The Frame - 9

Project: Cropping and extending

Exercise: Cropping

This exercise requires a few photographs that will be cropped, in order to experiment the feeling of finding different pictures within photographs already taken.

So here they are:

Photo 1

In this crop, I isolated the first house, because I wanted to make it more visible. Now the photo appears in vertical format, and the lines of the house guide the eye up and down, so even the orange fruit in the tree, are also more visible than in the initial image. And that's the element that attracted me the most after I took this photo.

Crop photo 1

Photo 2

In the second crop I wanted to bring closer the distinctive characteristic of Fuji Television building, in Tokyo, it's spherical part, that makes it unique.

Crop photo 2

Photo 3

Crop no. 3 shows the jetfoil ship closer, and in a different part of the frame. I thought this placement would emphasize it's shape, color and the sense of speed.

Crop photo 3

Photo 4

In crop 4 I just brought the subject(s) closer, because it's not very common to see newborn birds, and I thought any viewer would like a closer look of these cute, little babies, in their nest.

Crop photo 4

So in all the crops I basically brought some parts of the photos closer, in order to emphasize various elements. Not very creative, I'm afraid, but this is what I felt I should do when I looked at these photos.

The Frame - 8

Project: Frame shapes and sizes

Exercise: Vertical and horizontal frames

This exercise is meant to make us more aware of the possibility of using the vertical format, and not only the horizontal one. So I had to take 20 photographs twice, first using the vertical format, then the horizontal one, for the same scenes, where possible. And to be able to have all the scenes in both formats, I couldn't help it, and I photographed every scene in both formats from the beginning, instead of taking all the photos in vertical first, and afterwards in horizontal format. And I think this helped me even more, because I became aware of the difficulties of using one format or the other for some of the scenes, in trying to capture a good image, vertically or horizontally.

I won't display all the photos here and I will try to categorize the ones that I display, as there were photos in which the scene worked better in vertical format, and others in which the scene worked better in horizontal.

I'll start with the photos that I think look better in vertical format. As it was shown in the course, I was kind of encouraged to look for tall or "vertical" objects in the beginning. But then I tried to disregard the shape of the objects, and just tried to fit them in both formats, the best I could.

1.

First pair of photos represents a tall building, that looks better in vertical format, as I could capture the whole body of the building, and a little bit of the surroundings too.

Pair 1

The horizontal scene of pair 1, looks "unfinished", as I couldn't capture the whole building in the photo, form my location, and I didn't have other possible locations.

2.

Second pair of photos shows a landscape, in which I tried to fit the whole hight of a coconut tree.

Pair 2

I like both versions, but in the horizontal scene, the tree's upper branches don't fit in the frame entirely, and this seems a bit frustrating. And although I like the composition with the tree, cloud, ship and short pillar that guide the viewer's eye in a sort of nice diagonale through the picture, I still go for the vertical version.

3.

In the third pair, the vertical image looks again better then horizontal one, as the subject is better framed vertically.

Pair 3

The horizontal version has too much space to the right and left of the subject, and there is nothing interesting to balance it in either direction.

4.

The fourth pair shows a simple image, a bench. The horizontal version looks a bit nicer in color, but I think it's too static. So I prefer the vertical image, which seems more dynamic, because of the pavement lines.

Pair 4

Pairs 5 and 6 have people as subjects, and they look bigger and clearer in vertical format, because they are standing (or riding a vehicle), and they fit better in the frame, so they are closer vertically. But I think it is also important to consider the initial purpose of the photograph. Is it just the person? Or the surroundings as well? Because in the case of the little girl, for example, the horizontal image shows a nice background and shadows on the alley. Plus it happened that her face lit up in a beautiful smile, and she looks nicer although she is further away then in the vertical version.

5.

Pair 5

6.

Pair 6

7.

I think pair 7 is comparable with pairs 5 and 6, in the sense that as I want to see people's faces better and closer (so from this point of view they look better in the vertical format), the same way I want to see what's written on the sides of the blue information pillar (or whatever it is), so in the vertical format it is closer and clearer.

Pair 7

The next few pairs present some images that look about the same in both vertical and horizontal formats, or in which the format criteria is not the one that makes them better or worse.

8.

In the case of pair 8, I cannot tell which of the versions is better. At least not from the format point of view. The vertical image looks better in color, the boy's face is nicer, but the photo is a bit static, compared to the horizontal version, in which he is actually bitting the apple. But these are not characteristics related to the vertical or horizontal format, as far as I can analyze.

Pair 8

9.

In pair 9, the vertical image has a portion of blown out sky, which doesn't look good, so I prefer the horizontal version. Otherwise, I couldn't say which one is better.


Pair 9

10.

In this case I like the vertical format, but I can't pinpoint the reason. It seems a little more dynamic, framing the feet more closely, and giving the sense of direction better than the horizontal image (!?).

