Composition Task

I completed a Composition and Framing task. I was given a camera and a theme of opposites to base four pictures on. My theme was trapped and free. After thinking about what I could take for pictures, I finally took four pictures.

After previously being a photography student, I had an idea of positioning so didn't find this task that hard; and think I took at least 3 successful pictures.

After and from this task I have learnt from this task techniques that will help me when making my A2 music video:
-Symmetry - same on both sides, makes the audience's eyes follow where it's leading
-Framing - frame around the picture, to add a focal point
-Depth of field - large or shallow, to blur out the background and make the focal point the front
-Perspective - different types of shots and angles instead of the standard straight on shot
-Space - rule of thirds, adds more depth to the picture
-Colour - adds effects to the image, e.g positive and negative

The first picture displayed is one of my stronger images, as I thought about what perspective, which leads the audience to think who is taking the picture. I wanted the door handle to stand out as it leads back to my theme 'trapped', as in trapped inside of the building. The door handle is facing away from the camera, leading the audience's eye to the back of the image, where the positioning of the poles also track their eye to the back of the picture, almost like the poles and building are closing in on each other. This could be seen as symmetry, and depth of field as the background is slightly blurred, however to improve I could have blurred it more. The door handle is positioned to the left instead of in the middle, meaning I thought about space while taking this picture, too.

The second top picture displayed is my weakest image. I tried to think about perspective while taking it, coming in from a low angle and using space (the rule of thirds) to position the sun to the upper left, which worked well. Contrasting this, the thick bar is a distraction from the sun which should be the main focal point of the image. My theme comes across in this photo - the small bars meaning 'trapped' and the sun meaning 'free', however the thick bar is a distraction.

The third picture (bottom left) is quite a strong image as it displays my theme well, the bars meaning trapped. I tried to think about depth of field, perspective and spacing in this image. The bars are slightly positioned to the left of the image, while it coming from a low angle. The bars and steps in the middle draw the audience's eyes to the back of the image, which is good as their eye can explore the focal points of the image quickly.

The final picture is one of my stronger images, displaying my theme 'free'. I have clearly used symmetry which is very different to my other images, making this image stand out. The colour 'green' represents life and being free, strengthening my theme. The image is quite bright, and is a slight high shot as I was standing on a hill while taking the image. The trees draw the audience's eyes to the back of the image, which is the point of symmetry.

After the four images, we sat down and reviewed them. We were taught the techniques I mentioned earlier, and was told to retake our weakest image. I retook this image:

 

 

I think I have took into consideration all of the techniques I have learnt and applied it onto a new image. I did crop this image to add to the effect of spacing, using the rule of thirds more appropriately. I think it's an improvement to my first image as the bar leads up to the focal point - the sun and almost adds a slight frame to the picture.

Overall I have learnt techniques from this task and will use them in my A2 music video. I have a better understanding of composition and framing and will think about spacing and all of the techniques I have learnt for my music video. I think my final image could still be improved as I could have maybe added another bar to create symmetry, or take an image without the bars to see which looked better.