Project 6 : Fitting the frame to the subject
The projects in the first chapter “A way of seeing” were more about understanding the technical side of the camera. I learnt most of that on my T189 OU course.
From now on, the projects are more about what goes on through the view finder. I am looking forward to these sections immensely.
Project 6 involves finding a subject to shoot and shooting it in 4 different ways. For this shot, I spotted a Railway signal box in Elsham, a small village in North Lincs.
Elsham : Standard
35mm. F/9 1/200sec ISO 100
Shot 1 : A “standard” shot, i.e. with little thought, basically see the subject and take the shot.
Elsham : Tight
38mm. F/9 1/200sec ISO 100
Shot 2 : A “tight” shot. Move in closer, move around and try to fill the frame with the subject. Be sure to keep all of the subject in the shot.
Elsham : Detail
85mm. F/9 1/250sec ISO 100
Shot 3 : A “detail” shot. Move in closer and take a full frame close up shot, where the image fills the entire frame.
Elsham : Surroundings
35mm. F/10 1/250sec ISO 100
Shot 4 : A “surroundings” shot. Move further back and take a shot of the subject in its surroundings. Ensure the subject occupies less than a quarter of the frame.
Apart from shot 2, I like all of these shots. Shot 2 is far too tight and looks cramped.
My favourite is actually shot 1 but I think that is more to do with the pleasing combination of horizontal lines on the building and vertical lines on the building corners and gate posts. Although I do like the fact that it looks isolated from its busy surroundings.
Generally on my travels, I tend to take more of the detail shot, (shot 3) and tend to avoid shots of the whole subject. This can be a problem when I get home from a famous landmark and find I don’t have a shot of the entire building(!).
The second part of project 6 was to crop the original shots to produce different shots. (Rather than do this with prints, I did this task digitally).
This can be quite pleasing, I quite like the first and the last crops. I like the way the cables lead into the front of the building in the last shot.
If I’d have spent more time at the scene, or perhaps put more thought into my composition, I might have taken these shots originally. Hopefully doing exercises like this, I will get better at spotting these shots.