Connotations Photo Excercise - DSLR

Strength

In our first picture we used Will as the main focal point. We decided to take a canted low shot, this making Will look powerful and dominant. By having all of Will's body in the shot this really emphasised the power, the stance also made the figure look bigger. The plain background meant that the viewer is really unable to gain a perception of Wills scale. Which was one of our main aims for strength. For this picture we used a very high ISO, with a long shutter speed. This meant that even though we had a lack of light the picture came out clear and in focus.

Poverty

For this photo we chose to use a medium canted shot, by doing this the picture gains atmosphere and cuts out part of Maximilian's body. We wanted the bin to be as much of a main focus as Max, by doing this we hoped to really make the two items balanced. The title poverty suggests to me that something is dirty and lacks money for basic living. By having the bin at Max's side this makes the viewer think about the comparison between Max and the bin.

Friendship

We felt that this photo really indicated friendship as the 3 people in front of the camera are clumped together, as a group. The boys head on the left is looking down on the other two showing that he may be striking conversation with the boy or the girl. Another reason this picture suggests friendship is the big group up ahead. But one of the main representations of friendship is how close this group of shadows are, all of there shadows over lap and are stuck together. This indicating exactly what friends do. 

Loneliness

This image is of Max on the other side of the road to were the camera was placed, we chose to take a very wide shot for this 'word'. As we felt that this would really suggest loneliness. The wide image means that Max looks very small in comparison to everything around him, by having his arms folded and his legs pushed together this made him look even smaller. Another way in which we made Max look lonely, was by having the man walking on the right hand side of the image suggesting that he could be ignoring and keeping away from Max. The image is also quiet meaning that nothing is happening around him. 

Desire

Desire is the need or want for something specific, which we have tried to show in this image. Will in this image is reaching for the Mcdonalds cup and the M&Ms but isn't quite able to reach them, as they are too far away. This making the viewer think that Will has the desire eat and drink these two things. By having Will out of focus and the cup in focus this really highlights the key part of this image, this also means that because Will takes up the main frame of the image, the cup and the M&Ms aren't lost.

Love

We found 'love' to be quite a difficult topic as there are many different ideas that we had for this area. We decided to go for this picture as the flower shows life and by having the bright yellow colour this creates a happy atmosphere about the image. The foreground of the image is focused in and the back ground is out of focus, this meaning that the two in the back ground didn't have to be holding hands etc. This would have made the image look like a conventional image about love. The boy and girl in the back ground looking at each other, this showing more about the topic.

Greed

The next image is 'greed', we've tried to illustrate this title by using money as a way of showing that someone is greedy. Will on the left is taking out a money note from a wallet which is £20, whereas I just have mere change in my hand which is adding up to around £1. The body language is the most important part in this picture as Will is looking away from me with his back turned, this making him much more private and protective about his money. Whereas the character on the right is open handed with little money, looking to the other character, almost begging for money. As Will is not showing any signs of interaction with the other character this shows Will being greedy with his money.

Purity

Our group found purity to be the easiest word, as all we needed was something that was bright and clear. As the sun is bright, we decided to choose this for purity. The sky was clear this day making the sun and surrounding area completely empty, which really made the sun look powerful. The image also has a little bit of lens flare which ruins the image a little as we wanted the sun to be the main highlight of the image. On the other hand by having the lens flare this means that the image becomes much more natural.

Weakness

As you can see we have a character stood up close and a character down on the floor making himself very little. The word for this image is weakness, our main aim for this image was to make one character look over powering and strong, then another character to look small and weak. We made the back of Will take up a lot of the picture as this made him look like he was the main part of this image, plus by having Will in focus this meant that the character on the floor could become less of a figure in the picture. Furthermore by having Max on the floor out of focus this meant that we could convey much more horror into the character as the scale really becomes lost.

Danger

We found danger to be one of the hardest words, as danger means the suffering from harm. This being something that happens in an instant, we felt the best way to convey this was on a small scale. By using a flame to convey danger, Zara was able to hold the flame. We took the image so that the inside of the thumb would have been shown; as that is the main part that was in trouble of harm. Another way we portrayed danger was by having the lighter inside, as when most people think about fire it is always thought about being outside. This enhancing another part of danger.

Wealth

We felt that wealth was the best portrayed using money, the image is of Me throwing a handful of money up in the air. The image works best as the money is falling down to the ground, we made sure to use a high shutter speed, this means that we could catch the money as it fell. By having the smug look on my face, this showed that the character had enough money to play with. The hands of the character also showed empowerment, as they are open and spread apart, making the figure look even bigger.

Fear

We've tried to add as much fear into this picture as possible, I'm most happy with this image out of all of the 12. By having the fist in focus, this makes the fist the main part of the picture. The fist creates the fear in Max's face, this is also one of the main features about the picture. Max's face makes the atmosphere, as he has a scared face this makes the viewer feel what Max is feeling. We also chose to take the image with a canted angle, the image then feels much more natural.