Preparation for Assignment One - Contrasts

In preparation for Assignment One, I had a look through some of the photographs I had taken mostly during the earlier stages of the course work for possible pairs:

Light and Heavy

Light

Very light indeed: a parachute coming in to land.  This was taken in Keswick against the backdrop of Latrigg and Lonscale fells.  The light at the time was amazing for late March; it could have been midsummer!

In the end, I decided against using this pair, as I had already used the parachute for the sequence of composition exercise earlier in the course.

Heavy

Also amazing light for the time of year, early March, this shot was taken at Avebury Stone Circle.  This stone must be incredibly heavy!

High and Low

High

This image of the abseiling window cleaners was shot with an ipad from my office window.  Although it conveys well the concept of high, I decided against using it becasue the composition is not very good and there is too much light on the horizon.

Low

Deliberately shot as a "low" photograph, I felt that there was nothing really of interest in this photograph.  I was able to easily disregard this pair from the final selection.

Light and Dark

Light

This was a difficult shot to take as it is directly facing into the light.  In the end, I processed the photo to compensate for the difficult background, firstly by converting to Sepia, and then by softening as a portrait.  I like the position of the subject in the frame but I don't like the window frame in the background.

Dark

Beautiful early evening light behind this silhoutted church in Feltham.  I really like the changes in the tones towards the top left-hand corner.  This was a difficult image to exclude from the final selection, but in the end I did because I felt the image wasn't sharp enough.  It was taken hand-held but would have been better with a slower shutter speed and a tripod!

Transparent and Opaque

Transparent

Although this image of a rubbish bag illustrates the point in question perfectly, I just didn't feel that this was an attractive enough photo to include!

Opaque

Had I used the above image in the final submission, I would have used this image of a stream taken in Cumbria to portray the opacity of the water shot at a slow shutter speed.  It didn't matter not showcasing this image, as it had already been used for a previous assignment earlier on in the course.

Contrast "in one picture"

Difficult decisions to make here.  The final picture of the fat lady against the office block used, was chosen because I love that statue.  These images below are close second choices; some represent abstract concepts beyond the instructions of the assignment.

Many and Few

A comical picture of a pair of people in costumes along the South Bank, against a backdrop of many people dressed normally.

Rich and Poor

This image of the Big Issue building at Vauxhall, which is symbolic of poverty in the UK juxtaposed against a swanky new block of flats presents a contrast of Rich and Poor and the divide between the two. HaD the assignment asked us to make our own criteria, I would have used this image.

Black and White

I stumbled across a statue of an elephant in somebody's front garden in South Kensington.  Armed with only a zoom lens, I had to take a frameless shot in order to exclude the garden fence.  You can make out the eye and the shape of the ear, and so deduce the statue is an elephant.  The designs on the subject also give it away.

Straight and Curved

A difficult image to exclude from the final selection; the straight edges of the wheel and the curved pods make an excellent contrast.  In the end I excluded it because I had already used to photos of the London Eye in my contrasting pairs.

Pointed and Blunt

Shot with a macro lens, this image of some cacti shows the contrast between the sharp prickles and the fleshy body stems.  The overall rounded shapes are blunt.  I like the composition of the photo with three cacti included in different proportions.  This was a difficult choice to make and would have been included had the instructions required more than one image.

Old and New

Another concept not in the course criteria: an old building Tower Bridge juxtaposed against a new building City Hall.  Shot with a fish eye the perspective of this shot is distorted.  There is a second contrast in this image of straight and curved.

Light and Dark

The contrast between light and dark in this image of a fire escape shot in Keswick is clear, but there is an additional contrast between curved and straight present with the staircase against the drainpipes, window frames and edges of the building.  Again, had the instructions required more than one contrast within a picture, this would have been included.