Friday 18 June 2010

Art of Photography: Project 28

This project covered 'Patterns' and 'Rhythms'. In a photograph a pattern can be said to be a repeating theme or subject where the content is quite static. Where as a rhythm is similar to a pattern but may include curves, diagonals, or something which makes the elements of the photograph more dynamic and causes the viewer to follow the 'rhythm', and can be imagined to be similar to a musical rhythm.

I found it hard to find good examples of this due to time constraints, but I did understand the project and what it was trying to convey.


A pattern repeats throughout the frame of the photograph but is quite static.


A rhythm has a pattern or shape which is dynamic and causes the viewer to follow the rhythm. This isn't a great example but I felt the slight wave to the wooden logs helped to convey movement and a 'rhythm'.

Wednesday 16 June 2010

Art of Photography: Project 27

After rectangles and triangles, this project focused on circles. I learnt that circle can be harder to find, and when used in photography they are the tightest and most compact and enclosing of all the shapes, imposing more structure on the image than triangles or rectangles. An example was provided and it was clear to see that the circular plate in the example drew the viewers eye towards it and away from any surrounding detail.

For the project I produced four pictures showing real and implied circles.


I found a circular shape created by surrounding foliage. The shape together with the focus and depth of field draws the eye to the lake in the background.


Although I didn't manage to get a sharp image of this bumblebee, it still provided an example of an implied circle.


An example of a real circle.


This final image falls somewhere between real and implied circles, but provides a good example of how circles draw the eye, with the smaller circles in the centre of the flower also drawing attention.

Monday 7 June 2010

Art of Photography: Project 26

This project focused on triangles. Triangles occur much more frequently than rectangles and are not as restricting. During the project I learnt that triangles are more dynamic than rectangles as they are usually made up from diagonals, which similar to diagonal lines, have associations with movement.

Of particular interest to me was reading how triangles can be formed from just two sides, or sometimes even one, with the edge of the frame making up the other sides. In this way impressions of triangles can be formed easily and used effectively in composition and the potential is there for a lot of creativity. This also ensures triangles appear quite frequently.

Another reason triangles appear a lot is due to perspective. As I have already learnt linear perspective causes many lines in photographs to converge on a point in the distance, which naturally causes triangles. Examples of this are a road heading into the distance, looking up at tall buildings or trees, and looking down from above at converging lines. With this knowledge it is easy to enhance effects and perspectives and create triangles and interesting compositions.

Triangles can also be implied as with other shapes and lines, and any three points in any position (as long as they are not touching) will form a triangle. This is another reason that triangles are easy to find in photography. I enjoyed the examples of this, using groups of people to form triangular shapes, and I can begin to see the creative potential of triangles.

The project required six photographs to show examples of triangles.


The first photograph is of a real triangle.


The second photograph is a triangle formed using perspective and converging lines at the top of the frame.


The third photograph is an inverted triangle formed using converging lines and perspective.


Here a triangle is formed using a still-life arrangement of 5 objects (as points).


Another still life but forming an inverted triangle.


The final task was to form an implied triangle using a group image of three people. I only had two and not much time or space to do it, but I tried to create a silhouette of a triangular shape.