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Nature’s Pattern
Posted by Richard Lovison | Filed under Photography
Autumn Leaf Fractal Pattern; © Copyright Reserved, Richard Lovison, 2008
It is a constant idea of mine, that behind the cotton wool [of daily reality] is hidden a pattern; that we–I mean all human beings–are connected with this; that the whole world is a work of art; that we are parts of the work of art.
- Virginia Woolf
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Snow and Frost
Posted by Richard Lovison | Filed under Photography
Hilltop Snow; © Copyright Reserved, Richard Lovison, 2007-2008
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
-Robert Lee Frost
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Camera Perspective
Posted by Richard Lovison | Filed under Photography Techniques
When it comes to perspective, the camera can see very differently than the human eye. This became very apparent to my client on my latest architectural photo shoot.
I was asked to photograph a building that was recently renovated. As I didn’t have a clear idea as to what my client might be looking for I decided to do a preliminary shoot, taking images of the building from many different angles and using various focal lengths.
Berkshire Hall 1; © Copyright Reserved, Richard Lovison, 2008
What surprised my client in the above image was that Mount Everett was missing from behind the building. He had never seen a picture of Berkshire Hall without the mountain, nor had he ever walked the campus without seeing the mountain looming in the background.
This came about due to the difference between what a camera “sees” and what the human eye “sees.” The focal length I was using (44mm - 35mm camera equivalent) gave me an angle of view of about 52 degrees while the human eye achieves an effective angle of view of around 120 degrees due to the image being projected on a curved surface and due to peripheral vision. Of course, that does not take into consideration that one can quickly move one’s eyes and head about to take in a scene. Plus, most importantly, I was shooting from the left hand side of the building aiming my camera away from the highest peak of Mount Everett in the background.
Berkshire Hall 2; © Copyright Reserved, Richard Lovison, 2008
In the above photograph, I was shooting the building from a greater distance using a longer focal length (106mm – 35mm camera equivalent) than the first image though from slightly to the right of the main entrance thus placing the mountain back into view of the camera lens.
The important lesson to be learned here is to move about when photographing a subject and try different angles and focal lengths. There are a variety of different compositions of the same subject that can be captured when doing so, many of them pleasing.
In the past, a useful tool to carry in your camera bag was an empty 35mm slide mount tied to a string having knots representing different focal lengths (those were the days when most photographers used prime lenses instead of zoom lenses). One end of the string would be held to the base of your neck while the slide mount would be held at the knot representing the focal length to be used. By looking through the slide mount one could quickly compose a shot of the subject viewed.
So go out there, be playful and experiment by composing the same subject from different vantage points while using various focal lengths. You might be surprised at what you will discover.
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Watching and Waiting
Posted by Richard Lovison | Filed under Photography
Nature's Fields and Forests (Berkshire Hills); © Copyright Reserved, Richard Lovison, 2007-2008
Soon you will see me
Cos I’ll be all around you
But where I come from I can’t tell
But don’t be alarmed by my fields and my forests
They’re here for only you to share…Watching and waiting
For someone to understand me.
I hope it won’t be very long.-Justin Hayward/Ray Thomas
I’m not sure if Justin Hayward and Ray Thomas were referring to nature when they used the words “I” and “me” in the lyrics to Watching and Waiting. As I listened to the song the other day with its beautiful, haunting melody, I couldn’t help but feel it was nature crying out for someone to understand her. I hope it won’t be very long before we do as we have done a great deal of damage to our natural surroundings and ourselves in our ignorance.
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