What: The main brief of this exercise was to get close and
involved with the subject by the use of a wide angled lens
Where: Edinburgh, Outdoors
When: Afternoon on a mild overcast day.
How: I had a
found already to my cost that using a small point and shoot camera would be of
no use, as even thought the images were coming back as having a focal depth of
17mm or 18mm when in fact the find image
was nothing of the sort.
Example of the point and shoot at apparently 17mm
100_0709
Kodak Easyshare, Exposure Mode Auto, focal length 17mm (35mm
equivalent 96mm), aperture f5.2, speed 1/250 second, ISO 250,Auto white
balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera.
Possessing the widest angle lens for my DSLR that I had, I decided
that this may be of better use as it was a 11 mm-16 mm meaning that I would have
to get close.
I had already tested the suitability of close up photography with
a visit to Jupiter Art Land where I took a number of closeup shots of statues
in the woods using the 11-16mm wide angle lens and I knew that I was going to
get within three feet of people to obtain a close image.
DSC_0018
Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 13mm (35mm
equivalent 19mm), aperture f16, speed 1/6 second, ISO 800,Shade white balance,
Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,
DSC_0041
Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 11mm (35mm
equivalent 16mm), aperture f16, speed 1/30 second, ISO 800,Shade white balance,
Center Weight metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,
DSC_0044
Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 11mm (35mm
equivalent 16mm), aperture f16, speed 1/45 second, ISO 800,Shade white balance,
Center Weight metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,
These images are from a visit to Jupiter Art Land, I found myself
always within about 3 feet from the statues when I photographed them as it
allowed the full statue to be contained within the frame.
I visited a community gathering in Edinburgh where I hoped that
there would be a number of events and enough people where I could use the lens
without attracting attention when trying to photograph someone within a few
feet away.
I was again at the disadvantage of my disability so I knew that I
to balance the twin objects of obtaining the photographs without being knocked
to the ground by accident.
My first attempt to find a number of locations to shoot from did
not work as I could not get close enough to anyone quickly and take the shot as
they passed as the lens is very slow to focus. I managed to obtain a number of
close-ups of subjects but they were all blurred.
The second attempt was a
bit more successful; I hung the camera around my neck and with one hand to
control my balance on my walking stick I placed my left hand around the camera
so that the tips of my fingers just touched to the top of the shutter release.
This allowed me to move in and out of the people and first the shutter when I
thought that I might capture and interesting image.
In the main I was pretty unsuccessful, most of the images were
incorrectly framed, blurred or at a completely odd angle. I could get close
enough to people but the lens being slow to focus meant that I mainly
photographed them as they passed or they adjusted angle of approach at the last
minute and I ended up getting a close up of their jacket.
The requirement to have little distance to the subject did not allow
for clear and concise framing, by hanging the camera a lower position meant
that the frame could be interfered with by practically anything from passers-by
and the simple fact that I had to shoot
and trust the I had captured what I wanted.
DSC_0059
Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm
equivalent 21mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/60 second, ISO 400, Auto white
balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,
DSC_0062
Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm
equivalent 21mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/180 second, ISO 400, Auto white
balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,
I noticed here another flaw with using the wide angle lens
and that was that some movement caused distortion, here the subjects hand has
“jellied” and distended.
DSC_0065
Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm
equivalent 21mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/250 second, ISO 400, Auto white
balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,
DSC_0068
Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm
equivalent 21mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/45 second, ISO 400, Daylight white
balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,
H
DSC_0073
Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm
equivalent 21mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/250 second, ISO 400, Auto white
balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,
DSC_0095
Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 13mm (35mm
equivalent 19mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/60 second, ISO 400, Auto white
balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,
Re examining the images I see that from the way I had decided to
step up the camera and then use a kind of surveillance technique of
photographing meant that I could not adjust the settings of the camera; once I
had picked an f-stop and what kind of white balance and metering I wanted I
could not really adjust anything while moving. Even the focal length was pretty
much fixed unless the camera was bumped slightly knocking the lens back from
11mm towards 16mm.
The exercise was quite a challenge not only physically but also
mentally as I had to trust my instincts and just hope that I had captured what
I wanted.
I am not truly happy with the results of the exercise as I found
that the choice of lens was too extreme, at 11-16mm a lot of the subjects were
further away from the lens than I had hoped. I may revisit the exercise using
something more like a normal kit lens starting at 17mm where I can work between
17mm and 24mm to obtain better framing and composition.
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