The Art of Photography Christopher Norris 397682 Assignment 2

SEVERAL POINTS IN DELIBERATE SHAPE

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-105mm zoom lens set at 80mm. 1/400s at f5.6 ISO 800. The dandelion heads make an extended V shape which is reflected by the grass shape to the left. Because the heads to the right are behind grass blades and the one to the right is soft focussed, the central head is dominant. The ball shape of the heads is contrasted by the linearity of the grasses.

TWO POINTS

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-105mm zoom lens set at 105mm. 1/320s at f5.6 ISO 1600. The image was taken in a slight wind so a relatively high shutter speed was used requiring a high ISO. On reflection a lower ISO setting would have resulted in less graininess and the shutter speed could have been increased to compensate. Two distinct focus points are visible with the right grass head more sharply focussed than the left, while the left is a single point made from two heads inline with each other. The curve of the left heads points towards the top of the right head giving a continuity of focus.

The Art of Photography Christopher Norris 397682 Assignment 2

SINGLE POINT DOMINATING COMPOSITION

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-55mm zoom lens set at 48mm. 1/125s at f8.0 ISO 180. The central positioning of the flower which is star shaped is emphasised by the small flower heads in the background which point away from the central head like wheel spokes. The slightly soft focus was unitensional with the camera actually focussing on the left hand petals. However no post-processing was used to sharpen the image as the soft focus creates a greater feeling of depth created by the deep blue / purple of the petals

DIAGONALS

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-55mm zoom lens set at 105mm. 1/125s at f5.60 ISO 100. The diagonal lines of the flowers, and stems are paralleled by the diagonal of the leaf at the right hand corner. The original framing was with the camera in standard landscape orientation, but rotating by 45° so that the tip of the right hand flower pointed to the right corner of the frame has created a more interesting composition.

The Art of Photography Christopher Norris 397682 Assignment 2

PATTERN

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-105mm zoom lens set at 62mm. 1/100s at f18.0 ISO 800 to gain greater depth of field. The intension with this image is to dominate the frame with the white ‘candyfloss’ appearance of the flower seed heads. The white is broken up at intervals by the vertical grass stems. The focus point is to the left of the image with focus locked on the first full length stem. The darkness of the image to the left emphasises the sharp left side of the image with drops off as the viewers eye moves to the right where the soft focus and greater white area gives a ‘misty’ feel to this section of the image.

HORIZONTAL LINE

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-105mm zoom lens set at 105mm. 1/100s at f8.0 ISO 400. This image is designed to give a dramatic plateaux feel to the seed head by positioning the seed line at the central horizontal line and choosing a darker background to bring the viewer attention to the relatively colourless seeds. The flower stems point to the seeds like the spokes of a wheel, an effect which is emphasised by cropping the image close to cut the central stalk of the flower short.

The Art of Photography Christopher Norris 397682 Assignment 2

DISTINCT IRREGULAR SHAPES

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-105mm zoom lens set at 85mm. 1/200s at f8.0 ISO 200. The normally fairly mundane dead rose heads have been shot in an interesting shape using two central focus points and an inverted triangle formed by the three closest flower heads. The shrivelled appearance of the individual heads is in contrast to the green background of the foliage beyond.

CURVES

Taken with a Finepix HS20 Bridge camera set at 30mm. 1/45s at f4.5 ISO 100. The slight curl to the lower left edge of the foreground leaf seems to join the curled background leaf to create curved shapes which are in contrast to the thin linear flower stalks which come forwards in the image. By fixing the focus point to the V shaped stalk at the upper left 3rd of the image and choosing a relatively shallow depth of field the effect is one of the stalks coming towards the viewer.

The Art of Photography Christopher Norris 397682 Assignment 2

PATTERN

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-105mm zoom lens set at 70mm. 1/640s at f4.5 ISO 200. The intension with this image was to recreate the feeling of infinity which I had standing in the field filled with flowers. A narrow depth of field was chosen with a central focus point. The camera was positioned 1ft from the ground to give the feeling of being in the field rather than looking down at it. The soft focus creates relatively abstract splashes of colour of the yellow flowers against the green background.

SEVERAL POINTS

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-105mm zoom lens set at 90mm. 1/500s at f5.6 ISO 800. The narrow depth of field and tuft like nature of the flower heads seems to make them float on a sea of green. The three foreground flowers create a diagonal line which is mirrored by the flower stems, especially the 45° stem within the foreground.

The Art of Photography Christopher Norris 397682 Assignment 2

DISTINCT IRREGULAR SHAPES

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-105mm zoom lens set at 92mm. 1/200s at f8.0 ISO 800. These flowers have an interesting bulbous shape to their petals which is in stark contrast to the green background. I experimented with cropping the image to place the flowers off centre, but they are so dramatic that I felt a central position was more dramatic.

HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL LINES

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-105mm zoom lens set at 90mm. 1/400s at f5.6 ISO 800. The first thing which struck me about these flowers was the shape. They grew on the side of a canal and as the path was relatively low, the view was from below slightly. This feeling of being beneath them was emphasised by taking a lower position for the shot. The focus point was on the stalk with a relatively narrow depth of field to give the stalks a harder appearance to emphasise the linearity rather than the softness of the flowers.

The Art of Photography Christopher Norris 397682 Assignment 2

DISTINCT SHAPES

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 18-105mm zoom lens set at 105mm. 1/60s at f8.0 ISO 200. The aim of this photograph was to use close focus to create a pattern using the water drop on a leaf, and to bring out the shine to make them more prominent. The shot was taken early morning to gain reflective light and cropped close to emphasise the droplets rather than the whole leaf. By spot focussing on the large droplet and keeping the depth of field mid to narrow the front of the leaf is in softer focus to allow the eye to see the serrated edge but to de-emphasise it in contrast to the starkness of the water droplets.

TWO POINTS OF FOCUS

Taken with a Nikon D3100 DSLR using An 70-300mm zoom lens set at 170mm. 1/800s at f5.0 ISO 200. The aim of this image was to set the focus on the flower but to use foreshortening by choosing a long focal length. As a narrow depth of field was used, by chance the arched single blade of grass to the left which stood level with the flower remains in sharp focus with the flower petals while the rest of the grass has softer focus.

• Learning log located at http://chrisnorrisoca.blogspot.co.uk/

• Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/norrisphysio

• Student has a writing tremor (OCA informed of disability upon registration) so unable

to keep a hard copy sketchbook

The Art of Photography Christopher Norris 397682 Assignment 2