In preparation for this first exercise I had to list as many types of situation I could think of which would make a clear photograph of a point.
- Scarecrow in field
- Balloon in the sky
- Moon in the sky
- Bird against the sky
- Building in a large field
- Tree in a large field
- Single flower in a flower bed or on a bush/tree
- Car in an otherwise empty car park
- Solitary light on in a large building??
- Single figure in a row of seats (e.g. football stadium)
I then had to look through past photographs and note any that contain obvious points. Some photos will contain subjects that are small enough to be points whilst others might be borderline in which the subject is isolated but is larger.
Photograph 1:
 |
| Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens, f/22.0, 45mm, 1/6s, ISO100 |
The swan is an obvious single point in the frame. I have positioned him fairly central but on the line of a shadow.
Photograph 2:
 |
| Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens, f/4.0, 24mm, 1/20s, ISO1000 |
This image of a coral in a tank has a number of points but the main point is the large blue coral right of centre. I'm not sure if this becomes the main point because of its colour, if so perhaps it's a colour accent and not a point.
Photograph 3:
 |
| Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens, f/4.0, 105mm, 1/50s, ISO3200 |
The frog is obviously the main point in the this photograph and does take up quite a large amount of the frame.
I then had to take three new photographs which each contained a single point and position the point carefully in the frame with a justification of position. I have decided to convert all these photographs to grayscale so the colours do not distract from the point of interest (as suggested in the course notes).
Photograph 1:
 |
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens, f/16.0, 85mm, 1/100s, ISO400
|
The main point in this photograph is the 'Private, Members of College Only' sign. I have positioned it at the bottom right of the frame so the eye is led from the point of interest along the path from right to left.
Photograph 2:
 |
| Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens, f/22.0, 105mm, 1/60s, ISO3200 |
I took this photograph of a tulip and positioned it near the edge of the frame in order to make the photo less static. I think this photograph might have a point within a point (the stamen of the flower?) and therefore doesn't work as a Solitary point. Also this photograph works much better in colour, the strong red of the tulip against the green background. Therefore, is it a point or a colour accent?
Photograph 3:
 |
| Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens, f/22.0, 105mm, 1/100s, ISO1000 |
I took this photograph of a buoy in a stream and positioned in near the centre and bottom of the frame hoping that the eye would be drawn up from the point of interest into the rest of the photo. I think I slightly overexposed the buoy and it is therefore not so much of interest.
This exercise was extremely helpful in identifying the importance of placement of the main point of interest and how it can alter composition and division in a photograph.
