Tuesday, April 2, 2013

CM Blog Circle Challenge - Interesting Perspectives

This months blog circle challenge over at ClickinMom's was to focus on interesting perspectives in photography. This assignment really had me stumped as far as originality goes, and was it to be a creative or a technical challenge??

I know about the vanishing point. Like railroad tracks that seem to meet in the center as they vanish into the distance. Or the roadway the vanishes into the horizon. And then there's the forced perspective or optical illusions where you can have someone look as if they are holding the sun in the palm of their hand.

Well I didn't go with any of those examples! Instead I experimented with my 16-35L lens and was curious what type of perspectives I would get with such a wide angle. I was amazed by the distortion the lens creates when combined with distance & proximity to the subject.

Due to my positioning in this image, the tall tree almost looks as if it's part of the smoke stack. I could have moved myself slightly so the tree would be in a different position but for this experiment I wanted as many trees in the background as possible so I maintained my position. Plus I liked that I was able to capture the sun flare at this position. I shot this in a portrait orientation.







In this next shot,  I maintained my same body position and all I did was turn my camera to the landscape orientation. The front end of the tractor looks so much wider! And look at all the trees in the background! They are leaning over so far.... it's crazy!






Here I took a picture of the tractor from a distance.  The trees look fairly straight. The yard does in fact have a slight slope.




In this shot I simply walked closer to the tractor trying to keep my body at the same angle. I was surprised by how much bend or distortion is created. This is most noticeable in the tree and I also think the tractor looks as if it's leaning slightly.


I am not sure I did this challenge correctly, but I had a fun time discovering this unique characteristic of this lens!!

Now pop on over to Holly's blog and see her interpretation of "Interesting Perspectives"!