Honing and Improving Compositions
Malcolm Birkitt
 |
 |
|
An early attempt at Samsung - not strong
enough and I really dislike the shadows of the trees in the foreground. |
Nine times out of ten, it takes me a while before
I see the shot I really want when shooting a building or structure. Just
occasionally the best view is glaringly obvious at first glance, but I usually
find my best shots occur when I work around a composition, gradually honing
the variables of viewpoint, angle, lighting time of day and weather conditions.
Others may operate in a different way, but this
incremental mode of working suits me best and more often than not leads
to a highly satisfactory crowning image. Take, for example, a commission
I handled recently for a major building materials company, who wanted
me to photograph the training headquarters of Samsung up in the northeast.
After telephoning to obtain the appropriate permission, I set off well
before dawn and arrived at the location in the early morning.
 |
|
| Warming up at Samsung, using
found elements such as the zebra crossing and flags to lead the eye
to the important bit. |
|
My typical approach to this type of project is
to first get a feel for the building by burning a bit of shoe leather,
walking round the entire building and the site perimeter to assess what
options are available. Invariably there are some angles that appeal initially,
and others that have to be ruled out because of obstructions or rubbish
areas or skips. Most places have these unsightly sides, and the only way
to shoot from this angle is to conceal the unwanted parts behind a car
or lorry with a suitable logo, foliage, landscaping or tree. Of course
there's always the possibility of digitally removing extraneous elements
from a picture if necessary.
|
 |
|
Much later in the day, and getting warm. |
Some of the first shots I took that bright and
sunny morning using the curve of the road in the foreground were OK as
record shots as they showed the glass link between the two long rows of
offices, but lacked that something extra to catch the eye. I include one
of them not because I am proud of it but because you can see a clear progression
up from a low base! Soon I began to warm up, however, and the compositions
began to flow. A more praiseworthy effort came as I stood back from the
building, using a zebra crossing and an avenue of flags to create foreground
interest.
| An hour later than pic C and a slight morve
back gave me my last and best shot at Samsung. Taken in the magic
twenty minute spell when daylight is fading and artifical lighting
takes on more importance. |
In the middle part of sunny days I often find
the light quality doesn't flatter a building or do it any favours visually,
so I wait patiently for the sun to sink lower in the sky, giving a warmer
light with more shadows and character. Now I was in full stride, and a
very long day provided its reward right at the end as I took shots just
before sunset and around dusk - the latter which combines the last vestiges
of daylight mixed with artificial sources being both my favourite and
the one the company used in its brochure.
Working around a subject has showed benefits on
other occasions too, regardless of whether I was working to a commissioned
brief or spotting pictures for my own pleasure. Floating around in Cambridgeshire
one day, I came across a delightful pedestrian bridge at Godmanchester.
My first shot was perhaps the one most photographers will take, including
the entire span plus its graceful reflection from a distance. Subsequent
shots showed a bit more imagination, and the one I've included here is
quite a graphic example of what is possible if you look beyond the obvious.
| A straight shot of the Godmanchester bridge,
plus a more creative view using the geometry and contrast of railing
and shadow in a more graphic mode. |
Further afield in South Africa, I happened across
this magnificent university building in Stellenbosch near Cape Town. This
time I had no permission and there was nobody to ask, so I scouted around
the area from the public streets, and eventually settled upon this view
with my camera poking through some railings. I like the composition because
though the light is sunny and harsh, there is hardly any direct sunlight
falling on the facade of the building. The sunny aspect is provided by
the dappled lawn, palm tree on the right and the glimpse of distant mountains
beyond. I also like the way the foliage, statues and trees on the left
are all in shade and hold that side of the picture together.
|
 |
|
Sunlight and dark shadows can
be hard to reconcile on film but this shot of a South African building
uses the light and compositional elements skilfully. |
What happens when you have a particular picture
shape in mind, but the building doesn't quite fit your film format? The
thing to do is to look for a balanced composition, and here's a good example
I took at Syon Park in West London. I had envisaged a cathedral-like shot
of the conservatory interior, with the roof soaring up high in the shot.
Yet I also wanted an architecturally correct shot, with parallel verticals,
so that meant a large area of foreground would be included by the wide-angle
lens. My solution was to walk around until I found an interesting foreground
element, in this case some slanting shadows. They added light to the floor,
with the angle provided a good counterpoint to the otherwise vertical
emphasis of the shot.
 |
|
| Angled shadows on the floor
complete this vertical framed shot of Syon Park Conservatory. |
|
In fact the more I think about it, the more important
foreground elements are, even when the main subject is in the distance.
Once when photographing a Birmingham public house (honest!) the prospects
weren't promising, until I spotted a composition that utilised the rows
of vehicles in the car park. Making sure no number plates could be seen,
as they date a picture quickly, I shot straight down a path past two rows
of cars to lead the eye straight to the pub - a neat solution I thought.
Two further examples of the importance of foregrounds
occurred when I was photographing housing projects up and down the country.
Its simply a question of keeping your eyes open and your wits about you.
That's how I came to spot the small stretch of water in the sunny scene,
using the reflection to add interest and hold the scene together. For
the housing scene at dusk I realised that a large area of fairly blank
paving might be beneficial for dropping in a caption, and that's precisely
how this shot was employed.
Sometimes using an important foreground element
means juggling with the lighting of a shot. This Buckinghamshire churchyard
was shot for a travel guide, and I was desperate to include the darker
gravestones in the immediate foreground. This low light level necessitated
using a grey graduate filter across the sky section, to record detail
which would have been otherwise lost due to the contrast limits of transparency
film. Careful positioning and angling of the filter together with a wide
lens aperture ensured the gradation was subtly lost to the viewer.
| After much head scratching I shot this Midlands
pub by using the cars and path, rather than avoiding these elements. |
| Two contrasting examples of how to compose
housing scenes using found elements. |
| Contrasty churchyard scene rescued by a
strong grad filter, though the casual observer wouldn't know. |
