Assignment 1: Contrasts

I really struggled during this first assignment with trying to come up with subjects that portrayed the meaning of the words.  The assignment was to photograph extremes of different contrasts and take pairs of photographs which bring out the essential differences.  I started by looking through the photographs I had taken in the module exercises and tried to find pairs that showed contrast. None really presented themselves to me.  Perhaps I am being a little analytical about it (a science background not helping) and needed to be more abstract.

Not having a great deal of time to explore outside I started to look around the home for inspiration and a number of the photographs are staged 'still life'.  I'm not particularly happy with any of these photographs and think all need work to display the contrasts.  However, some are stronger than others and I did learn a lot from this module and assignment and I hope at least some have achieved the objectives.

Many

EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 60.0mm,  f/4.0, 1/60s, ISO 1600, sharpening in Adobe photoshop CS5



  

Few 

EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 75.0mm,  f/4.0, 1/80s, ISO 2000, sharpening in Adobe photoshop CS5

  For this first photo I used the direct contrast of many biscuits in the barrel compared to few.  Not sure if this concept would work if these photographs were not shown as a pair.  Also is this more 'full' and 'empty' than many and few?

Tutor comments:
Many/few
This is a reasonable attempt at a pair of contrasting images: They convey more as a pair than they do individually. The set up looks fairly convincing in both, perhaps more so in the second image. There is very little that is sharp in either shot; not too noticeable in the first, but the second has more depth to the scene, so an aperture of around f8 or f11 would have been better.

Straight

EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 35.0mm,  f/4.0, 1/40s, ISO 400, sharpening in Adobe photoshop CS5

  

Curved

EF85mm f/1.8 USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 85.0mm,  f/2.0, 1/40s, ISO 500, sharpening and converted to B&W, vignetting in Adobe photoshop CS5

   My wife (the model) suggested woman's curves for the 'curved' contrast and when she posed like this I thought it portrayed the subject well and in a humorous way.  For straight I used a step ladder in the passage way. I like how the eye is led down the straight passage way to the gate and the drain pipe also suggests straight.

Tutor comments:
Straight/curved
Straight shows an ordinary object shot from an unusual angle. The paint and wear and tear on the ladder adds some texture and interest to the subject, which could have been increased with some direct lighting. The alley does lend itself to the theme too, but the drain pipe is a distraction - could the shot be taken further forwards, to exclude the drain and use the gate as another source of straight lines?

The curved shot works well in parts in that the bodice and natural curves provide some good lines in the centre. The image has a plain background that doesn't detract from the subject. I'd just like to see a crop to exclude the watch from the bottom edge of the frame and maybe a re-positioning of the arm so that it is more curved. An even closer detail just of the central portion without arm or head would probably work even better, tracing an 'S' curve diagonally through the frame. Again, some direct light could pick out the lines to be accentuated and leave other detail in the shade.

Hard

EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 105.0mm,  f/4.0, 1/125s, ISO 2500, sharpening and converted to B&W, vignetting in Adobe photoshop (quite a bit of editing as I don't own a macro lens) CS5

 

Soft

EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 105.0mm,  f/4.0, 1/100s, ISO 1250, sharpening in Adobe photoshop CS5

 

I'm not entirely sure the photography of the engagement ring shows hard. I had the thought of diamond being the hardest element and went with that.  Having said that I'm quite pleased with the photograph (although would have been better with a macro lens) and really like the bokeh behind the chair and ring from my EF 24-105mm lens.  The soft toys are a little disappointing, although I do like the out of focus foreground as it gives a soft edge.

Tutor comments:
Hard/soft
The diamond is certainly hard and is clearly the main subject as it is sharp and bright. The chair as a prop is incongruous with the ring - in a box on a dressing table might look more natural. Some extra light to make the ring sparkle more would be good, as could be the resultant light on the nearby surface after it has passed through the stone. A closer shot would be better, as you noted, but the large image you start with from the 5D MKII can be cropped quite a lot to produce the effect of a larger magnification too.

In the soft image it is difficult to determine just what is being seen. Very little is sharp and there isn't enough light and shade to reveal form or texture. Overall the image is quite dark and needs and extra stop of exposure compensation adding when shot.

Sweet

EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 85.0mm,  f/8.0, 1/100s, ISO 160, sharpening in Adobe photoshop CS5

  

Sour

EF85mm f/2.8 USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 85.0mm,  f/2.5, 1/5000s, ISO 100, sharpening, hue/saturation 1, layer mask/8, in Adobe photoshop CS5

 

I came across the sweet stall in a market and thought it might represent sweet quite well.  The sour photograph is not very imaginative but is all I could come up with for the contrast.  I have converted to black and white and highlighted the lemon to try and make the photo more interesting. I think it kind of works!!

Tutor comments:
Sweet/sour
I like the abstract jumble of colours and lines produced by the sweets, especially as these are then modified by the plastic bags. A closer crop, losing the other sweets, would have more impact, maybe keeping the label in the image. This would be a good subject for 'transparent'.

The sour shot is a portrait of the reaction to the lemon (although the lemon looks untouched). The framing and lighting are good. With most portraits it is better to see the eyes of the subject, regardless of where they are looking. The accentuation of the lemon by selective desaturation is okay, but takes the eye from the face which is just as much a part of the subject. See 'Two points' composition (or even three points (implied triangles) if you can see both eyes as well as the lemon), in the next section of the module.

