Brief:
Create a series of between six and ten photographs from one of the following options, or a subject of your own choosing:
- Crowds
- Views
- Heads
Use the exercises from Part Two as a starting point to test out combinations of focal length, aperture and viewpoint for the set. Decide upon a single format, either vertical or horizontal. You should keep to the same combination throughout to lend coherence to the series.
Analysis:
For this assignment i decided to go with crowds.I am interested in photographing people but i have slight anxiety when approaching strangers(something i need to work on) so head shoots felt like stretching a little bit over my comfort zone (at least for now).I will attempt to combat my anxiety by starting with people i know and as a personal project i will make a collection of portraits of my close and extended family.But for now i wanted to capture other families in a unposed situation.
A while ago i discovered “Street Photography Now” by Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren.This was a good research point as this book is a collection showcasing some great photographers, old and new.In particular I was drawn to Martin Parr’s work.Besides the amazing compositions and wonderful colours there was something about the way he captured body language in the most mundane environments that really struck a cord.Street photography can be uncomfortable ,but then i read something Parr said in a an interview.“I go straight in very close to people and I do that because it’s the only way you can get the picture. You go right up to them. Even now, I don’t find it easy. I don’t announce it. I pretend to be focusing elsewhere. If you take someone’s photograph it is very difficult not to look at them just after. But it’s the one thing that gives the game away. I don’t try and hide what I’m doing – that would be folly.”It is uncomfortable but once you get a taste of it can absolutely become addictive.
Process:
Initially i wanted to shoot at the beach but the weather even though sunny wasn’t good enough and it was empty(the joys of living up north) .So i went to the amusement park instead.I was after body language.I used my Canon 700D and a tele lens .I set it up to 400 ISO and i used anywhere between f/5.6 for shallow depth of field shots(see exercise 2.6) to f/11 for the wider deep depth of field(see also exercise 2.7).
What i think worked well was the shallow depth of field as the amusement park can give out a good colourful and dynamic backdrop and was easy to pick out interesting subjects and expersions.I thought the wider shots weren’t that great and achieving deep depth of field with a great composition was actually quite hard as everything around me was “moving”.I felt uncomfortable setting up a tripod but again that is something that i will need to work on.
Final Selection:
Gabriela Oliver 