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.