Pair 10

The last set of photos is the one in which the images in horizontal format seem to work better than those in vertical.

11.

In pair 11, the round, kind of flat shape of the bars "roof top", fits much better in a horizontal format than in a vertical one.

Pair 11

12.

In pair 12, the "wider than taller" shape of the water slide fits better in the horizontal format, the same as the subject in pair 11.

Pair 12

13.

In pair 13 the double bridge over the pond is better framed in the horizontal format. (But the image as a whole is richer in elements, in the vertical format, showing the surroundings better).

Pair 13

14.

Pair 14 has another slide as a subject (actually a whole playground). And as they are usually bulky in shape, they fit better in a horizontal format.

Pair 14

This exercise helped me a lot in understanding frame divisions, shapes and sizes. And like all other exercises so far, really made me experiment a lot.

The Frame - 7

Project: Dividing the frame

Exercise: Positioning the horizon

This exercise requires a few photographs in which the horizon is placed in different parts of the frame: central, high and low.

First photo, with the horizon placed centrally, looks nice with the white clouds and beautiful blue and green colors of the sky and water, but it just gives the impression that it is cut in half by the horizon line.

Photo 1

Second photograph, with the horizon placed low in the frame, emphasizes the sky color and clouds formations. Unfortunately, the clouds are very low and there is a little too much sky...

Photo 2

In the third photo, the horizon placed high, gives more perspective, but I think the body of water between the horizon line and the shore looks too empty and dull. It needs some more detail. And the sky looks like it needs a little more space above.

Photo 3

In the fourth photo the horizon is still placed centrally, but I added some clear foreground detail, as it is shown in the course. And indeed the impression of a static image changed.

Photo 4

It was another useful exercise, which helped me become more aware of the arrangement of the objects in the frame. And although I had the same feeling, that a centrally placed horizon would make the image static, I learned that placing foreground detail changes everything.

The Frame - 6

Project: Dividing the frame

Exercise: Balance

In this exercise I had to choose some of my already-taken photographs, and decide how the balance works in each one.

Photo 1

First picture is an indoor portrait of a man reading a document on his laptop. He's the main element in the photo, big and close to the center of the photo, but is balanced by a small one, his computer, located further from the center. I think the weighing scale should look something like this:

Photo 2

The second photo is one of a building and the sky, reflecting in the water ( a pond in the park). It is a symmetrical arrangement, the balance is pretty obvious. I think the building balances nicely with it's own reflection, as do the two tones of blue, separated by the green shade of the vegetation.

Photo 3

The third photo represents a bridge, which I photographed from a low angle, so I could fit it's whole image in the picture. It's also symmetrical, but in a different way than the second photo. I tried to find a photo which would have the maximum symmetry, as the example photograph in the course, but I didn't find exactly the same thing. This one is the closest to maximum symmetry, that I could find. The supporting cables of the bridge radiate towards the sides in all directions, but up. The weighing scale looks like this (I think...).

Photo 4

Photo no. 4 is another portrait, of three people, in a symmetrical triangle arrangement. The two people on the sides, sit a bit higher than the one in the middle. And they're both wearing light colored clothes, while the man in the middle is wearing dark clothes. I think the scale should like like this:

Photo 5

In the fifth photo, I have an old, traditional japanese house, in a park, in Yokohama. This is the main element. The second important element is the red tree (momiji, as they call it). Although their images overlap somehow, in the frame, I think there is a good balance between them, and with the rest of small elements. The weighing scale looks like this:

Photo 6

Photo no. 6 is of a sunset. I didn't think much of the balance when I took this photograph, it was more on ... instinct. I can't be objective anymore, I looked at it so many times ... So maybe I can't describe it correctly. I think it would have looked slightly better if the sun were just a bit more to the left. Otherwise I think the big tent like structure is in balance with the sun, both in color and somehow in shape. They both have a high "element" and a low one. (the tent has it's rounded top, and than it goes down, as the sun's body appears up and it's reflection downward in the picture...). It would have been too symmetrical if the tent's "lines" had gone straight down and not slightly to the sides, in this "diagonale" way. So the weighing scale should look like this, I think, as the two main elements are not in a "perfect" balance.

Photo 7

I chose this photo as well, because it's out of balance. It has two main elements, but one is located too much to the right of the frame (the big cargo ship) and the other one (the water) lower in the frame, in front, with it's white formations. Those formations work as leading lines, guiding the viewer to some small elements in the distance, mainly to the light house or tower like structure, with it's small, red top. But I don't think the photo looks bad, even if it is out of balance. It kind of emphasizes the size of the ship (in contrast with the size of the buildings in the distance). And I think a contrast emphasizing photo should be out of balance...

I learned a lot from this exercise. I always look for symmetry and balance when I take a photograph, but I never analyzed my photos in this way before. So it was very useful and "organizing", for my mind.