Research point: Project 2 Lens Work

Brief

Now look back at your personal archive of photography and try to find a photograph to illustrate one of the aesthetic codes discussed in Project 2. Whether or not you had a similar idea when you took the photograph isn’t important; find a photo with a depth of field that ‘fits’ the code you’ve selected. Add a playful word or title that ‘anchors’ the new meaning. 

Execution

I found this part quite exciting and having done quite a substantial research and wonderfully excited by so many artists, I am just going to deviate from the brief a bit before I get to it. While I was researching, certain artists photographs made me recall similar images from my archives. I just wanted to compare a few here, just for fun.

• 

• 

Despite Owls being the wise ones, there are many humourous connotations to the poor bird in our culture. The Indian word for it is ‘Ullu’ which is used derogatorily used as an abuse for someone who is dim witted or stupid. It’s also often used to point out the various political leaders of our country. There is an old Hindi satirical couplet that goes like – “Barbād gulistāñ karne ko bas ek hī ullū kaafī thā; har shāḳh pe ullū baithā hai anjām-e-gulistāñ kyā hogā”, loosely translated which means – “One owl (read as idiot) was enough to destroy the entire garden; here we have one sitting on every branch , what will be the outcome of this garden?” Garden here is used metaphorically for the country. The minute I saw Anna’s image, I remembered my owl image which has uncannily a very similar backdrop, and the context of it fitted so well to the context in which this series was done that I thought of including it here to do a comparison. It cracked me up! (Click on the images to view full screen.)

Camera Info

• Camera – Nikon D5
• Lens – AF-S NIKKOR 180-400MM F/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR
• ISO 1000 (Early morning – extremely low light)
• Aperture Priority Mode
• f5.6
• Shutter 1/50s
• Focal length @560mm
• Exposure – 1/3 stop over-exposed

The background bokeh created in my image above is the water body and trees that are behind the Owl and was taken on my recent wildlife excursion to Sri Lanka.

• 

• 

Ansel Adams photographs are so beautiful and several of his works reminded me of my own, I guess its because I am always shooting nature and wildlife hence the similarities, but one in particular caught my eye; well its not in a National Park but is of a famous monastery in Leh, Ladakh, – Stakna Monastery – the river in front of Adam’s image kind of reminded me of this image of mine. (Click on the images to view full screen.)

Camera Info

• Camera – Canon EOS 1 Ds Mark III
• Lens – EF24-105MM F/4L
• ISO 400
• Program Mode
• f13
• Shutter 1/1000s
• Focal length @105mm

• 

• 

Pepper No. 30 by Edward Weston has been my first love for decades now and I have used it as an inspiration for many assignments over my educational journey. The picture of my pepper above is from the exercise – Emulation that was attempted in FiP, and can be found here for anyone who is interested. (Click on the images to view full screen.)

(https://archnasingh.blog/2018/07/20/exercise-4-11-emulation/)

Camera Info

• Camera – Nikon D5
• Lens – AF-S VR MICRO-NIKKOR 105MM F/2.8G IF-ED
• ISO 100
• Manual Mode
• f5.6
• Shutter 1/50s
• Focal length @105mm

• 

• 

• 

• 

I am so blown by Mona Kuhn’s work – she is probably my number one photographer right now. I have tried to find some similar works from my jungle images that match a little to her images. (Click on the images to view full screen.)

Camera Info (Fig 8)

• Camera – Canon EOS 1 DX Mark II
• Lens – EF200-400mm with built-in 1.4x converter F/4L
• ISO 400
• Aperture Priority Mode
• f5.6
• Shutter 1/1000s
• Focal length @560mm

Camera Info (Fig 10)

• Camera – Canon EOS 1 DX Mark II
• Lens – EF200-400mm with built-in 1.4x converter F/4L
• ISO 400
• Aperture Priority Mode
• f4.0
• Shutter 1/1600s
• Focal length @400mm

‘Deep focus gives the eye autonomy to roam over the picture space so that the viewer is at least given the opportunity to edit the scene himself, to select the aspects of it to which he will attend.‘

(Bazin (1948) quoted in Thompson & Bordwell, 2007)

• 

Coming to the brief, I have chosen the above image to show a large depth of field. Even though I prefer to shoot with a shallow depth of field in the jungles, this scene is an iconic and classic image of the Ranthambhore National Park, and its only after 14 years of my visiting this National Park at least five times a year, did I finally get the opportunity to grab this. This palace, was used as the hunting grounds by the kings centuries back, and also by the Queen of England, where they baited to lure and eventually shoot the Tiger. To get a Tiger in this is a sheer blessing and thats why this picture had to be in complete focus as it has two iconic symbols in a picture- The Hunting Palace and the Tiger in it. I have titled it “Deep focus may lead you to deeper troubles” for the Tiger is not really visible at first and then suddenly your eyes find him and there’s a moment when your hearts skips a beat – it happens every time you see a Tiger in the wild – you can only experience it live, they are just simply magnificent beings. The real title of this image is – Star Male (T-28) at The Hunting Palace, Ranthambhore, 2014. (Click on the images to view full screen.)

Camera Info (Fig 10)

• Camera – Canon EOS 1 DX
• Lens – EF200-400mm with built-in 1.4x converter F/4L
• ISO 200
• Aperture Priority Mode
• f6.3
• Shutter 1/320s
• Focal length @400mm

I also want to present these two images that have been taken at the same time with two different lenses and with two different depth of fields, I am glad to have made these pictures at the time as its great to understand both the aesthetic codes with a single similar image.

• 

• 

In the first image (Fig 12) the depth of field being large and your eyes, even though they see the Tiger, move to other areas with equal interest as the depth of field is even – you notice the forest, the path behind him, the trees, the colour of the leaves. In the second image (Fig 13), the eye goes directly to the Tiger and the shallow focus in the image create a great bokeh of the blurred path and the forest. To me looking at these two images taken around the same time, probably a few seconds apart, are a great source of learning as the same scene can be depicted in such a different manner. I usually follow this as a rule whenever I have the chance to get such image. Usually you don’t have the luxury of finding a wild Tiger so relaxed and sitting so leisurely, but since we were the first jeep to enter and were really quiet and did not disturb him, he stayed there a few minutes before the crowds appeared and he was gone. (Click on the images to view full screen.)

Camera Info

• Camera – Nikon D5
• Lens – Nikon 70-200mm f/4
• ISO 640
• Aperture Priority Mode
• f5.6
• Shutter 1/60s
• Focal length @190mm
  

Camera Info (Fig 10)

• Camera – Canon EOS 1 DX Mark II
• Lens – EF200-400mm with built-in 1.4x converter F/4L
• ISO 1250
• Aperture Priority Mode
• f5.6
• Shutter 1/80s
• Focal length @560mm