More focal length...

This exercise further explores the effects of focal length on an image. We see here two pictures of a teapot. Both were taken with an Olympus E-1 camera.

52mm

The first was taken at a distance of around 70cm, with a lens of 52mm focal length. We see a conventionally proportioned item, with bookshelves behind. The teapot is 1.4 metres in front of the shelves, of which we can see about 75cm from left to right

11mm

The second image, taken with an 11mm lens, gives a very different result. The pot itself occupies approximately the same proportion of the frame as in the first picture, the camera having been moved to within a few centimetres of the subject to achieve this. With the very wide angle of view we now find the pot appears bulbous and distorted. the root of the spout, where it joins the body of the pot, is not visible. It has proven impossible to render all the text on the pot in sharp focus. The glass coaster the pot sits upon appears trapezoid. Looking at the shelves behind we can now see a run of about 2.6 metres from left to right, despite which the books are slightly more  clearly defined, due to the greater depth of field at the shorter focal length.

Focal length

This sequence of images were all taken from the same position, with the same camera, but using a series of different focal length lenses. The camera was an Olympus E-1. The images up to 52mm (except for the 50mm) were taken with either  Zuiko 11-22mm or 14-54mm E-system zoom lenses. The 50, 100 and 200mm images used Zuiko OM series lenses via a lens mount adapter, while the 500mm lens is a Nikkor reflex, again via an adapter. The automatic exposure system struggles with these very old manual lenses, so some post-processing has been used to produce broadly equivalent results.

11mm

 At 11mm the field of view is so wide that I could not avoid including some of the window frame.

14mm

The frame has nearly gone at 14mm.

18mm

The day is dull, which reduces the contrast of the images, this effect being more apparent at greater distances.

22mm

25mm

35mm

 35mm

50mm

 50mm

52mm

100mm

200mm

500mm

 The cooling towers of the power station are 8.3 miles away.

11mm cropped to 500mm frame

This final image is a digital crop from the first (11mm) picture. I have attempted to include the same field of view as that achieved with the 500mm reflex lens above. It will be seen that the result is almost unrecognisable in a mess of chromatic noise. The E-1, with a 5.5 mega-pixel sensor, is low resolution by modern standards, and the limitations of this technique are clear.

Fitting the frame to the subject

This exercise will explore how the content of a photograph can occupy the frame, experimenting with how it appears in the viewfinder. The subject is a Burrell showman's engine, seen at the Lincolnshire Steam Rally on the 21st of August 2011. The camera used was a Canon EOS 60D with 18-55mm lens.

1. A general view of the engine. The whole machine is clearly seen, from wheels to top of funnel. A little of the background activity is visible, in part because the 3:2 frame doesn't exactly match the physical proportions of the engine.

2. Moving closer one may fill the frame with the subject, although we see a little cropping at each end in order to more nearly fill the frame vertically.

3. An oblique view, from a closer position, sees more of the engine filling the frame, although there is still some "bleed" of background to the left because of the angle of view.

4. We now concentrate on details of the machine, illustrating the sheen of the paintwork and polished brass which make these machine such a spectacle.

 5. Stepping away again, we now see the machine in the context of the larger show. Some onlookers are admiring the machine, other people are passing by. Other events are taking place in an arena behind the engine, and we see the background occupied by spectators, along with some of the infrastructure of the day in the form of a commentator's caravan. Not experienced in the photograph are the sounds of the day, people, tannoy announcements, the sound of the machinery. We cannot feel the heat of the sun, or smell the food from nearby food stalls.

A sequence of composition

This series of images records the approach to and entry into the Lincolnshire Steam Rally on 21st August 2011, and goes on to show the first set of entries to the show which were viewed. Reviewing this sequence actually shows a rather un-inspiring string of pictures. I think the principal problem is the physical scale of the venue, which meant that targets for photographic attention were somewhat sparse in places. If time permits I will repeat the exercise in a more densely occupied area.

 1. Approaching. Grubby car windows, moving vehicle, not ideal photographic conditions.

 2. Turning in.

 3. Bouncing along track to car park.

 4. Following the car in front.

5. The car park attendants were all volunteers, and of variable efficiency and authority.

 6. Should be easy to find the car later, it's near the green one.

 7. Walking along the rows...

 8. Entrance now visible in the distance.

 9. Approaching entrance 3. Some people seem to take this sort of thing so seriously that they have tee-shirts printed to match...

 10. A steady pace...

 11. Almost there.

 12. Getting money out.

 13. £19 please. Do you take cards? No.

 14. And a programme as well please.

 15. We're in. Now where?

 16. We'll just wander along like the people in front...

 17. What's over there? Looks like old fire engines - let's take a look.

 18. These are a little distracting on the way.

 19. Rather sweet.

 20. And this looks fun as well.

 21. A photographic record of the journey from rust to rosy-red.

 22. Ahh - The Series 3...

23. with slightly soft rear suspension...

  24. The Karrier - very nicely turned out, but then it had been owned by Rolls-Royce.

 25. A brace of Goddesses - one green, one red

26. Anybody else remember the fire brigade strike of 1977? This, manned by a gang of squaddies, was our front-line fire defence.

 27. At 5 tons, plus crew, plus gear, plus water, they couldn't keep up with their police escorts.

28. But they do have a cheerful face.

Cropping

This exercise explores the impact of cropping part of an image, to see whether different emphasises appear by looking at the partt rather than the whole.



1. Hackthorn Hall

This is a minor country house, built on a relatively modest scale in 1793-5. The crop below removes the rough pasture on this side of the small lake, thereby "tidying up" the house and presenting a more formal image. In so doing, however, we lose information about the position of the house in the landscape. The pasture is rough because it covers the site of a deserted medieval village, one of many in Lincolnshire.

 

2. Spiegel. Jaume Plensa, Yorkshire Scuplture Park

Another of my favourite blue (polarised) skies. The cropped image concentrates the attention of the viewer on the two figures, and perhaps enhances the sense of size - they are about 3.8 metres tall - although we may argue that more information about scale is retained in the wider view.

3. Cabanon. Emily Speed, Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

There comes a time when even quite well motivated almost-teenagers, such as Brigid, find the gallery trek too much. Usually a sign that we need to head towards the cafeteria. modern photographic techniques provide a solution to this - just crop her out! We see below a clearer rendering of the sculpture. It still has Kate in the picture to provide scale, with some of the room visible to provide context. The potentially distracting picture on the right has gone. However - the result is a little more sterile than the original, and I think it loses something in the reduction.

 

Overall I have reservations about the utility of cropping these particular images. To cut parts away begs the question of why I included them in the composition in the first place. Given the ease with which one may compose a scene with a zoom lens, or even by just picking a different viewpoint with a prime lens, I am not sure that cropping is the first approach one should take to picture composition. There are situations where it is physically impossible to position oneself just where desired - perhaps that is where cropping has a place?