In this exercise, the intention is to see how much of a difference it makes placing a subject in different positions within the frame. Such as a central position so it punctures the background, off centre, higher and lower in the frame, to see what effect it has on the final image in relation to the background.
For my subject, I opted to take advantage of a situation when out with a friend for a walk at Beeston Weir, Nottingham, using him as a subject on a fairly plain background of a field with some detail on the horizon, so as to try not to distract focus from the primary subject as much as possible.
This initial shot places the subject in a central position in the frame, so as to "puncture" the background, drawing immediate attention as the background surrounds the subject equally. This makes the subject feel very prominent compared to the background.
These next two shots place the subject more towards the left and to the right of the frame. In both situations, it places more emphasis on the background and the foreground. The subject does not stand out as much as the initial shot, however not as much as to not immediately draw attention to the subject, it is still very prominent.
This shot places the subject nearer to the bottom of the frame, which to me makes the subject feel alot less prominent and places much greater emphasis on the background, in particular the sky, as it takes up a much larger proportion of the frame. Attention is immediately draw to the sky, and due to the proportions it makes the subject and the land background appear to be smaller than it actually is, possibly due to the imbalance between the sky and ground.
In this final shot, I placed the subject much higher in the frame, so as to eliminate the sky entirely so it does not draw attention away from the subject. The subject appears to be more prominent to me, however, this may be due to the fact that the subject is very slightly larger than in the previous shot. But again, as with the sky, I feel myself drawn towards the foreground of the grass just as much, if not more, than the main subject. The subject almost feels lost amongst the greenery of the grass.
Overall, in order of preference, I much prefer the central positioning as it feels the most balanced in relation to the subject compared to the background. Second preference would be the low positioning, as it places alot of emphasis on the background, really showing how deep the background actually is. Joint third would be the two shots with the subject placed off centre, as whilst they are fairly similar to the central positioning, they place slightly more emphasis on the background but don't feel particularly special compared to the central positioning. Lastly, my least favourite would be the high positioning of the subject in the frame, as the subject just feels lost in the foreground / background.
However, these conclusions may not necessarily be applicable to different situations and different images, in certain situations a high position in the frame may be preferable, such as a boat on a beach, or a off centre position for a portrait of someone looking into the distance. Every situation, as and when it arises should be considered independantly based on the merits of what it is exactly that you are shooting.
Lastly, I noticed after I had taken the shots, that I had messed up slightly, misfocusing on the background instead of the subject. I chose not to scrap all the shots, as the basis of the exercise remains the same. The only difference focusing properly on the subject, with a shallower depth of field, would be to emphasise focus on the subject as opposed to the background, which I have taken into consideration when evaluating each shot.
No comments:
Post a Comment