Curves

The following photos were again taken in the Pantiles area of Tunbridge Wells.

 

The curve of the kerb is accentuated by the yellow lines.

I felt there was a series of curves here:- the white wall; the implied curve of the windows; the parapet and then the balustrade. To my eye they encourage you to sweep across the frame.

I could have shot the chair but liked the delicacy of its shadow and the multiple curves in it.

I liked the way the tree edging here stood out against the paving and the cobbles forming a barrier both to the pedestrian an d the viewer as your eye is directed round the frame.

As in previous exercises I though I would include some subsequent shots I took with this exercise in mind.

 

Taken at Calke Abbey I liked the implied movement in the curved mark left by the door hook.

 

The curve of the path takes you somewhere hidden from sight.

The interior of a pillbox next to Bodiam Castle. The curve of the metal plate is reinforced by the bolts securing it and even though it is an immovable object to my eye your goes round it so any movement is unconscious.

 

 

Diagonals

 

As the course book states, diagonals can be created fairly easily by  altering the camera angle, but they are often found naturally anyway.   These shots were again taken on my walk around the Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells.

 

King Charles the Martyr Church, Tunbridge Wells. I liked the angle of the pews and the way they are lit by the window.

 

I liked this because its another image which has a combination of lines both vertical and diagonal. In this case however I think it is the diagonal that is stronger because it is a more dynamic active line.

The two strong diagonals of the sandwich board help give it a feeling of solidity.

Another shot where the choice of angle has determined the diagonal. My eye was drawn not so much by the gold points but the round bases of them. I’m not sure if the limited depth of field works in hindsight or whether it would have been preferable to have them all in focus

As in the previous exercise on subsequent trips I was looking out for examples and came up with these:-

 

Servant’s bells at Calke Abbey. Because of their height on the wall you have no choice other than to take them at some sort of angle but here their diagonal line is compounded by the signs underneath.

A deliberately created diagonal of the bridge at Stowe. I wanted a different take on this so shot at a very low angle

 

 

The converging diagonals of the row of trees and their protective fencing attracted me to this shot, taken at Stowe.

 

This is more of an implied diagonal line (of the spigots of the barrels) again taken at Stowe.

 

 

 

Horizontal and vertical lines

For this exercise I returned to the Pantiles and Tunbridge Wells common.

I found verticals to be easier to spot than horizontals and took these:-

 

Iron Bollards I liked the regression here with the sequence curving away into the distance.

Window bars

Drainpipe Although there is also a horizontal line caused by the way the building is constructed I felt that the drainpipe was a much stronger line.

Trees at Tunbridge Wells Common The formal planting of these reinforces the vertical lines.

 

 

 

Park Bench the horizontal line is, for me, reinforced by the plaque.

 

 

Hymn Book shelf at King Charles the Martyr, Tunbridge Wells. While there are verticals in this shot the overriding element is the horizontal row of books and the shelf dividing the shot.

 

Steps Although not running right across the frame the step stones nevertheless, to my mind, dominate the picture.

 

Wheelie Bin enclosure. Although not perfectly horizontal (and I realise I could have straightened this up in Lightroom but wanted to leave it as shot) the horizontal element is still the strongest in the photo.

I liked this image because it has both vertical and horizontal lines and these compete with each other. On balance I think it is the darker horizontal lines (but is this because the frame is landscape orientated?) that the eye is drawn to but I do find the image vaguely unsettling because of the clash between them.

As to the choices I made for the shots there are some that are pretty obvious (the tree trunks spring to mind) but found that as mentioned identifying ideas for vertical shots was, it seemed to me, easier than doing so for horizontal.  Is this a general thing or we designed to spot verticals easier?  For both this exercise and the subsequent ones on diagonals and curves I kept an eye out for more examples particularly at new places I visited:-

 

An interesting one in the context of the exercise is this shots of the plant posts at Calke Abbey. Although the vertical post is front and centre to me it is the shelfs that are dominant probably by virtue of being a stronger colour and reinforced by the pots themselves.

This could also qualify the exercise on diagonals but I liked the verticals in this shot with the recession echoed in the shadows on the wall.

 

I think this shot of the old stables at Calke Abbey supports the idea of the horizontal line as being a natural base