5 - VIEWPOINT

19th January 2014

1,050 photographs taken of which here are a few I took today.Pictures taken by Fabiola Mann 19th January 2014

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Close Up

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(Taken by Fabiola Mann above and below) 

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I find older subjects are sometimes more interesting as they display more character and their is more detail in the face which can be captured. My main regret with these photographs is that in the extreme close up, her eyes appear to be out of focus. I was using an extremely narrow aperture so there was very shallow focus, evident since her hair is in full focus - the slight difference in distance from the lens was made very clear through this level of focus, and this would have perhaps been one of my favourite shots had I truly captured her eyes.

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High Angle

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Taken by Fabiola Mann

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Here is an example of a very high angle shot, taken from the Millenium Bridge of a jogger. This photograph could have perhaps been improved had my framing been better, for example from the front of the jogger or with the jogger positioned to fit the ROT.

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Low Angle

Taken by Fabiola Mann 2/1/14

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Above is one of the first shots which I took using the wide angle macro "fish eye" lens. The subject at the centre is enlarged as the background is distorted around the sides, curving inwards. This, coupled with the fact that it is a low angle shot creates a surreal, almost nightmarish feel for the shot, which I really like. This is perhaps emphasized by the fact that (judging by his expression) the warden appears to be writing a ticket for some unfortunate driver. 

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Canted

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This picture was taken by tilting the camera, creating a canted angle. I wanted the picture to have a surreal, dream like feeling, which I felt was achieve by this distortion. To emphasise the effect, I also decided to take the picture from a very lo angle, and I chose this model because I found her clothes quite striking and nicely blocked in terms of colour. 

Long Shot

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Although none of the interesting points of this photograph obey the ROT, I really like this photograph. It was taken using a fairly wide aperture, so most of the subjects are in focus. The main thing which I like about this photograph however is the way that the water on the pavement is shiny

and slightly reflective.

Wide Shot



Taken by Fabiola Mann 2/1/14

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There is something about the body language and the shadow of this young musician which I find quite fascinating. I also love the juxtaposition between the main subject's pale, light clothes and the other subject's dark heavy winter-like clothing. The musician is holding only a guitar whilst the other is carrying a backpack.

FRAMING

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Photograph taken by Cartier Bresson, "New York", 1947

I was inspired by the framing in the picture above - I really loved the way that Cartier Bresson captured such a grim alleyway, with a really nice subject at the end. A man and his cat. I tried to copy the effect with the picture taken below. This was taken outside the Photographer's Gallery, and although it is interesting, the same effect is not present. This is primarily due to the fact that there was a lot of natural light and it was a much wider area as opposed to an alleyway. Also, there is no point of interest on any of the ROT central points and the tops of the buildings are visible so they are not endlessly tall as they seem in Cartier Bresson's image. A lot of these problems could be fixed on Photoshop, by simply cropping the picture down so the young couple fit on a point of interest. Brightness can also be adjusted.  

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Mid Shot

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Landscape

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Evaluation

What Went Well: 

• I captured quite a large range of angles and shots, although I feel that the most interesting ones were the less conventional shots - I found great inspiration from looking at the work of artists like Diane Arbus, who used very unusual cropping to add focus to the subject's face or ears in her pictures

Improvements

• I would have liked to have done a separate project exploring the contrast between London's richer and poorer
• I thought that some of the high angle shots were quite interesting, and would have liked to try some variations on shots like fig 67