Wednesday 3 November 2010

The Frame: Project - Looking through the viewfinder

Exercise: A sequence of composition

Aim:  The aim of this exercise is to examine the way we approach a subject and create the final image.

Plan:  I planned to use the Didsbury beer festival to complete this exercise.  It is a popular event with lots going on and is held in a big marquee.  The extra challenges this raised were the shear number of people and the low lighting.  I wanted a shot that captured the essence of the festival and the frenetic and continuous work of the volunteers behind the bar.

Results:

I started by scouting round the venue and taking shots from different angles and with and without flash.  I then started zooming in from a prefered angle to get the shot I wanted.


F5, 1/60 sec with flash

F3.5, 1/6 sec
I zoomed in further on the bar but could not get the shot I was looking for so I headed for a shot behind the bar....

F6.3, 0.8 sec
  I got some interesting shots level with the bar as I could capture the interactions between staff and customers.....

F5.6, 1/60 sec with flash

F4.5 1/60 sec with flash

F5.6, 1/60 sec with flash

Looking down behind the bar wasn't what I was after until I moved further in....

F5, 1/60 sec with flash

F3.5, 1/5 sec

 Moving futher in gave me a closer view of the staff at work....

F11, 1/80 sec with Flash

F11, 1/125 sec with flash
Zooming further still gave me the position I wanted but the action was fast and furious and there was plenty of opportunity to get it wrong as this shot shows

F5.6, 1/125 sec with flash
 Finally I got a couple of shots I wanted giving a close up of the beer being poured.  The first shot is more isolated but I like the fact that the second shot shows how busy it was.  I also made sure I was at the left end of the bar as all the glasses have a measure on them with the logo to the left.  This is why it is central on the images....not just luck.


F6.3, 1/125 sec with flash
 
F6.3, 1/125 sec with flash

Learning points:

I discarded a lot of pictures due to the fact that there was a lot going on with a lot of movement not just in my subject but in front and behind my subject making a lot of the images unusable even when I thought they were ok in the first instance.  Even when you think you have the shot, take it again several times as close inspection may reveal otherwise.

If you can, scout the situation before deciding on the prefered angle or image and don't be afraid to keep shooting as this may reveal an image or angle you had not thought of.











 


































































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