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Assignment 1:

Contrasts

Leopoldo de Castro The Art of Photography Assignment 1



This is the result of changing the original assignment in reaction to the comments of the tutor (Mr.

Joe Fox). Most of the assignment has been reconsidered and rebuilt.

All the pictures have been taken in RAW format and processed with camera RAW (in most cases

just the automatic process).

All the relevant EXIF data of the pictures hass been added below each one, and in some cases even

edited and modified, because this data did not reflect the wireless triggering of the flash.

The general subject of the assignment is children, and care has been taken to have all the pictures

placed in this general context.




Curve 1

Camera: Canon EOS 40D

Lens: EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

Shot at 22 mm

Exposure: Auto exposure, Aperture-

priority AE, 1/125 sec, f/11,

ISO 100

Flash: Off, Did not fireDate: April 23, 2011

Taken in a sunny day with the sun close to the zenith (around midday). The position and

arrangement was prepared (I wanted to see the shadows as well). I did several trials. I was inspired

by a picture of Bryan Peterson (the one in the cover of his book Learning to see creatively). The

aperture could be far more open, with the focus in the floaters. The shadow in the bottom of the

swimming poool would be blurred anyway, but I wanted to have a big depth of field, so that the

curve line of the swimmingpool border would be fully focused as well.




Straight 5


Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Shot at 44 mm

Exposure: Auto exposure, Program AE,

5 sec, f/8, ISO 100

Flash: Yes. Off the camera.

Date: May 24, 2011 A straight path surrounded by straight elements. The picture was taken with a small tripod and the

flash was placed on the floor in the back of the marble (beyond the left part of the frame). The

straight lines are predominant and an implied line in the background divides the frame

approximately leaving one third on the top and two thirds on the bottom. Although the marble and

the tops of the Lego pieces are rounded, the dominant lines are straight (vertical, horizontal and

diagonal)




Liquid 2

Camera: Canon EOS 40DLens: EF75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM

Shot at 240 mm

Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/5,000 sec,

f/5.6, ISO 800

Flash: Off, Did not fire

Date: April 21, 2011

Light of the sun coming from the zenith. Strong and hard light. The ISO could have probably been

set lower yet still allowing a shutter speed fast enough to freeze movement and the drops of water.

There is a small text in the googles, but it is not distracting. I could have tried also different

positions with regard to the subject to avoid undesirable reflections.




Solid 4



Shot at 50 mm

Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/60 sec, f/5,

ISO 100

Flash: Yes Off the camera

Date: May 19, 2011

Few things in nature are stronger than the link of mother and child. The picture was taken at night in

the child's bedroom. Everything is prepared, the position , the frame and the light (all the light is

coming from hte flash). A flash unit was set in the floor, on the left at 45 degrees and bounced from

a door. The result is a directional light not so hard as the direct flash, that still creates some

shadows. The light coming from below provides some misterious atmosphere. The child is holding

the mother and at the same time looking to the camera as if it was a threat. The shadows behind

produced by the light of the flash also look threatening.




Continuous 3


Lens: EF50mm f/1.8 II


priority AE, 1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100


Date: May 15, 2011

In a circular shape there is no start and no end. It is uninterrupted in space and if something moves

along a circular line, it is moving in sequence.

The circular shape.......a symbol for the continuous (since very old times) can be clearly seen. Thechild playing with the toy trains gives context, and the fact that the trains move along the railway

(in circles) is implying some sort of sequence.

The circular road is a diagonal of the picture, and the unusual framing (it looks as if the rail road is

placed on a wall and not on the ground) gives me the feeling of dynamism. A child playing with

trains moving in circles. The circle of life. Trains move in circles or sequences, in the same way life

goes in continuous circles.....days, seasons, years,.......




Intermittent 1:




priority AE,1/100 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100


Date: May 15, 2011

If a toy railroad could represent continuous, it may also represent intermittent if seen in a different

manner. In this sense it is neccesary to note that intermittend does not necesarily mean periodic (this

latter has a more restrictive meaning). Intermittent is understood here as discontinuous.




Weak 2


Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USMShot at 135 mm

Exposure: Auto exposure, Aperture-priority AE,1/30 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100



The picture was taken from a balcony in the first floor of a house. Below I noticed one of

my friends giving a refreshing bath to her small baby. I took a few pictures. There is one

thing with this picture: the strong colors of the improvised bath tub. It could be argued that

they subtract interest from what it should be the main subject (the baby).

However the colors are framing the subject, and they form a sort of pattern. When reading

the picture, the eye looks first for an irregularity in the pattern (namely the baby) and it is

also noted that both the color of the skin and the shape of the human body attract strongly

the attention of the viewer. In relation tho that i would like to refer to an e-book by Mitchell

Kanashkevich "Captivating Color: A guide to dramatic color photography", Darren Rowse,

Digital Photography School, 2011. There is an example of a picture on page 10 (left side,

the picture on top), presenting the principle.

Therefore I think that in this case the strong colors are not only not in detriment of the main

subject, but contributing to emphasize it.




Strong 1

This picture portraits strong in many different

ways......the boy looks healthy (namely strong),it is carrying a heavy (for him) bucket with

water and you can see the strain on his body and

face. He is coming out of the sea, and he is

fighting against the water and small waves in

the limit of the sea with the beach.

Although the horizon line can not be seen, the

background really suggests the sea (the surface,

the colour, the small wave behind the legs of thechild.....). The sea is a synonym of strength...in

this case the picture reflects a child who is

fighting the sea in some manner.

