Tuesday 10 April 2012

The Frame - A sequence of composition

Exercise: A sequence of composition (20-30 photographs)

This exercise was to help me to think the practical aspects of composing an image, ideally using a situation which involves people out in the street. Not having done much street photography before, this would be another new challenge for me.

The idea was to record the way you approach and shoot a subject, from the moment you catch sight of a possible photograph, to the final best image you can make of it.

I used a local remembrance day parade for this exercise.  The parade would have the necessary number of people and numerous photograph opportunities, or so I would hope!.

As suggested with the exercise notes, I kept the camera viewfinder up to my eye and moved around the parade.


Image 1


Image 2


Image 3 


Image 4


Image 5


Image 6


Image 7


Image 8 


Image 9


Image 10


Image 11


Image 12


Image 13


Image 14


Image 15


Image 16


Image 17



Image 18


Image 19


Image 20

Having not photographed groups of people I wasn't sure how I would get on, I was very conscious that this was a remembrance parade and I didn't want to intrude on the service but wanted to get some photographs portraying the essence of what the parade was about and the significance to those attending. 

The first few images I took were of people watching the parade, these photographs certainly didn't give me what i was looking for, so I then I set about taking photographs of the parade itself. I took several of the looking at the parade from the front, using varying levels of depth of field, and some close up and some more open shots. I initially liked image 3, however I would have liked it better if it had a bit more of the Cenotaph in the background. Also as the Cenotaph is stood on a sloping ground, from left to right in this photograph, it has given the image a lopsided feeling, which I didn't like. In image 4, I chose to do a close of the same man, his pensive look was the appeal of this image, however, I still thought it was missing telling the viewer that this was a remembrance parade.

The photographs of the younger members of the parade in images 5,6&7 again lacked telling this message. 

I then changed the angle and took some images looking down the line of the parade, again using varying depths of field to isolate individuals. 

The final sequence of photographs were of the standard bearers who were stood outside of the entrance to the church. These men, looked so proud that they had the honour of carrying the individual flags of the regiments represented. 

The final image, image 20, summed up how proud these men were, the photograph shows the flag, and the old soldier proudly wears his medals and poppy. I feel this image sums up the remembrance parade and the reasons behind it. You can sense by looking at image 20 how proud the man is. 

1 comment:

  1. Hi Rich,
    There are some really strong images in this set. You've caught the emotions of the day on peoples faces perfectly. I love the way you've isolated people in the crowd by using a shallow Dof.

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