lundi 23 avril 2007

For a Different Perspective... Get out and get under! I continue to photograph greenery every day. It is not an obsession... simply that there is so much fresh growth bursting out at this time of year that to ignore it with my eyes and camera could be regrettable later later when I want to compare, both mentally and visually, the before and after effects of nature. I have done this many times before including, on a modest scale, a four photo sequence of Seasons and a grander twelve photo sequence of a panoramic vista revisited and photographed every month for a year. I do find that any sequence occupying longer than one hour usually takes a certain amount of planning plus dedication... and for one with an annual seasonal or monthly time-lapse a free diary should be kept to complete the project accurately! But for a sequential coverage of natural growth forms such as plants, shrubs and trees it is acceptable to vary the viewpoints and angles, times of day and exposures, in order to get a more interesting coverage. Think about it... a sequence of twelve shots of the same landscape from the same spot has to be something out of the ordinary if it is not to become boring half way through - both for the photographer doing it and the viewer looking at it. When photographing trees I adopt a more "laid-back" approach... quite literally. First I walk around the tree specimen (if possible) and photograph it from afar with a telephoto lens, from mid-distance with a standard lens, and from near-to with a wide-angle... all in an interesting setting or against a nice backdrop if possible. It is surprising how different the perspective of the subject becomes, as well as the relationship between subject, foreground and background, with this multiple viewpoint and lens approach... and not only does it make for better photography practice, but hopefully better photographic results too. My laid-back, or "lying back" attitude is adopted after the basic shots have been taken... when and wherever possible I get underneath a tree and lie down on the ground... it's a nice feeling to do it. Then, when looking up along the length of the trunk and through the main branches, a completely different viewpoint and natural world is seen. From this prone position you can look awhile - the subject isn't going anywhere - and observe the changes in light, how overlapping leaves cast shadows on each other, the subtle and multiple tints and tones of colour, the patterns and textures of individual shapes... there is a lot to see looking up into a tree. The exercise is so relaxing and calming you may even fall asleep... if that's how you feel... why not? Awaken with fresh ideas! When back in conscious mode... look through a lens or two and see a different world again. Above is a small selection of shots grouped together in a block of four illustrating what I meant in the previous paragraph... the top-left straight shot shows two Lime trees in the garden which have come into leaf in the past few days; the bottom-right shot shows them from my position lying on the grass underneath and looking up through a 12-24mm wide-angle lens set at 12mm (the image appears upside-down but isn't... it is exactly as my eyes saw it). Bottom-left is a selected view through a 135mm lens; and top-right is a lone leafy sprig growing out of a thicker branch and framed with a 200mm telephoto lens. The main image at the head of the article is an example of what I saw through a 300mm Nikkor lens (equivalent to a 450mm lens on a 35mm film-type SLR camera) and shows what it is possible to see with a selective eye. A 300mm lens has an angle-of-view (always measured and specified across the diagonal by manufacturers - not horizontally or vertically) of just over 8 degrees compared to that of human vision which is probably 140 degrees or so... although much at the periphery is not in focus or detailed. The telephoto lens also has a shallow depth-of-focus compared to the human eye and so very little is actually in focus, especially when using a wide shooting aperture on the lens... apparent from the large amount of soft blur in the background canopy of leaves. My 300mm Nikkor has a maximum (widest) aperture of f/4 and I generally stop down to f/5.6 or f/8 to get some depth-of-focus to work with - as well as optimum sharpness and contrast "two-stops down"... but photographers who own faster 300mm f/2.8 lenses which are usually at their optimum wide-open (at the prices they cost they ought to be) and have mastered them at that widest aperture, will sure have a creative trip with this type of subject. Seeking an, or the image that says the most about what you are trying to say, or capture, is the challenge. Does the main image above express the Spring freshness of the Lime tree more than, say, the image of the two trees shown in a landscape view? Or the wide view from underneath the canopy? Or the tiny sprig in leaf... almost like a miniature tree in itself? Our ideas and decisions differ... that is choice and expression. For me, obviously, the image of the pair of leaves showing their opaque saw-edged and translucent veined form, with the shadow of another leaf cast upon it... that is the one. There is also contrast between the budding twig against the blurred background of the tree canopy... and a feeling of new growth forming inside a vaster space where nothing has yet come into being. This style of photographic expression is presented best by the very creative American photographer Freeman Patterson. You can purchase any of my selection of his excellent books from the links below... 12:54:23 PM    comment []