22 Aug 2010

Assignment 2: Elements of design

Subject: Motor vehicles

Flickr Set *NEW!*
Photobucket album



The main thing I enjoy about being out with my camera is experimenting with the shutter speed and the framing to try and capture something unusual. I’ve tried to do this again with Assignment 2 and not only apply the lessons learned in this section but also techniques from Part 1, from panning to cropping.

One of the main things I took away from my tutor’s feedback on Assignment 1 is that I need to remember that this course is about my photography. Further, Assignment 2 gives me the option to choose my own subject for the series of photographs. I have always been interested in cars and motorbikes so I chose ‘motor vehicles’ as my subject for the elements of design.

One of my observations from this assignment is that there can be a lot of interpretation on what constitutes a particular effect. For example, interpretation may dictate the difference between, say, diagonals and implied triangles in a given frame. To that end, I have tried to take at least x2 photographs of each effect, though some can be interpreted as several effects. A lot of ideas I had planned in my head did not come to fruition given the subject and, more influentially, lack of enough cash to pull them off!
Some effects were a lot easier to capture than others. Implied triangles, distinct shapes, rhythms and patterns proved more challenging than single points or line combinations.

All of this assingment's photographs and notes are hosted on my OCA Portfolio and my Photobucket account

Elements of Design: Project - Rhythm & pattern

Exercise: Rhythms & patterns
2 photographs

Click here to view album

I initially had a little difficultly getting my head around the difference between rhythm and pattern so I re-read the course material several times and shared some ideas with some other OCA students using the forums. My interpretation leading up to Assignment 2 is that rhythm need not have objects of exacting shape and proportions but instead lead the eye through or around the photograph to the ‘optical beat’. Pattern may have irregular shapes and tight framing is required to achieve the desired effect.

Click here for the Photobucket album and notes.