Transparent

EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 24.0mm,  f/5.0, 1/25s, ISO 800, sharpening in Adobe photoshop CS5

 






 Opaque

EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 105.0mm,  f/4.0, 1/20s, ISO 3200, sharpening in Adobe photoshop CS5

Tutor comments:

Transparent/opaque
The church interior is quite well rendered considering you are facing the main light source. Unfortunately, setting the exposure for the interior has over-exposed the window. The wide aperture has meant that the far wall is out of focus (including the 'transparent' subject). As a shot of the church it is good, but the transparent 'subject' is small, blurred and over-exposed - I think the sweets would be a better topic for the transparent theme, and much easier to shoot.

The opaque shot has shown the carving quite well as a record of its shape and form. The bright light behind (left) could have been avoided by a slight change of camera position. The composition would also look better if the subject was off-centre in the frame.

Light



EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 24.0mm,  f/4.0, 1/40s, ISO 3200

Dark



EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 24.0mm,  f/4.0, 30s, ISO 800, cropped and converted to sepia in windows live photogallery.


In hindsight I should have shot the photo of the candle at a slower shutter speed in order to capture the movement of the flame.  However I think it represents 'light' quite well.  The photograph of the church was taken late at night using a 30 second exposure and was my first attempt at night time photography.  Unfortunately there was quite a lot of 'orange' light pollution from a nearby street lamp.  However, I do like how this lights up the face of the grave stones in the foreground.

Tutor comments:

Light/dark
I agree with your comments about the shutter speed used for the candle; coupled with a smaller aperture and less ambient light (flash?), this would place the emphasis of the light on the candle rather than the other light source. The match is relevant to the subject and so deserves inclusion, less so the bright area below (which could be lessened by using on the candle's light more), and the profusion of greenery. Some ivy is okay, but the broken twig with the light edge above the candle is particularly distracting.

The dark image is intriguing: You have managed a reasonable night shot considering it was your first attempt. The dominance of the bright gravestones with long shadows could illustrate 'light', although the sky and darker background assert that it is night-time. The wall (lower left) is distracting, especially as it is in the corner of the frame, it is very bright and it's the only part of the image that is focused. I assume a tripod was used, in which case a slower ISO could be used as well as a smaller aperture (focus on the central gravestone and use an aperture of around f11). Your 'night' images could be taken earlier, when there is still some light left in the sky, allowing illumination by ambient light as well as artificial. If you look at the architecture (modern) gallery on my website (www.insightimages.co.uk) for examples, all of the night shots have deep blue/purple skies and were taken about 20-30 minutes after sunset.

Still



EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 105.0mm,  f/4.0, 1/30s, ISO 3200, sharpening, cropping in windows live photogallery



Moving



EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 24.0mm,  f/8.0, 0.5s, ISO 100, sharpening, cropping in windows live photogallery



I'm not sure if the shot of the frog captures still or not.  I can assure you the frog did not move or even blink whilst I was watching him!  I really like the abstract shapes and movement of the penguins diving into the pool and there is a lot of movement.  I think I should have shot this at a slightly faster shutter speed so it was less abstract.

Tutor comments:

Still/moving
The frog does appear static as it is sharp and the environment looks natural. The frog is quite small in the frame and merges somewhat with a shape behind (another frog perhaps?), which could be solved by a small movement of the camera's position.

The moving image has lots of action and just about retains clarity amongst all of the blurred movement. A shorter exposure would aid the definition, as you mention in your log. I'd like to see the image with increased contrast, plus cropped tighter too; there are some really interesting shapes and colours abstracted through motion blur and the water's refractive properties.

 

High




EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 24.0mm,  f/9.0, 1/160s, ISO 100

 

Low



EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 67.0mm,  f/4.0, 1/80s, ISO 160, sharpening in windows live photogallery

I took the 'high' photograph from a helicopter whilst in Australia.  I think it gives a good sense of height and like the framing with the helicopter controls at the edge of the frame.  The shot of the feet is all I could think of for low, I really struggled with this contrast.  I think the photograph works quite well. I like the contrast between the large adult feet and the toddler feet.

Tutor comments:

High/low
High shows an interesting coastline, with the dashboard as context of the flight. The subject is below - does this show it is low rather than high? What is unfortunate is the dull weather that gives the image a lack of colour and contrast. The snaking road (or railway?) below, if shot at a longer focal length could have made an interesting 'curved' shot.

The low image concentrates attention on what is clearly the lower part of a bigger scene. We don't need to see any more to know that this is an adult and child. The 'similar' pink hues tie together the various elements, as do the red flowers.

Still and Moving



EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon 5D MkII, 45.0mm,  f/22.0, 1/6s, ISO 100, sharpening and converted to black and white in windows live photogallery



I again struggled to find a suitable photograph to portray both contrast in one image. I came up with this shot of a swan which was still on the surface but creating ripples of water movement. I hope it works.

Tutor comments:

Still & moving
Swans are famous for paddling below the surface in such an efficient way that it appears serenely smooth from above, so the double theme is here by implication. You have managed to keep the swan sharp, with subtle, radiating ripples. The uncluttered scene with the swan placed on the boundary of a shadow is good, as is the swan's pose. A lot of the detail in the brightly lit feathers has disappeared due to over-exposure. I think that the camera's meter has been fooled by the large expanse of dark water . Setting one stop less exposure ( -1 ) on the exposure compensation dial (rear wheel, when metering is activated by partial pressure on shutter speed) would counteract this.