Exercise 26 - Curves

The following four images use curves to suggest movement:

The curved lines of the floor and of the rail suggest a movement towards the bicycle. The direction that the bicycle is pointing also adds to this suggestion. This rail is continued in the next image.

Still at the Sage, the curves are all around us and suggest movement throughout the building – it never ceases to amaze me, but the one that draws the eye in this image is the long winding rail along the right of the floor, which suggests movement to and from the far windows. This is further suggested by the walking figure in the centre.

The curves of the stigma and stamen of this amaryllis make it seem as though they’re all moving towards the light, or at least chasing the lady! This is a composite image from two macro shots.

This sketch shows the evident curves in red with the implied direction of movement in green.

The curves of the boards and railings lead the eye into the scene. The pier seems to be moving the viewer towards the town. As can be seen in the next image, it can also have the suggestion of movement in the opposite direction.

Here’s an extra for a bit of fun – The same rails and boards with a well dressed Goth, HDR effects and a large paintbrush use the movement to different effect.

 

I’d never considered the effect of curves with regard to movement, but it’s obviously the case. I’ve used them to create a lead into or out of an image, but never considered their use to for creating movement.

Exercise 25 – Diagonals

The first image for this exercise was taken at Sandsend, showing the groynes at low tide.

The diagonal lines formed by the groynes and by the sky lead the viewer into the distance. Taking the image from a low vantage point increases the diagonal line of the groynes.

This view of part of a waterfall was taken at 1/5 sec and enhanced using tone mapping. The image was taken at an angle to create an impression of more motion.

A low shooting angle was again used for this image of beach chalets. The use of a 10 mm lens has increased the angle of the diagonal and caused sympathetic streaking in the sky. The overall impression is now one of distance and movement.

By comparison, this image was taken from the top of a lighthouse. The lens was at 150 mm, which has shortened the perspective, but the strong diagonal line of the pier wall still gives the impression of distance and of people moving along.

The use of diagonal lines tends to bring in more of a feeling of depth and movement, leading the viewer into the picture to look for more.

Looking through the recommended reading books for the course, examples of the use of diagonals can be found in each volume. Some display them more than others: 

In Charlotte Cotton’s ‘the photograph as contemporary art’ many of the images which need to show distance or a sense of place have diagonal lines to draw the eye into the distance. In some cases it may be a small piece of furniture set at an angle, but it’s enough to show depth in an image. Not as many are displayed in this book as the next one, as many of them do not go out to show ‘depth’ in the image. It’s more down to making images in a new ways rather than being a ‘technical’ book.

Michael Freeman’s ‘The Photographer’s Eye’ is filled with images containing diagonals. With this type of book, where techniques and instruction are being given, it would be almost impossible to write without showing and explaining their use. In every section of the book there are examples of the diagonal line – not just the section considering ‘lines’

Hunter / Biver / Fuqua’s ‘Light Science and Magic’ use diagonals in many images, but also diagonal shadows are shown which have a similar effect – depending on the direction and strength of light a stronger or weaker directional shadow is created which also shows depth and texture in an image.

Liz Wells’s ‘Photography: A Critical Introduction’ starts with strong diagonals on the steps of the book cover. Further examples are shown inside, but not to the same degree as the preceding books, as this volume is predominantly text.

Further investigation of tutor recommended artists

Looking at Barry Whittaker’s work, I see some resemblance to my own. I see that I’ve a long way to go to reach his way of looking at things, but I appreciate his foresight and his skills with photography. It also pointed out another aspect of horizontal lines which can be achieved using a macro lens – simply by using the restricted focal distance of the lens will create a line which is ‘in focus’ while areas in front and behind this line are ‘out of focus’.

The Ansel Adams gallery is such a wealth of ideas. I see some which do resemble some of my images, but I’d never consider myself to be in this league. What a talent!

Andy Goldsworthy www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk uses photography to record his work which is a creditable use of photography, but you need to consider the shooting angles and techniques he has used to such effect to appreciate more fully his prowess as a photographer. Here’s an artist using photography with his artwork to excellent effect. Maybe I’ll have a dabble myself if there’s time.

