as I couldn’t choose between these and the previous pair, I had to think outside the box a bit. The photos had been taken using my husband’s black t-shirt as a backdrop so with the dandelion clocks being white; I decided to use these as‘black/white’ instead. In order to emphasise the contrast, I extended the‘black’ shot by adding more black background in Photoshop and for the ‘white’ I used a tight crop, enabling the clock to almost fill the frame. I feel that the black photo has a sad, lonely quality to it for a few reasons; the dark background, the dandelion standing alone in such a wide space and also the lack of spores showing closeness to the end of its life. The white photo, in contrast looks very bright and vibrant and the fact that it fills the frame makes it look much bigger and bolder than it is in reality.

  

3.       The shot I took for ‘diagonal’ came about while sitting in the back garden with a coffee. As I sat back and looked up at the parasol, I noticed that it was a web of diagonal lines. In contrast to diagonal I took a shot of the ‘rounded’ roof of the Bagel Nash in our local shopping centre. I spotted the oval roof along with the round signs from the floor above, also whilst drinking coffee and it seemed perfect to make up my pair.

4.       My idea for the ‘large/small’ pair came about as I was lying on the ground after completing the ‘fixed aperture’ exercise earlier in the course. I was taking shots of the cooling tower, the grass and my bag, varying which I focused on when my daughter got in the way. I liked the idea but as the focus was wrong in the original, we went back for a re-shoot in order to submit for this assessment. The reason I have used this for ‘big’ is that my daughter looks like a giant in comparison to the cooling tower. I intended to use a similar technique for small by setting a person far behind an object. On holiday though, we stumbled upon a plant which looked like giant rhubarb so I thought I'd use the plant to make my son appear small. On editing the photo, I was disappointed with the success of the effect; however when I put the photo on Facebook, a few friends said that he looked like a Borrower so I decided to use it after all.  

5.       Yet again, my daughter helped with the idea for ‘high/low’. My original plan on going to this wood was to get a shot of the children up a tree. When she started jumping over a dip in the ground, I grabbed the opportunity and lay in the dip, shooting her jumping over me. My contrasting ‘low’ shot opportunity came about on spotting this tortoise at a wildlife park on holiday. Yet again, I needed to be on the floor but this time, I was shooting along the ground. I feel that the feet and the wide crop emphasise the low down nature of the shot.

6.       Whilst at the Wildlife Park, we had the pleasure of watching the otters being fed. The speed of their fight to get the chicks was quite fascinating. Even at a shutter speed of 1/80, a good deal of motion blur is shown. I felt that this classic stance of the meerkat, taken a few moments later was an ideal contrast to the motion of the otters, so it was chosen to complete my example of ‘moving/still’.

 

87       For the ‘hard/soft’ combination, I chose to photograph my pet snails as their hard shells and soft bodies were ideal for the project. I boosted the contrast on the shell shot in order to make it look harder and used a soft focus filter on the front view to emphasise the softness.

 

7. I got‘continuous’ ticked off while my family were skimming stones on a lochan. As usual, once they were in one spot entertaining themselves, I grabbed the chance to have a good look around rather than snapping things as we passed. It was as I picked my camera up from this bench that I realised it was made of long, continuous planks of wood. My shot for 'intermittent was the last taken for this assignment. It's surprising how difficult it is to find a long straight road which you're actually allowed to stop on but I found this lay by close to my home. I included the car in the shot for interest but waited until it was in the distance so as not to detract attention from the intermittent white lines.

9.       My final shot, taken from the coffee shop in our local shopping centre was originally taken for ‘curved’ because of the sweeping curve of the roof but as I started to edit it, I realised that the straight lines were just as dominant in the shot as the curves. The shot is a HDR combination of five exposures, blended in Photomatix in order to bring out the detail of the ironwork in the roof. I desaturated all but the blues and cyans in order to enhance the hanging posters as I felt that the vertical lines grounded the shot.

All images from this assignment can be seen in the corresponding Flickr album.

Assignment 1 (part 1): Contrasts

Links: Flickr

On looking through my old photos, I came across quite a few contrasting pairs, the first being quite a good example of what photography can do as I have used two different shots of the same tree to use for both broad and narrow. The first shot was of the base of the tree with my children playing in the background. The distance between the tree and the children makes the tree looks much bigger and the fact that only the base is showing accentuates the width. I increased the appearance of width further by using a shallow crop for the image.

The centre tree in the second image is the same tree as seen in the previous shot but here it appears much narrower.  Showing the height of the tree has helped with this, as has the vertical crop which draws the eye up the image. I feel that the lines created from the base of the centre tree, past the two bases at either side and down to the corners of the image also help to lengthen and therefore narrow the shot. The fact that the tops of the trees are omitted makes it look like they could go on forever. I think that all these elements come together to create an image in which the tree looks much more narrow than in the previous photo.

My images for ‘many/few’ follow the theme of birds. Whilst walking towards the Brighton Wheel, I noticed the three birds sitting on top of the posts. A lot of editing was necessary in order to draw attention to all three birds with such a dynamic structure in the background but I am quite pleased with the end result.

My shot of many birds was taken on a walk around Spurn Point, a long, thin peninsula at the mouth of the Humber. As the shot was so unexpected, I didn’t have time to adjust the camera settings but I think I fell quite lucky with the shutter speed as a little movement is shown but not so much that the birds are indistinguishable.

The next shot is taken from my first ever experience of showing motion blur in photography during a short course with The Open University last year. I was really excited to have my camera sitting on my new tripod, set to manual for the first time. I took several photos of the children skidding down the hill but this one was a firm favourite because of the contrast between stillness and motion.

The last shot from my collection is an image full of contrasts and contradictions. In life, many people are afraid of wasps so in some ways we would think of them as being fairly strong; their sting can cause considerable pain in the best of us. Spiders on the other hand, although they still reduce some people to a quivering wreck, are tolerated by many and quite often squashed by people who don’t want them in their homes.

In this image, the roles are reversed; the spider which we fear much less has the wasp wrapped up in his web ready for his meal later in the day. The very soft focus on the wasp also enhances its weakness in the shot.

The other element of the shot showing strength and weakness is the web; so strong that it can stop wasps and other insects in their tracks, yet so weak that we can destroy it with a swipe of the finger.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this part of the task as it has helped me to see some of my old photos in an entirely different way. I will try to use some of these findings as I create my images for the next part of the assessment.

All images from this assignment can be seen in the corresponding Flickr album.