Assignment 2: Elements of design

I’ve decided to go for the Flowers and Plants option for this assignment. I’m using the plants themselves for the various effects, rather than shaped beds or displays. The plants themselves provide so much interest, without their manufactured displays. The images were taken in the Eden Project and Heligan Gardens, our own garden and in the local forests.

 

I’ll work through the various effects from top to bottom.

 Single Point dominating the composition:

 

Taken in Sneaton forest using a macro lens, this violet has been isolated from the background by the differences in light (the flower being in bright sunlight while the rest of the image is in shade) and by the shallow depth of field provided by the macro lens. By having this dominance the flower really takes centre stage.

 Two Points dominating:

 

Also taken in Sneaton forest, the heads of this Campion have been similarly isolated by using the macro lens and backlit sunlight. With two flower heads sharing the dominance the image has a much softer feel. The softly focused and sunlit background allows more interest but the eye still returns to the two flowers.

 

This image of asters in our garden has used infrared with a converted Nikon D70. The two flowers are separated from the rest of the foliage due to the heat from the sun, while the rest of the foliage is in relatively cool shade. While this image demonstrates the effectiveness of having two main points, it also has the traits of ‘diagonal’ and almost ‘triangular’ effects.

 Using several points in a deliberate shape:

 

Back in Sneaton forest, this dandelion head shows the individual seed heads which make up the overall ball shape. The shallow depth of field of the macro lens has again concentrated the eye on the sharper seed heads, but the overall shape is still very much a part of the image.

This South African Protea, taken in the Eden project, shows the different petals and individual florets of the flower head. I like the complementary colours in this image.

 Combination of vertical and horizontal lines:

 

Taken in The Lost Gardens of Heligan this lattice of leaves shows the advantage of shooting into the sun. I like the silver lining of the leaves and the horizontal shadows across the vertical leaves. Pinpricks of light have produced a pleasing bokeh effect in the background. While there is no definite point of focus in this image, the lattice effect is sufficient to make it work – there are points of interest in many areas of the image.

 Diagonals:

 

This is another image from the Eden Project. Shooting into the sun again, the lateral veins of this palm leaf provide wonderful lines – almost vertical in the lower half and angled in the upper. The strong central diagonal plays the dominant role in the image and is the main point of focus. I like the range of greens produced by the sunlight and shadows of other leaves.

 Curves:

 

Back home again to the conservatory where I’ve again used the macro lens, but with an additional 4x magnifying filter attached. The curve is a quadrant of the centre of a gazania flower head. This central part of this can be seen to have many florets with male and female attributes. The close up detail shows the pollen on the outer pink petals. I think it’s the curve of white and yellow florets that makes this image and also the complementary pink and green of the petals and centre.

 Distinct Shapes:

These alliums taken at the Eden Project provide an image which is dominated by the spherical shapes which draw the eye into the distance. The purple flower heads blend well with the blue carpet of borage. Highlights in the distance again form pleasing bokeh points.

 

Back home again and these forget-me-not flowers show their distinct identical shapes when a macro lens is used. I considered using this in the ‘pattern’ category, but the regularity of the individual flowers appealed to me for the ‘shape’ element. 

 Implied triangles:

 

Another image taken at the Eden Project and again shooting into the sun. The radiating lines of this leaf imply a triangle with its point at the bottom. Although there is no defined ‘base’ to the triangle, the central framing leaves no doubt that the shape is there. The back lighting has accentuated the lines in the leaf and caused this vibrant olive green hue.

 

This implied triangle with its apex at the top has been produced using an ultra-wide angle lens (10 mm focal length). Taken in Sneaton forest the lens distortion has bent the trees towards the centre. I chose these trees carefully, wanting to use their straightness and height to create this view.

Rhythm:

 

The detail of this borage, seen at Eden Project is an example of rhythm in an image. The regular line of buds seems to march towards the viewer as if they’re moving towards their destiny of opening into flowers, which is borne out by the flower at the tip of the stem. The movement is enhanced by the move from the blur in the background to the sharp focus in the foreground. The image also benefits from the strong diagonal route of the buds.

 

Back home again and this crocosmia again displays rhythm. In contrast to the previous image the flowers have opened from the stem first, while those towards the tip have still to open. The regular line of the flowers and buds, coupled with the change from background blur to foreground sharpness all help to show the rhythm in the image. I think the complementary reds and greens give this image that extra ‘zing’.

