Task 2 - Composition

I was asked to explore the use of composition within photography through practical research. in order to do this i was asked to explore different aspects of composition such as angles, format, rule of thirds, leading lines, linear perspective and aerial perspective. each photograph taken is composed of at least one of these aspects whether it has been intentional or not. whilst carrying out my practical research on this matter I aimed to make the main focus of each image i took the technique which was used when taking the photograph. Here are the photographs i took as part of my research.

for the first part of the task i was asked to take photographs using different angles in order to give each image a different look. Within the contact print above there are images taken from 5 different angles. The angles which I took the photographs from were birds eye view, worms eye view, eye level, high point of view looking down on something and a low point of view looking up to something. Using these different angles gives the object being photographed a different look and using different angles is a good way to add interest to what could potentially be a boring object before different angles are introduced.

i was then asked to take some photographs using different formats. the format of a photograph is the shape or form of which the photograph takes. in the contact print above I have displayed three formats most commonly used within photography. The formats which i have shown are vertical (portrait), horizontal (landscape), and square. Each of these formats has its advantages and disadvantages as the subject matter of the photograph will most likely fir one format better than the others. Horizontal formats are most commonly used in landscape photography whereas vertical formats are most commonly used within portrait photography and square formats are used most commonly to photograph symmetrical objects as it can appear that the subject has been reflected from one half of the square to the other if done accurately. However, these are not strict guidelines and and the subject of each photograph can be switched and changed depending on what it is you are photographing and how you want the photograph to look. Some formats will work better than others within some circumstances as changing the format can help to fit all of the subject matter into the photograph and it can also help illuminate any unwanted open spaces.

  

After this i was asked to explore rule of thirds, leading lines and perspective and to include these aspects into the photographs that I was taking. Leading lines in photography are lines which guide the eye around the photograph so the viewer sees what the photographer wants them to see first. Leading lines tell the viewer where to look and when intentionally used can look very effective. When leading lines are used in unintentional circumstances, the can either work well to lead the viewers eye to the correct part of the image or the can work in a negative way and lead the viewers eye away from the intended subject matter and prove to be a distraction. Rule of thirds is another aspect to consider when composing a photograph. rule of thirds is when the subject matter of a photograph is contained within one of the thirds of the photograph making the subject sit off centre allowing other aspects (or most commonly, blank space) to fill the remaining area of the photograph. The last aspect of composition which I explored within this research was perspective. perspective is split into two different types Aerial perspective and Linear perspective.

This is one of the photographs I took to show of the birds eye view angle. A bids eye view is when you take a photograph looking directly down onto the object which you wish to photograph. In this case, the object which I chose to photograph was one of the small water fountains in City Park. with this water fountain, because it was only small, i was able to get up close to it and hold my camera up above the fountain itself to create this image. for this photograph, i made sure i used a fast shutter speed, this enabled me to capture the water droplets as they splashed away from the main jet of water. I really like this photograph as i feel that this is quite a unique viewpoint of a water fountain as you rarely get to see a water fountain from above. If i was to change one thing about this photograph, it would be the lighting. the lighting in this photograph is a bit too dark, this is because the lights which are positioned at the base of the fountain are bright making the rest of the photograph seem darker than intended therefore if i was to re shoot this photograph i would try to find a solution to this. 

this is one of the photographs i took to show the angle of eye level. eye level photography is probably the most common angle used in photography as it is extremely simple and easy to capture what you can see in front of you as a photograph. This photograph is of the water fountain archway which is found in city park. to take this photograph i stood at the end of the arch way and shot the photograph looking straight through the tunnel made of water. I like this photograph as although there is more going on within the photograph, the main focus point of the photograph is the fountains as this feature is nice and central in the frame.

