Composition challenge

The task required us to take four images based on a stimulus given to us by the teacher. My independent stimulus was surreal vs real and the first four images are taken initially by me with this in mind. I feel that my shot variation with colour, composition and subject was successful. I utilised both black and white space in two of my images and experimented with depth of field and perspective to create interesting shots.

 

 

 However, upon returning to the classroom to exhibit our four images, we discussed elements of successful shots.

 

• Rule of thirds- off center
• Low angle- close to ground
• Depth of field- focus variation
• Natural framing- within shots
• Perspective- shots, angles
• Space- negative?
• Colour
• Symmetry

 

Knowledge of these elements allowed me to identify exactly what was successful about each of my four shots. From this, I identified my weakest shot by the one which uses the least of these elements and decided to reshoot whilst incorporating new elements to technically improve it.

 

I chose my mannequin image as although it showed good use of perspective- making the small mannequins appear surreally large- I feel that it could still be improved further. I reshot with the idea of space and symmetry in my mind and ended up with this final image: 

 

 

I feel that this image is more aesthetically pleasing than the first as it has an imperfect but clear line of central vertical symmetry and uses empty space to frame the subjects. The low angle makes the mannequins look similarly larger than their small size, as in my initial shot as I thought this was a successful element.

 

 

If I were to develop further I would experiment with incorporating four elements into each shot to create intensity.