Pattern:

The regularity of the leaf shapes in this fuchsia are an example of pattern. I included the immature leaves in this composition, to give better points of interest, but the main element is the leaf pattern. Again complementary colours help this image. 

This section of the course seems to have had a lot more in it. I’ve enjoyed it immensely.

Exercise 29 - Rhythms and patterns

The first image of this exercise shows rhythm.

 

I used a Neutral Density filter (+8 stops) with the camera exposure pushed by 2 stops to enable a 3 second exposure for this image. The intention was to cause a blurring of the breaking waves around these old groynes, and to accentuate their line and shapes. Originally these posts would have been all the same height with planks fitted between the pairs of uprights. With time they have eroded to what they are today – the planking has long gone and the regular pairs have become a more interesting line, leading down to the deeper water. 

I think this portrays rhythm due to the perceived regular distances between the uprights, even though they are all slightly different. There’s also movement in the water and a strong diagonal line leading the eye into the picture. 

The next image is an example of pattern.

 

This image was taken in the gents toilets on the car park at Sandsend after taking the images of the groynes. You can get some strange looks using a camera in a toilet!

 

The pattern is caused by the glass lattice work in the window which faces the car park.

I like the way that the uniform shapes of the window give a slightly different view of what’s in the car park. Starting from the left and moving to the right, there’s more of the grey car to be seen, which gets less as the eye moves right – the amount of floor available increases. Moving down from top and moving down, the same effect is evident but with different distortion. 

 

The rectangles are all the same size and form a latticework while the individual images change slightly.

 

I’ve enjoyed the work in the whole of this section. It’s shown me how to use the various elements in the design and composition of my images. Even if I was creating good images before, I’ve now got a set of design elements which could make them more repeatable.

Project - Rhythm and pattern

Exercise 28 - Real and Implied Triangles

 Real triangles can be found very easily. These roofs in Lacock village appealed to me. Just a very small selection of those in the village:

 

Looking more closely at what’s around us we can find them in the strangest places. This macro image of a gloxinia shows the tip of the stamen to be wonderfully three sided

 

The first of my images making a triangle by perspective is of a redwood tree in ‘The Lost Gardens of Heligan’ – if you get the opportunity it’s an excellent place to visit. This triangle has its convergence at the top of the triangle.

 

I used a 10 mm wide angle lens to make the convergence more pronounced. I captured the image, getting very close to the base of the tree, so that the lower part stretched across the base of the image and the upper part of the trunk narrowed as much as possible. I composed the image so that the tree was symmetrical in the frame, to exaggerate the triangular shape. This lens has an excellent depth of field which lent itself to this shot. 

 

The next image has its convergence at the bottom of the triangle. It was taken at Stonehenge (obviously) early in the day, before the crowds arrived. I knew from the weather forecast that there would be significant cloud building during the morning, so I wanted to catch some and use Stonehenge as a minimal part of the image. I had a very tight period between the site opening and the rain starting.

Positioning myself so that I was directly in the path of the moving clouds and again using the 10 mm lens, I captured this image.

 

By holding the stones to the centre and in the bottom of the frame there is little distortion in that area. The main distortion from the 10 mm lens therefore takes part in the sky, tending to make it ‘zoom’ towards the centre of the frame, just above the stones. So now the focal point of the image is the triangular shape in the clouds, more than the archaeological site. The stones form the Bottom converging point of the triangle. The eye tends to move from the stones to the sky and back. Using the triangle of clouds makes the eye go easily to the stones at its convergence.

 

An hour later it was raining heavily, but I was comfortably dry in Salisbury Cathedral!

 

I really like these Inktense Pencils!

 

Implied triangles have been formed in the following images. 

 

The composition of this image took some time to create. Finding the right balance and right place in the garden, not to mention the objects to use, took much longer than I’d anticipated as they were rearranged.

 

This still life of garden tools has a triangle which converges at the top. The implied triangle makes a pleasing composition. The eye is drawn initially to the convergence of the two forks and the corner of the wheelbarrow. It is then allowed to travel around the image, but still constrained within the triangle, to observe the detail in the other parts.

 

The implied triangle extends past the objects in the image, but this is not a problem in the composition as the objects still form a pleasing shape.

 

The second still life was composed with the triangle converging at the bottom.

The Persian silver fishes were positioned so that they formed a triangle with the gold fish at the front central point. Again it took many changes to get the composition as I wanted.

