3.3 Time frame and view point

Exercise 3.3 Time frame and view point

1.Time frame

Viewing through one of my analogue cameras with a shutter release of 1 second this is just about enough time to distinguish the basic form of an object. It is not enough time to deal with complexities of an image in terms of tonal differences or form and shape in detail. Its enough for perception to work at a basic level in terms of distinguishing a tree from a bed or a rock from a car. A similar result can be achieved by opening and shutting rapidly the eyes and estimating a time like that of the shutter. 2-3 seconds is more of a normal exposure time for distinguishing forms in greater detail.

2. View point

First of all I spent a good time just looking. I noticed and resisted the urge to just take the shot, as I felt that I was happy with the scene when I first saw it. I spent some time just going over the proportions and angles of the buildings and seeing if my eye picked out any particular points within the frame. I tried to visualise a balanced picture which had all the elements of the foreground, mid and background and the sky.

I then at some point raised the camera and spent a time looking at the view through one eye and the view finder with the other to see if there was a marked difference. There almost always is. When one sees a scene, especially land scape, it can be quite disconcerting once you raise the camera to realise that the framing has nothing to do with what you are seeing with your unframed eye! I realised that this in itself was a useful thing to do. A sort of double check to see if the composition was going to work. Because it was a high view point and I was shooting a broad open area I could afford to compose the foreground so that it played a good part in the picture.

untitled — ISO 100 28mm F/16 1/40 sec without tripod

I photographed a horizontal frame as the scene felt broad enough to include interesting detail and because I wanted emphasis the streets and I wanted to exclude detail to the right and left of what I was seeing.

In terms of the process I found that it was interesting to take in such a broad scene all at the same time. The eye cannot focus exclusively on one point and needs to function more in panoramic mode.

Trying not to rush the process I just took my time to sort of absorb myself into the view. The approach almost become meditative.