Exercise 11 Balance

To me every picture should tell a story therefore balance is an integral part of that story.  Emotion reigns for me in photographs that is why I love to do people pictures, especially those when the subject has no idea the picture is being taken.

Photograph 1

The above photograph was taken at the Brighton Burn-up 2010. 

It is heavily weighted nearest the camera so the eye is drawn to the patches on the back of the jackets.  The further away from the camera where the balance is less great a friend waits for the group to catch up who are clearly just ambling along and appeared to be in no great hurry as I watched them walk by.

The purpose of the photograph was to show old friends together who perhaps in their younger days rode very large motorbikes and no doubt a force to be reckoned with.  Now time has passed and they have attended the Burn-up (no doubt still on motorbikes) to reminisce and talk about old times.

Photograph 2

The above is again heavily weighted nearest the camera.  The composition in the photograph seems to be the opposite to what I read about the largest items being furthest away.  I took it with my wide angle lens.  I wanted my scooter to be the focus of the attention, taking up the largest part of the frame.  I also wanted to illustrate where I was and the other scooters around me so getting the experience of the whole Brighton vibe.

Photograph 3

This photograph was taken at our village fete.

It is a sister and brother, with the brother quite obviously adored.  The girls expression is loving and also admiring.  She is focused heavily on him as he expresses himself. 

The balance is slightly in favour of the sister but as the brother is the actual topic of the admiration he too has a large presence in the frame. 

This is an adorable photograph that I think stands for everything I love about photography.

Conclusion

This exercise has really opened my eyes to what I achieve with my photographs without realising it.  However, it has also highlighted lots of areas that I can improve up.  Another great basis to underpin the rest of the course. 

I shall however return to this subject further down the course and see how my understanding has changed as it is far from complete.