 

Again the eye is drawn to the central point of the triangle – in this case it’s a different colour too, which helps. The size of the rear silver fish also pulls the attention, but not as much as the gold. The other fish are only looked at after the initial impact is made.

 

The image chosen for the ‘three people’ exercise was selected from many I took. I chose this because the triangular format was the most pleasing. Other images may have worked better – one with two parents looking up at their son clearly showed who wore the trousers and one with the parents looking down to their son showed how much they cared for him, but I feel that the arrangement I’ve chosen is a much more pleasing image.

 

For this image I think the relationship between the three doesn’t need to have any one of them taking a pole or subservient position. Each have their own, strong personalities and this arrangement allows them to come through.

 

The implied triangle is an angled isosceles with Mum at its apex, so I suppose that’s almost the pole position, but the overall image has a pleasing staggering of the subjects – the triangle just pulls them together.

 

I’ve been quite impressed by the way the implied triangles work in composing an image. I’ll have to be careful not to use it at the expense of other design elements.

Project - Shapes

Exercise 27- Implied Lines

There are two implied lines being used here – the bull is following a curved line around the matador as it chases the red cloth; and the matador is following its progress with his eye directed to the bull’s head, even though the viewer can’t see either of these points.

 

The implied lines here are between the eyes of the horses and the man. I feel that the dominant line of the two is the one from the horse nearer to the man.

Three of my images images which have implied lines are as follows:

 

A coble setting out to sea

The marked sketch shows the implied line that the vessel is taking on its way down the harbour towards the sea. The movement in the water created by the bow wave enhance this implied direction.

Sunblock

 

The implied line shown in the sketch is in the direction of the walkers. Although there is no definite goal for their journey (it’s shrouded in mist) their direction of travel is obvious and is enhanced by the direction of the marks on the concrete surface, the curve of the railings, the perspective of the lamps and even more by the fading of light and form as the distance increases.

Sandsend Washed

Although there are two implied lines with the groynes, as well as an eye line (that made by the railings), the dominant line leads the eye towards the bridge, even though the line stops well before it.

The next 3 weeks have involved a break from the course, with a holiday taking in Wiltshire and Cornwall and overnight stays in both directions. I’ve collected lots of images which I’m sure can be used and visited places like Lacock Abbey where I visited the Fox Talbot museum again – they also had a display of work by George Bernard Shaw which was enlightening to see. I didn’t realise he was so much into creative photography.

 

So, many of the following images were taken during our break (after looking at the course requirements before we left).

Restarting the course was difficult as so much had to be done to catch up on the normal running of life and particularly the garden which resembled a meadow. Entries for the PSA international exhibition had to be prepared and sent too.

Now back to the course.

I knew of the line potential of the Caen Hill Locks and decided to wait until a suitable subject appeared at the foot of the steps.

The young man arrived to go fishing in the lower basin. The line of the locks leads the eye down to him as he sets his hand line. The line could also take the eye to the top of the flight, but I think in this case the subject at the foot of the system makes the line more dominant in that direction.

As an aside, there was an entertaining interlude taking place off camera. The young man had brought his girlfriend along to enjoy the fishing and she was so obviously only interested in sunning herself as he showed off his skills with his fishing tackle – definitely no implied lines of contact there!! 

The next image is a bonus eye line. I’d planned a trip to Stonehenge, arriving early to get images of an increasingly rain threatening day, before the arrival of the crowds. Having collected several images, I turned to the crowds and found this line too good to resist:

 

This example of an eye line I thought was entertaining – a reversal of the stadium image in the module – here the line of people point to the relic, whereas the line of the steps in the stadium directs the eye to the person.

A satisfactory implied line was more difficult to find. Eye lines are much easier to see and I think some can be wrongly attributed as implied lines. For instance, this line of standing stones could be construed as being implied, because the line is not continuous, but I think it’s still an eye line, because it’s obviously leading the viewer down its length.

 

This image of a moorhen and chick, is a better example.

 

The implied line between the eyes of the two birds moves the viewer between the two. There’s also another, less dominant, implied line in the direction the birds are moving.

I still wasn’t happy with the image so I went back to the beach where I was pretty sure there would be people looking at the salmon netting boats. This little girl provided the image I wanted:

 

There can be little doubt as to the direction she’s set her mind on. The implied line between the girl and the boat is obvious. This picture was taken with the permission of her parents.

Project – Using lines in composition