Exercise 2: Focus with a set aperture

Find a scene with depth. Take two or three pictures, each focused on something at a different distance, with a set aperture.
The photographs show detail of a young oak tree on a local common; the tree is scheduled for felling, and locals have adorned it with ribbons, Christmas baubles and messages of protest. These photographs focus on some of these decorations. All were shot at f/5.6, with a focal length of 80mm.


This photograph focuses on the background - a collection of tags and notices. To my mind it is the least successful. This background looks untidy; the composition doesn't isolate anything particularly interesting but instead diffuses attention across the whole of the background. In addition, this one required the longest shutter speed - 1/30s. For that reason, the background is not even particularly crisp.

This one focuses on the gold bauble in the centre of the scene, at a shutter speed of 1/50s. This one seems to me more successful than the previous: there is a sense of balance created by the out-of-focus elements at the front and back of the scene, though this could be improved with more depth between the two front elements.

This is my favourite. I like the way it isolates the green bauble, and reduces the distracting impression of the untidy background (while still retaining enough interesting texture). The detail in the reflections on the green bauble are in contrast to the blurred detail of the rest of the photograph, but the gold bauble still retains enough reflection to be interesting.

Although in this case the first photograph strikes me as the least interesting or successful, I can see how this approach could be valuable to convey certain ideas - if one deliberate wanted to upset convention, or draw attention to something unsual in the background. Perhaps if one of those tags or posters actually said 'Personally, I hate this tree.'

Exercise 1: Focal length and angle of view

Take three photographs of the same scene, one at standard focal length, one at widest view, one at furthest telephoto setting.

My camera has an 18-250mm zoom. This first picture demonstrates the standard focal length: 63mm. (Canon EOS 350D, 1/80s, f/5.0).

This shot shows the same scene at the widest angle: 18mm (1/125s, f/5.0). Finally, this third shot shows the same shot on the maximum telephoto setting: 250mm (1/60s, f/6.3):

The photographs were taken in the church yard of Little St. Mary's in Cambridge. It was (and still is) a miserable cold day with barely enough light - even at midday - for the auto-focus to function. In the circumstances it would have been better if I'd used a tripod for these shots; only the second one - wide angle view - comes within the comfortable range for hand-holding the camera. Despite that I'm chuffed that my first time out for this course I've learnt something I didn't know about my camera.

I've been thinking since doing this exercise about what the benefits are of having this information - is it going to make me take better photographs? I think it should, when I get used to thinking about it while out with the camera. At the moment to compose a picture I just move the lense while I'm looking through the viewfinder until I see something I like the look of. Being clearer about how focal length effects composition however should enable me to look at a scene and envisage how it's going to look as a photograph when shot at particular focal lengths - making it easier to realise the scene I'm trying to capture.

I'm also going to attempt a shoot with a prime lense in the not too distant future - I've been advised that the discipline this imposes can be very beneficial in terms of composition.