I really appreciate the work of Richard Long. In particular I enjoyed the ‘Sculptures Gallery’ at www.richardlong.org Not only are his sculptures inspired, but his photography is of such a high standard too. It amazes me that so much can be achieved in such a short time, and also that he has the time and energy to do it all. Obviously some images have been taken in Infrared, which is also one of my interests – the ‘White’ Goth in assignment 1 was taken using an old Nikon D70 which has been converted for infrared.

 

While David Nash www.sculpture.org.uk/artists/DavidNash uses photography to identify and show his sculptures I feel that his skill with the camera doesn’t match that of his blades. Some of his work, particularly the stairs to nowhere have to be placed outdoors and the photograph shows this well, but I think he’s got more work to do on his composition and exposure of many of the images.

I’m afraid Fred Herzog www.equinoxgallery.com/artists/portfolio/fred-herzog doesn’t do a lot for me. While I find his subject matter generally interesting I prefer images that show more of a bent towards art, rather than his documentary style. When you consider the documentary style of Frank Meadow Sutcliffe for instance, there can be a very artistic side to documenting the lives of the working class, which I feel is lacking in the majority of Herzog’s work, although there are occasional glimpses of what could have been there.

Wolfgang Tillmans http://tillmans.co.uk is an altogether different style. His photography, albeit of a loosely documentary style is used in his artwork in a much more creative way. Here are images which can be viewed as works of art, rather than record shots of ‘this is how life was’. You need to go that extra step and be creative in your own way.

Exercise 24 - Horizontal and vertical lines

An initial look around came up with many examples of both horizontal and vertical lines, but on further consideration many were man made, so I had a rethink. The first four images with horizontal lines I chose are:

 Horizontal waves

The image was taken from a low angle with the lens at 150 mm to shorten the perspective and avoid any distortion from wide angle settings, so this comes into the category of ‘a mass of objects seen from a low angle’

Concrete steps leading to the West pier extension

This was again taken at a relatively low angle so it comes into the same category as the last one. I held the lens at 55 mm to retain some perspective, but avoid wide angle distortion.

Weather worn planking on the West pier extension

 

It took a while to find a position on the pier where there was a group of boards without vertical joints. I chose this area because of the interesting knots. This comes into the category of ‘a row of objects all at the same distance from the camera’

 Kipper rail in the smoke house

These were the last two rails of fish to be taken from the smoke house. This again falls into the category of ‘a row of objects all at the same distance from the camera’

The four chosen examples of vertical lines are:

Lighthouse framed by pier stanchions

This image of the redundant lighthouse was taken from the lower level of the West pier extension using the upper level supporting timbers to frame it. The camera was hand held, using vibration reduction with a narrow aperture to improve the depth of field. This falls into the category of ‘walls, posts and other man-made structures’

 Tree trunks seen at Cragside

I varied the green, cyan and blue sliders for the monochrome conversion so that the trunks were more pronounced in this image, which obviously comes into the category of ‘tree trunks’

 Wharf pilings

 

These pilings were photographed from the landing steps to enable this view. I used the telephoto lens at 150 mm to compress the distance. This must also come into the category of ‘walls, posts and other man-made structures’ even though the technique and type of shot is very different from the first.

 Reflections of boat masts

These are reflections of vertical masts which still appear vertical in the water. This image could vaguely fall into the ‘walls, posts and other man-made structures’ category, as the masts are obviously man made, but I think that using their reflection moves the image into a different category, as it’s now affected by the rippled water.

 

For the vertical images I used portrait orientation, to increase the ‘tall’ perception of the images. This felt right for these particular images, but it’s not a rule. Many vertical lines, particularly when they’re groups of many, will work better in landscape orientation.

 

It’s not easy to maintain horizontal or vertical elements of images exactly as they look. Using the frame grid in the viewfinder helps keep horizons horizontal – it must be referred to when taking each image. The use of wide angle lenses can also introduce distortion in these planes.