May 2023 - One Object

MMS 173 Assignment 2: One Object

“Stuck in Time”

Eunice Alyza D. Doinog | s.n. 2021-04029

This blog entry is a collection of images I took for my MMS 173 assignment entitled One Object, where I was tasked to take a photo of my chosen object, a battery-less desk clock, with different settings. Let's dive in!

Slow shutter speed

Time & Place: April 29, 2023, around 6-7 pm, front balcony of my home

Settings: f/11, 6 sec, ISO 100, approx. 7000K

Why settings were used: Here the requirement was to use a slow shutter speed, meaning more exposure, and so I did not need more light from the rest of the settings. The natural light at the time was fairly bright, so I was able to set the ISO to as low as it would go without requiring a wider aperture. Additionally, I was able to set the aperture a little narrower as I wanted to capture the interesting texture of the leaves and fallen sampaguita flowers in the background.

Design elements & techniques: My idea for this was to shoot something rapidly moving in front of my main subject to give a “ghostly” or “windy” effect to it. Ideally, I’d have the leaves behind the clock moving, but alas, there was no wind at the time of shooting. So I took some fallen sampaguita flowers and blew them around myself as I took the shot. I kept the main subject in the center of the shot, partially using the rule of thirds by keeping the greenery of the leaves to the upper third of the shot while the gravelly floor and brown flowers filled up the bottom third.

How they affected the photo: Overall, I think I ended up framing the clock very nicely as a main subject. Six seconds of keeping the shutter open was enough to get a nice ghostly effect to the flowers beneath, and made for an interesting contrast with the still leaves behind the clock which would not have been noticeable were it not for the narrow aperture.

Fast shutter speed

Time & Place: April 29, 2023, around 6-7 pm, front balcony of my home

Settings: f/4.5, 1/320 sec, ISO 800, approx. 7000K

Why settings were used: Opposing the first photo, here I was to take a photo with a fast shutter speed. I wanted to take a shot of my subject falling here, like I was “catching time”. 1/320 sec did the job for a crisp enough photo, but I needed more light. Coincidentally, I also needed the background blurred enough to keep the focus on the clock while having the interesting green color of plantlife in the background. A wide aperture, the widest my camera would go, was perfect for this. Finally, I used the ISO that allowed for enough light at the time that the photo is well-lit with nice shadows.

Design elements & techniques: The set-up for this was propping my camera up on a chair with pillows on the ground to catch the clock repeatedly. Here, I decided to go a little off-symmetry. It doesn’t follow the rule of thirds much, as the clock falls only a little off-center.

How they affected the photo: I decided on the principles I did because I wanted some sense of tension or unease as well as an invocation of motion despite the lack of motion blur. I think it worked out well, especially with the tilt of the clock as it falls.

Wide aperture

Time & Place: April 28, 2023, around 7 pm, inside my bedroom

Settings: f/4.5, 1/25 sec, ISO 800, approx. 7000K

Why settings were used: Prioritizing wide aperture here, at 4.5, the lowest my lens would go, I took the photo at 1/25 due to keep it crisp and stable while letting in just enough light to keep the ISO no higher than 800, which worked well enough for an indoor nighttime setting.

Design elements & techniques: I kept the clock the focal point of the image taking up most of the space and centered in the image more or less. The negative space of a black void behind it allowed for a sort of dividing of the image between that and the blue pillow the clock is resting on. The wide aperture also allowed for a very blurred background and foreground to emphasize the clock even more.

How they affected the photo: This really allowed for the clock and the clock alone to be the focus, making use of the classic blur with the depth of field.

Narrow aperture

Time & Place: April 29, 2023, around 5-6 pm, front balcony of my home
Settings: f/22, 1/30 sec, ISO 400, approx. 7000K

Why settings were used: Now, for the inverse, I wanted to show how a narrow aperture would allow me to capture a more detailed background. Setting it to f/22 let me capture the texture of the trees behind the clock, the individual wires, the texture of the wall even farther, and even some of the lettering of a billboard in the distance. The texture of the clouds is also pretty visible here. It was actually rather bright out still at the time, so an ISO of 400 made the image dim but well-lit enough to capture the distinct shadows I’m a fan of, especially in respect to the clouds and tree leaves.

Design elements & techniques: Here, I went for symmetry, keeping the clock in the middle, but used leading lines (the power lines) as well as having the clock face in their direction to allow the viewer’s gaze to roam from one end of the image to the other.

How they affected the photo: I think these all made for a really interesting image with a lot to look at and my main subject being a sort of, focal point that is, at the same time, something to pass by visually as the viewer’s eyes follow the power lines, moving from the sky and its cool clouds, past the clock, down to the trees.

High ISO

Time & Place: April 28, 2023, around 6-7 pm, front balcony of my home

Settings: f/4.5, 1/8 sec, ISO 1600, approx. 7000K

Why settings were used: Around this time, the light was already pretty low. The sun was low in the sky, evidently pink and blue in the background. Here, I wanted to light up the clock, and so an ISO of 1600 worked perfectly. To make up for more of the needed light, I set my aperture as wide as it could go and my shutter speed at ⅛ s, pretty slow.