This is one of the photographs i took form a high view point. photographs taken from a high view point look down on the subject making the subject look as though it is of less importance than other things around it. this photograph is of some cars in a car park and was taken from a window from a floor which was on a higher level than the car park meaning the cars were below be when taking this picture therefore any photographs which i may have taken from this position would have had a high view point as their main angle. i am happy with the way this photograph looks as i like the range of colours captured within this image. if i was to change one thing about this photograph it would be that i would move the camera to the left slightly in order to capture more of the red car. this would mean that the picture would have more bright colours within in ad it would make it more eye catching and interesting.

this is a photograph i took to show off low view points. To take a picture using a low view point, you have to make sure you are in a position so that the object which you are photographing is higher than the camera. doing this makes it look like you are looking directly up at something when you look back at the photograph which you have taken. By using this technique when taking photographs, it gives the object which you are photographing more importance and authority. The photograph i have taken is of a tree but taking it from this angle makes it look as though the tree is of more importance than the other things around it. this is a common trait for photographs taken in this manor. 

this is a photograph i took to represent the angle of a worms eye view. a worms eye view is a very low level photograph and looks as though the world is being viewed through the eye of a worm who, because of its nature, is extremely close to the ground. this photograph is of a tree trunk and was taken by placing my camera on the bench and photographing the tree from this angle. i took this photograph in thins way as i thought about an actual worm, if the worm was on the bench looking towards the tree at the same angle as i had my camera set up at, i imagine this is very similar to the view point it would have. to add interest to this photograph, i focused my camera on the actual tree trunk itself making the other aspects of this photograph such as the bench, which my camera was set up on, out of focus.

This is one of the photographs i took while exploring different formats within photography and this is the photograph i took for the 'vertical' or 'portrait' format. i chose to photograph one of the sculptures in City Park as i found this shape interesting and i thought it would fit into this format particularly well as it is the right sort of shape tp fill the area of the photograph if the photograph is taken in this format. by using this format when taking the photograph, it means that the sculpture is able to be nicely framed within the photograph without leaving any unnecessary and unwanted open spaces which could then distract away from the subject of the photograph.

this is another photograph i took while exploring different formats within photography. This is the photograph i took to showcase the square format. The square format is most commonly used on social media websites such as Instagram as most regular publications of images are a rectangular formal making them either portrait or landscape. As my camera does not have a setting in order to take photographs in the square format to begin with, I originally took this photograph in a landscape format with the intentions of cropping the image to then be in a square format. this meant that when taking the photograph, i purposely made sure there was nothing important within the outer edges of the photograph which would then be lost. When taking this photograph, i visualised the square in which the main focus of the photograph would fit meaning that when i came to crop the photograph, the subject would be exactly where i wanted it and i would only be cropping the photograph to achieve my desired format rather than cropping to eliminate unwanted aspects of the photograph. This is a photograph of a small group of purple flowers with a yellow centre which i found growing in a flower bed in City Park. This small group of flowers were surrounded by leaves and other similar flowers as seen in the greenery and small pink patches within the photograph, however when taking this photograph i wanted to isolate this one particular group and photograph them alone. In order to do this, I got up close to the flower itself and used an aperture which would give me a shallow depth of field. the shallow depth of field means that the flower itself and the leaves in the foreground are perfectly in focus but the background and the rest of the photograph has been dropped out of focus. i think this works well for this photograph as it draws more attention to the flower itself making the vibrant purple of the petals very eye catching. As the focus of this photograph is on the flower and the eye is drawn to the purple petals, the eye is also drawn to the water droplets which are a result of the rain that fell not too long before taking this photograph. I feel that the water droplets on the petals work well with this photograph as they add more detail and interest to the photograph. In addition to this, I feel that this photograph works well in a square format as the flower fits nice and central in this photograph as it is at an equal distance from each of the sides of the photograph. If this photograph was in another format such as portrait or landscape i feel that there would be too much unwanted and unnecessary space within the photograph which would ultimately distract from the main subject of the photograph.

this is the third photograph i took when exploring different formats within photography. This is the photograph i took to showcase the 'horizontal' or 'landscape' format. The landscape format is one of the most commonly used formats as it is very east to capture photographs in this way. This format is used a lot as this is the format that most cameras automatically shoot in. Without turning the camera on its side, or later cropping the photograph, this is the format that most photographs will be created in by most cameras. This photograph shows the view looking out of the bottom of City Park. I chose to photograph this as an example of the landscape format as i felt that there was quite a lot in this scene that i could incorporate within this photograph such as the unusually designed lamp post, the flower bed and the trees. as all of these components are spread out quite a lot, I thought that the landscape format would be the best to use as it means that everything is allowed to be captured within the photograph without sections being lost had a portrait or square format been used.