Exercise 4.01 – A single figure small

My first attempt at this exercise was in York station, capturing a guard on the platform as she waited for the train departure:

Nikon D300s, 170 mm (EFL 255 mm), ISO-200, f/5.6, 1/50 sec

It’s surprising how the eye goes to the person, even though she’s such a small part of the image. Her uniform makes her very dark in the scene, but maybe it’s this contrast that makes her stand out more.

Looking for a situation where there’s lots of open space, with good contrast, I decided that the place to be was the cliffs above the beach at Whitby. It was just a matter of waiting for the right tide and lighting conditions. I wanted low tide with a relatively calm sea (to provide light areas of beach for the contrast and possibly reflections). It needed to be around midday to catch the little light that’s available at this time of year.

This area of the beach is a regular place for walking the dog. I didn’t want a day when there would be lots of tourists and this one fitted the bill – bright enough for the main image but cold enough to deter most people. Then it’s time to set up the tripod, wrap up and watch and wait.

Nikon D300s, 500 mm (EFL 750 mm), ISO-800, f/22, 1/100 sec

I composed this image to leave the lady’s dog out of the frame (chasing seagulls) while taking care to miss out other walkers.

The camera was set at a high ISO to enable a reasonably fast shutter speed. I wanted to keep as much detail as I could in the majority of the image, so I kept the aperture relatively small.

The result is a high key image where the immediate attention goes to the walker. From there the eye can wander to see the water marks in the sand, the breaking waves and the sunlight further along the beach. In hindsight, I could have used a lower ISO and wider aperture for this image – I live and learn!