Focal lengths and different viewpoints
There are two sets of two images for this exercise to demonstrate the difference in perspectives when shooting a variety of focal lengths filling the frame with the subject. The first set of images are of the Male Satyr statue in the gardens of Newstead Abbey, Nottingham; the second of a weathered, crumbled pillar. I chose these subjects as they have straight sides and exhibit the character of converging lines used at different focal lengths from a different viewpoint.
Male Satyr
The image on the left was taken at a very short distance from the subject, perhaps two feet; the one on the right was taken from a distance that took perhaps a minute or so to walk. You can clearly see the difference in perspective. The pillar on which the satyr is standing appears to be larger in the first than that of the second and in complete contrast, the satyr himself appears to be smaller. Subjects appear closer than they seem the closer they are to the lens. Objects that appear further away are a result of ‘dwindling size perspective’. There appears to be much more distance between the satyr and the tree in the image on the left and the same tree in the right image looks as though it is right next to the satyr attaining a two dimensional plane. The latter image is a more accurate rendition of the subjects form and size whereas the former is more suggestive of size, along with power and dominance. The light is also very different in these images; the satyr in the first image looks a little dark compared to the one on the right and the shadows fall in different places despite the fact that they were shot within a couple of minutes of each other.
Weathered Pillar
The same things apply to this image, although, there is much more of an obvious difference between the backgrounds on this image; it looks almost as if this image has been subject to ‘high dynamic range’ (an editing process of extracting a subject from a photograph and placing it on a different background to achieve a high contrast scene). This set best demonstrates the objective of this exercise because the difference is much greater in comparison than that of the first set.
Paul's learning log for Bachelor of Arts in Photography 