I like particularly the manner in which he is

grabbing the bucket strongly with his hands and

fingers.....

There are two things in detriment of the

picture......one is the blue shoes that distract the

view from the body and face expression of the

child. The second is the bucket that has an

almost strident colour (in terms of colour it is the most remarkable element in the frame).

On the other hand, the fact that the bucket is so remarkable, also gives the impression that it

is big, and probably heavy for such a young child. Because its partial transparency, it can

also be seen that it is carrying quite a lot of water (we all know that water is heavier than it

looks like, and this amount of water is probably quite heavy for such a child).


Lens: EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USMShot at 135 mm

Exposure: Auto exposure, Aperture-priority AE,1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100






Large 9


Lens: EF70-200mm f/4L USM

Shot at 200 mm

Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/800 sec, f/5,

ISO 50


Date: May 21, 2011

The tiny window of a tiny doll's house in my back garden. The light is daylight (the sun)

and the shadows (that look from trees) are coming from a relatively small (around 1meter

tall) bamboo plant. Small depth of field chosen to have the rose plants behind out of focus.


http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5d/




Small 6:


Lens: EF17-40mm f/4L USM

Shot at 17 mm

Exposure: Auto exposure, Aperture-priority AE, 1/15 sec, f/7.1, ISO 50


Date: May 13, 2011

A child is small. The things in the room of a child are small (clothes, toys,etc....). We usually

refer to the children as the 'small ones'. Small in terms of a child means small in size, small

in time lived, small in experience, .....small. The use of a wide angle lens in this case creates

the illusion that the child is even smaller.






Still 3

My idea of 'still' was to show one of the few

moments when young children are quiet......andI mean really quiet.......that is when they are

sleeping.

A child sleeping is something worth to see. They

are relaxed to the bones. This natural skill of

relaxing will be lost later when they grow (and

the tensions and worries of the day to day life

starts to leave its mark on them).

Relaxation is the closest thing to still in our

life.......and I say that because 'still' like 'void',

'infinity' and many other abstract concepts are so

far of our daily experience that they can exist

only as mental categories.

We live in a world that is moving at a huge

speed through the universe, our perception of

time is based in movement (of the clock, of the

seasons, of the day and night cycles, etc...), our body is the opposite to still (the heart is

continuously moving, the lungs as well, the blood through our veins, etc.......),.......and even

our mind is constantly moving........try to leave the mind still or blank......it is just not

possible!!!! (ask otherwise to the masters of meditation). Therefore still is just one

abstraction.........

In my view 'still' is a child sleeping.......This is the picture of the hand of a child who issleeping, next to the mother's hand (who was also sleeping).

The hand of the mother like 'hanging' from the top, and the hand of the girl completely

relaxed. both hands on top of the sheets of a bed.



Shot at 105 mm

Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/60 sec, f/5.6,

ISO 100




Flash: Yes. Off the camera

Date: May 20, 2011

Moving 4


Lens: EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

Shot at 19 mm


priority AE, 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100


Date: April 9, 2011

The frozen movement, the different expressions of the children starting to gain speed, their

faces, their unbalanced positions, their shadows, the nice trees in the background, the fact

that all the people in the picture are in the action one way (running) or another (the parents

observing and supporting their children, and the referee still in the position signaling the

start of the race).......all the faces can be seen (no one is hidden by another's people

body),............




Hard 2:




priority AE, 1/320 sec, f/2, ISO 100

Flash: Off, Did not fireDate: May 15, 2011

The difficulty of expressing hard in a picture is in my opinion related to the fact that hard is

a concept strongly linked to senses other than the sense of view. Hard is more a touch

related concept, something that is easy to feel with the skin, but not so easy to detect with

the eyes.For children (particularly when the teeth are breaking through) the feeling of hard

or soft (and to some extent also cold and hot and many others) comes mainly in the mouth.




Soft 7



Shot at 80 mm


priority AE, 1/80 sec, f/5, ISO 100


Date: May 19, 2011

The feet of brother (right) and sister (left) touching each other in a way that suggest proximity, protection and softness. The picture was taken in the garden on top some old

wood boards thaat contrast a lot in color and texture with the skin of the children.




Few 1



Shot at 135 mm


ISO 100



The shoe of a child. It has to be noticed that it would be impossible to know that it is from a

child if it was not for the size that can be read in the picture. The light is coming from a

window behind. A child on his own is simply not enough (too few) to survive.




Many 1



Shot at 38 mm


ISO 100Flash: Off, Did not fire


A family portraited in an unconventional manner. The two childrne on the left, father on the right

and mother on top. The picture has lots of readings (more or less subjective). It was taken in the

same place than the one for few and under the same conditions.




Contrast in one – Still and moving


Lens: EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USMShot at 10 mm

Exposure: Auto exposure, Aperture-priority AE,1/500 sec, f/11, ISO 250



The picture is the result of merging six RAW pictures in photoshop (fotomerge), cropping

the final result and using autolevels. The camera was hand held.

The format is not standard (it is a panoramic view), and the static buildings contrast with the

two children (lower left of the frame) who are moving. They are actually the main

characters on the frame.

I was lucky to freeze the two children in unbalanced and dynamic body positions.

The weakness of the photo lies from my point of view in the fact that the sky is too flat.

Also there is some distorted perspective as a consequence of the wide angle lens used.


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