Project 17 - positioning a point

For this project, we were asked to take three photographs in which there is a single point, placed in a different part of the frame in each example.


I returned to Sancti Petri in order to take this series of shots of a yellow buoy in the estuary; a bright 'point' against a contrasting blue background. All shots were taken about an hour after dawn on a clear morning using the 18 - 270 Tamron lens @ 218mm without tripod. All at f/6.3 and ISO 400 although the shutter speed was slightly different in each case as indicated.

The first photo (shutter speed 1/1600s) has the buoy right in the centre and it seems to me that the eye



is not drawn to any other part of the frame because it appears that the buoy is the 'centre of attention' and the background doesn't seem important. I presume this is what is meant by a 'static' composition.


Next, I composed a shot (shutter speed 1/1250s) with the buoy in the upper right of the frame. Here, there is much more of a relationship between the buoy and the background (i.e. the water) and I think the eye, although drawn to the 'point', starts to investigate the rest of the frame and there is clearly a stronger relationship with the frame itself because of the buoys closer proximity to it.



Finally, I took a shot (shutter speed 1/1000s) with the buoy a little off-centre. To me, it gives some impression of movement (either away from or towards the centre) but there is less of the relationship with the frame (because it is further away) and the background (because it is closer to the centre) than in the second shot.


I think that the second shot is the most interesting because of these strong relationships.