Thing so Far

Micheal Freeman: The Photographers Eye

PROTESTS IN DUBLIN

ASSIGNMENT 1: Contrasts

PROJECT: CROPPING AND EXTENDING

EXERCISE: Vertical and horizontal frames

 

PROJECT: FRAME SHAPES AND SIZES

EXERCISE: Positioning the horizon

EXERCISE: BALANCE

PROJECT: DIVIDING THE FRAME

EXERCISE: Focal lengths and different viewpoints

EXERCISE: Focal lengths

PROJECT: FOCAL LENGTHS - THE ANGLE OF VIEW

EXERCISE: A sequence of composition

EXERCISE: Objects in different positions in the frame

EXERCISE: Fitting the frame to the subject

PROJECT: LOOKING THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER

PROJECT: THE FRAME

EXERCISE: Panning with different shutter sppeds

1/30 @ f22

EXERCISE: Shutter speeds

1/3200

1/100

1/40

1/20

1/6

                                                                 1/2 @ f5.6

PROJECT: MOVEMENT

EXERCISE: Focal length and the angle of view

EXERCISE: Focus with a set aperture

EXERCISE: Focus at different apertures

For this exercise I decided I would head down to shoot at the war memorial gardens, a quiet spot near Dublin city centre dedicated to all the men who died fighting for profiteers in the first world war. 

I had an idea on shooting some of the rows of names on the granite books or the rows of columns on the memorial, or even the many trees or flowers in the park.

I did do that but I feel the photos I took of a bush with the red berries that grow at this time of year (below) show the different results of shooting at the 3 diferent apertures  best.

For this exercise I had to shoot 3 photos with the aperture changing from big to small.The Apertures I used were F2.3 ( big ) , F11 ( mid ) and F.22 ( small ). I did'nt use a Tripod.

In the first photo, at the widest aperture, F2.3 the depth of field is very short. The berries in the foreground are very sharp, the ones in the middle are slightly out of focus and the berries in the backround appear very blurred

At F11 the image is quite similar but the sharpness of the berries at the front is'nt quite as strong and the ones in the middle are now clearly shown but the ones at the back still remain out of focus.

In the final photo at F22 the whole bush is in focus and all the berries are now shown. This image also appears a little daker 

I like the photo at the wide aperture best as it has a strong focal point, the berries in the foreground

At the smallest aperture the image is too cluttered and has no real focal point.

CONCLUSIONS

Changing the aperture changes the depth of field and the focal point

As I shortened the aperture I had to slow the shutter speed (which made shooting a little more dffiicult without a tripod )

Some images can benefit from a shorter aperture others at a wider aperture

shooting an image at different apertures can produce very different results

There IS a reciprocal relationship between shutter speed and aperture

A smaller aperture makes the image darker

The affect of changing aperture may not be noticable at first depending on the distance from the subject or the lens used

It may be a good idea to use a small aperture on, for example, a landscape photo with no real focus point

..........below is another good example of the differnce in DOF for the same apertures as above.............