Design elements & techniques: Here, I made use of symmetry and the rule of thirds a bit more. The clock is kept centered, framed by two metal bars of a broken swing which fall more or less in line with the “rule of thirds” grid. The skyline above and darkness beneath the clock also vaguely follow this.

How they affected the photo: I think the lighting created by the settings and how I framed the photo made for something that evokes nostalgia, at least to me personally, as well as, again, a clear photo of the clock.

Low ISO

Time & Place: April 28, 2023, around 6-7 pm, front balcony of my home

Settings: f/5, 1/5 sec, ISO 400, approx. 7000K

Why settings were used: The ISO, while not the lowest it could go, is the lowest I could personally go without making the image unappealing at dusk and only a street lamp to light it.

Design elements & techniques: I admittedly didn’t put too much thought into the composition of this other than accounting for the wide aperture, keeping the image central. I also allowed for a slight tilt and took the image looking down along the railing I placed the clock on, allowing for some semblance of a “leading line” effect to frame the clock.

How they affected the photo: I think, due to the low light and settings I used, the shadows and highlights were more prominent on the clock, allowing for a really nice sharp subject. I also really liked the reflected light bouncing off the clock’s glass, as well as a nice softer and more subtle light on the clock and a bit of the foreground.

Landscape

Time & Place: April 29, 2023, around 5-6 pm, front balcony of my home

Settings: f/22, 1/60 sec, ISO 800, approx. 7000K

Why settings were used: I wanted to capture a lot of detail in the background, particularly in the clouds, so I used a pretty narrow f-stop. I thought that it was the best way to highlight and take advantage of this “golden hour”. The ISO had to be set a little higher than I would have under better lighting, especially due to the low f-stop and my requirement for a pretty fast shutter speed due to my shaky hands, as I needed that adequate light.

Design elements & techniques: Here, I thought to use the leading lines of the wires in tandem with the way the clock is facing to lead the eye through the picture while still highlighting and framing the clock.

How they affected the photo: I think I was able to produce a pretty interesting and pretty image with a lot of elements for the eye to look around while the focus is still kept on the clock.

Dutch Angle

Time & Place: April 29, 2023, around 6-7 pm, front balcony of my home

Settings: f/4, 1/30 sec, ISO 400, approx. 7000K

Why settings were used: For this shot, I once again wanted a nice play with the depth of field and fairly balanced lighting. I used a wide f-stop to achieve this effect and tailored the other settings to accommodate.

Design elements & techniques: I kept my camera very close to the ground, but lifted off just enough to get the Dutch-angle tilt. I kept the focus on the clock for a very typical use of depth of field and made sure to include the leaves off to the bottom right, making use of the tilt, to give more “weight” to the image and heighten the feeling of the tilt.

How they affected the photo: I think I managed to create a very interesting photo which also made pretty interesting use of weight and the depth of field.

Portrait

Time & Place: April 29, 2023, around 5-6 pm, front balcony of my home

Settings: f/9, 1/125 sec, ISO 400, approx. 7000K

Why settings were used: Here I really wanted to capture the clock between two pillars making up the balcony railing. I thought that the way the golden light hit them created really nice highlights and contrast with the stone’s dark material. For this, I chose a moderate aperture that prioritized balancing the light between the fast shutter speed and the ISO which would had not allowed for as bright a photo had I kept the aperture more narrow.

Design elements & techniques: This image was basic in composition, as I went with something symmetrical and following the rule of thirds with the way the pillars are positioned to the vertical thirds of the image and the clock kept to the lower third as a point of interest.

How they affected the photo: I think that the settings and elements I used really allowed for an image with nice contrast and let the highlights work their magic on the elements, with the eye being attracted to the subject (the clock).

Cool White Balance

Time & Place: April 29, 2023, around 6-7 pm, front balcony of my home

Settings: f/4, 1/15 sec, ISO 800, approx. 3000K

Why settings were used: Here, I set my white balance to ‘custom’, which landed me at a relatively low white balance at approximately 3,000. I thought this created a rather cool, menacing aura in the dimming light. With a higher ISO to account for this as well as a wide aperture that offered me that very nice blurred-out background.

Design elements & techniques: I thought that tilting the camera to have the balcony railing bisect the image, and the clock, as well as lead the eye through the photo having it tilt the way the clock was facing, made for a really nice composition.

How they affected the photo: I thought that these choices made the imaging something foreboding, cold, and pretty cinematic.

Warm white balance

Time & Place: April 28, 2023, around 6-7 pm, front balcony of my home

Settings: f/5, 1/5 sec, ISO 3200, approx. 7000K

Why settings were used: As one can see, I left my white balance in this image the same as most of the other photos I’ve taken. I think it looks a little warmer here than in real life as well, perhaps due to how I kept the subject firmly beneath the closest streetlamp. Otherwise, the settings here were made to allow for a lot of lighting, given the low shutter speed, wide aperture, and high ISO.

Design elements & techniques: Here I’ve applied something of a dutch angle, nothing too drastic, and took a vertical shot as I really wanted the focus on the clock without too much disruption by other elements.

How they affected the photo: I thought the image turned out pretty nice, basic, interesting, and allowed for a more nostalgic emotion.

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