Project: Shapes

The image of the Parthenon and that of the insect are a very interesting pairing. They are essentially negative images of each other. The use of a polarising filter has darkened the sky in The Parthenon image whilst the huge amount of light on the building itself demonstrates high levels of detail. In the silhouetted insect we see the light facing directly into us meaning all detail in the subject matter is lost, leaving us with just the outline, or shape.

Exercise : Real and implied triangles.

Real Triangles.

Photograph 1

In photograph 1 I have simply taken a picture of a triangular structure, in this instance a building support. Oddly enough I find it much more aesthetically appealing than a similar support made up of two or more vertical buttresses.

Photograph 2

Photograph 2 demonstrates a triangle by perspective towards the top of the frame. This is achieved by composing the picture from a high angle and pointing the camera downwards.

Photograph 3

Photograph 3 is an inverted triangle by perspective, achieved in an opposite manner to the previous shot, by pointing the camera upwards at a high angle.

I found it much easier to achieve the results above by employing a wide angle lens. Such results would have been difficult for me to obtain using a telephoto lens.

Implied Triangles.

Photograph 4

Photograph 4 is a still life composition, with the objects arranged in such a way as to appear triangular when viewed. The apex is at the top of the frame in this instance.

Photograph 5

Again a still life picture, but in this instance Photograph 5 demonstrates a triangular composition with the apex at the bottom.

Photograph 6

Photograph 6 shows a group of friends forming a loose triangular structure. I think this composition could possibly be slightly too close to a straight line, although having the tallest person at the back has helped a little.

The structure provided by triangular compositions to varying degrees certainly appear to give these pictures a positive aesthetic appeal. The way in which the shape dominates the frame is quite striking. I found myself drawn to a triangular composition in the project on "Points" when arranging my still life "Multiple Points" image.


Rectangles.

Looking through my library I find very few photographs containing true rectangles. As a result of having the camera even just slightly tilted one way or the other most of my images contain "Almost" rectangles.

In this image the columns of windows directly opposite my viewpoint have created a perfect rectangle. However, all the other points in the composition which are rectangular in real life have been distorted by the effect of perspective within the photograph.














Circles.

I rarely take pictures of circles. Here is an image from a trip to Italy a couple of years ago. There is other content within the composition of course but it is completely dominated by the big circle. It makes a powerful statement.