Exercise Title: Using a wide angle lens
Purpose: Understand how dramatically the ultra wide angle affects the relationship between components of your composition in remarkably small movements
Method:
Probably the key thing to remember about any wide lens but in particular ultra wide lenses is that every stretches away from the centre point of the image. With that one thing in your mind here is a set of exercises to get to grips with what it does. Take images as follows: -
With the camera at eye height
- Horizon level across the centre of the frame
- Horizon at an angle across the centre of the frame
- Horizon level almost at the top of the frame
- Horizon on an angle at the top of the frame
- Horizon level at bottom of frame
- Horizon on angle at bottom of frame
- Horizon level across the centre of the frame
- Horizon at an angle across the centre of the frame
- Horizon level almost at the top of the frame
- Horizon on an angle at the top of the frame
- Horizon level at bottom of frame
- Horizon on angle at bottom of frame
With the camera close to the ground
- Horizon level across the centre of the frame
- Horizon at an angle across the centre of the frame
- Horizon level almost at the top of the frame
- Horizon on an angle at the top of the frame
- Horizon level at bottom of frame
- Horizon on angle at bottom of frame
- Horizon level across the centre of the frame
- Horizon at an angle across the centre of the frame
- Horizon level almost at the top of the frame
- Horizon on an angle at the top of the frame
- Horizon level at bottom of frame
- Horizon on angle at bottom of frame
Find a good leading line i.e. footpath, bridge, train track
- Get low and have the leading line run vertically through the image to the bottom centre
- With camera still turn the camera so the leading line hits the bottom corner
- Move to one side of the leading line and again swivel the camera
- Move further to one side and do the same again
- Get low and have the leading line run vertically through the image to the bottom centre
- With camera still turn the camera so the leading line hits the bottom corner
- Move to one side of the leading line and again swivel the camera
- Move further to one side and do the same again
Same set of images, but this time from eye height
Analyse:
Make notes on:
- what images do I like
- which camera positions give the most dramatic effects
- which camera placements work best for me
- which camera positions give the most dramatic effects
- which camera placements work best for me
Share 3 images with me that you particularly like and 3 you don't. Explain your thoughts on each image.
Feedback:
I will get you doing lots of exercises like this through the remainder of the year that each focus on a specific thing. While you can just do the exercise once I highly recommend you do them a few times as follows: -
- Do the exercise as set
- Complete the analysis and send me images and comments as requested
- Go out and deliberately take images in a variety of situations using the setup for the results that you liked. Based on your preferences then examples could be:
- when it’s a dramatic sky get down low with the camera fitted with the wide angle and just have the horizon close to the bottom as the image is all about the sky.
- If you find something really interesting, i.e. a fascinating bit of driftwood on the beach then get in really close with the wide angle and fill most of the frame with it. If the sky is interesting aim up, if the ground is interesting aim down, if their equal then put the horizon in the middle.