Shapes

Exercise: Real and implied triangles (6 Photographs)

Triangles occur more frequently in a photograph than any other shape and they are very useful in design. The very nature of a triangle creates two diagonals, and if you remember back to the exercise concerning diagonals, these create a feeling of activity and dynamism.

For this exercise I had to produce two sets of triangular compositions in photographs, one using 'real' triangles and the making 'implied triangles'.

Real triangles 

Image 1

The first of the three 'real' photographs was to find a subject that which is itself triangular, I chose to photograph this rather drab looking local church. Both parts of the roof are triangular and while i was going to just photograph the very top of the church to show the triangular structure, I chose to shoot a more wide angle shot, the triangular roof is still strong element to the image and therefore the eye is drawn to it first before scanning the rest of the photograph.

  

Image 2

The second photograph was to make a triangle by perspective, converging towards the top of the frame.  This photograph is off the new hospital in Newton Abbot, to get this effect, I used a wide angle lens and took the photograph from a low angle. By doing this the apex of the triangle is at the top of the frame and the base at the bottom. This is the most stable configuration of a triangle. 

Image 3

The third photograph of this part of the exercise, was to make an inverted triangle, also by perspective. This one was a little more difficult to find, however the photograph I took for this demonstrates the theory well. The base of the triangle is the top frame edge, the two sides of the downward triangle are created by the walls of this hotel. The apex is now at the bottom of the frame and the base at the top. In this configuration, it is less stable, more aggressive and contains more movement. 

Implied triangles

For the second part of this exercise, I was to photograph a still life arrangement to demonstrate implied triangles. 

Image 4

The first photograph was to show an implied triangle with apex at the top of the frame. I arranged a number of Jack Daniels shot glasses and a miniature bottle. As with the real triangle in image 2 the base of the triangle is at the bottom of the frame which gives stability to the image.

Image 5

The inverted triangle is shown in image 5, the base being the widest part of the bottle and the apex towards the bottom of the frame with the small shot glass. There is another triangle present, one from the light, in opposition to the inverted triangle. 

The final image of this exercise was to photograph three people in a group picture to show either their faces or the lines of their bodies make a triangle.

Image 6

Image 6a

I know its not three people but I think this a great example of an implied triangle, inverted. The base being towards the top of the frame and the apex being the clay on the potters wheel towards the bottom.

In conclusion, using the principles demonstrated in the last few exercises, it is possible to construct an image, the definable shapes organises parts of the photograph in a way that provides structure to a photograph.