The following is a direct copy and has been Pasted in for future reference from the Art of Photography coursework PDF Doc. (pasted in Maroon)
8 photographs total – 4 Horizontal & 4 Vertical
You need to go out and look for specific examples and photograph them. To start with, tackle just horizontal and vertical lines. Part of the value of this kind of exercise in photography is that it helps you to discover appearances and, in the process of searching, you are likely to reach some conclusions about how certain design elements come about, and how common or rare they are. The aim of this exercise is to find some of the different ways in which horizontal and vertical lines appear to the eye and camera.
You should produce four examples of vertical and four of horizontal and, as far as you can, avoid repeating the way in which a line appears. For instance, if you photograph the vertical lines in a tall building as one example, don’t repeat it. In each photograph, try to subordinate the content of the picture to the line. The most successful examples will be those in which the line is the first thing a viewer would notice.
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Equipment
Nikon D800E
24/70 f2.8 lens
80/400 f4.5 lens
Tripod
Method
In this exercise I set out with my camera, two lenses and a tripod to various locations fairly local to where I live in essence to capture pictures that immediately bring thoughts of ‘Horizontal’ or ‘Vertical’ lines visually to mind. Although I took a great deal more than eight pictures, some where good, some bad and some more obvious. Below I have shown four horizontals and four verticals.
Note – all pictures have been compressed hence there will be a quality reduction when enlarging.
Picture 1(Steps – Horizontal) This picture was taken with a 24/70mm lens, aperture of f8 and a speed of 640th sec. ISO 800, focal length 24mm.
This picture was taken in the gardens of Upton House (near Banbury, Oxfordshire). We can clearly see the relationship of the steps to the meaning horizontal. To obtain a horizontal steps in the picture, it is very hard to offset the points as they then start to appear diagonal …. which then defeats the object.
Picture 2 (Lakeside sunset – Horizontal) This picture was taken with a 24/70mm lens, aperture of f22 and a speed of 125th sec. ISO 400, focal length 24mm.
This picture was taken at a lakeside at dusk, it was one of those rare evenings where the sunset was beautiful. I set this picture up on the tripod and waited for about 20 minutes for the right light, I wanted something in the foreground to give a sense of scale and also to act as a lead into the picture.
Picture 3 (Blenheim Palace Bridge – Horizontal This picture was taken with an 80/400mm lens, aperture of f10 and a speed of 30th sec. ISO 100, focal length 80mm.
This picture was taken in the lower rear gardens of Blenheim Palace (Woodstock, Oxfordshire). This was tripod shot taken from the other side of the lake, I have cropped the picture to emphasise more of the bridge as it was lost in the original frame.
Picture 4 (Horizontal) This picture was taken with a 24/70mm lens, aperture of f2.8 and a speed of 100th sec. ISO 100, focal length 48mm.
This piece of garden furniture cries out horizontal lines. The eye is immediately drawn to the skeleton like frame constructed from flat metal bars.
Picture 1 (Blenheim Palace column of victory – Vertical)
This picture was taken with an 80/400mm lens, aperture of f10 and a speed of 60th sec. ISO 100, focal length 90mm.
This picture was also taken at Blenheim Palace (Woodstock, Oxfordshire). The victory column stands 134 feet tall.
Picture 2 (Trees – Vertical) This picture was taken with a 24/70mm lens, aperture of f5.0 and a speed of 320th sec. ISO 64, focal length 24mm.
This woodland picture emphasises the tallness and vertical lines of trees. The picture was taken at Coleshill, a national trust area near Highworth, Oxfordshire.
Picture 3 (Big Ben – Vertical) This picture was taken with a 24/70mm lens, aperture of f5.6 and a speed of 1250th sec. ISO 200, focal length 70mm.
The houses of parliament and the famous clock tower which houses Big Ben really shouts vertical lines, not only in its height but also emphasised by the vertical facades. Also the spiked towers adjacent in the parliament building also draw attention to vertical lines too.
Picture 4 (Cowslips – Vertical) This picture was taken with a 24/70mm lens, aperture of f2.8 and a speed of 125th sec. ISO 400, focal length 62mm.
The stems on these two cowslips are not particularly tall in relation to ground height but in keeping with their own scale its stem does represent a certain height and in doing so offers a visual to a vertical line. I deliberately wanted to capture something that was totally opposite to that of my other pictures showing buildings and monuments with heights far superior to this humble cowslip.
What have I learnt from this exercise
From this exercise I have that not everything has to be either very tall or exceptionally long to emphasise the meaning of ‘vertical’ or ‘horizontal’ in both cases its more to do with the scale of the object in the frame.
Thoughts and Reflection
This exercise I have found it of great value. Like in the other exercises I first prepared a list in my sketch book of possible objects (vertical & horizontal) and then went even further as to where I could find my objects without to much distance involved. On arrival and photographing my list of subjects some came out poor and others worked well but in parallel to this I found alternate items not on my list. Looking deeper into the meaning of vertical & horizontal has broadened my thoughts and sight into many different and new related lines.
stingray493 