Project 1 -
Exercise 2.2: Viewpoint
"Does zooming in from a fixed viewpoint change the appearance of things? If you enlarge and compare individual elements within the first and last shots of the last exercise you can see that their 'perspective geometry' is exactly the same. To change the way things actually look, a change in focal length needs to be combined with a change in viewpoint.
Select your longest focal length and compose a portrait shot fairly tightly within the frame in front of a background with depth. Take one photograph. Then walk towards your subject while zooming out to your shortest focal length. Take care to frame your subject in precisely the same way in the viewfinder and take a second shot. Compare the two images and make notes in your learning log."
The photo above was taken from a distance using the cameras longest focal length of 55mm and the widest aperture that this focal length would allow of f/5.6.
You can see that the background is out of focus and displaying a shallow depth of field.
Your eyes are drawn to the subject in this portrait shot immediately as she is in focus. The blur of the background is harder for our eyes to look at, therefore we search for clarity, allowing this shot to be an effective portrait shot.
For this shot I moved closer to the subject while zooming out to my shortest focal length of 18mm and tried to frame the shot the same as the one on the left. I used the widest aperture here of f/3.5.
Comparing the subject to the previous shot, you can see that the face looks broader and almost flatter. The ears appear slightly larger and the forehead and chin are fuller.
The background does not start to go out of focus until the third or fourth wooden post on the right. The horizon is also lower in this shot showing more sky and you can see more trees but less wooden posts.
For me, this photo is less pleasing on the eye as although the subject is in focus, there are other distractions where the depth of field is not as shallow as the shot on the left.
I found this exercise quite interesting and learnt a fair bit about how focal length effects aperture. It made me look a bit more into how a longer lens will allow a more shallow depth of field. At the moment I am working with a small lens - 18mm-55mm but I'm aiming to invest in a longer one in the near future.