Exercise 18 – Changing composition to make better use of the lighting

This shot was taken in the same lighting as the last shot in my previous exercise 18 post – in fact just 10 minutes later.

I was after a shot which captured something of the spirit of the building in spite of the subdued lighting, and this ‘found’ arrangement on one of the patio tables seemed to do the trick. The subdued lighting means that the exposure for the white crocks is relatively easy, and there are no deep shadows to contend with on the building behind.
A couple of my shots in the previous exercise were taken with the light behind the building – this one in particular. By moving round to the same side of the building as the light, and taking a position where the effect of side-lighting down the building adds some interest makes this shot – again taken only 10 minutes later – a distinct improvement.

This next shot is a bit of a cheat as it was taken several months prior to the one above. However, the sun was in a very similar position relative to the building – although a little lower in the sky – so I think the comparison is justified. I have chosen a position away from the building so that it is seen in the context of its formal gardens. The side lighting this time adds interest to both the house and the topiary.

And finally for this building another shot from the archive which makes rather more dramatic use of the floodlighting – the time variation is to all intents and purposes irrelevant as the lighting is constant whenever the floods are on.

This is not quite as sharp as I would have liked, and the vertical converge a bit unhelpfully, but as it was hand-held with a standard zoom I am reasonably pleased with the outcome. A tripod and a wider angle lens cold perhaps have dome the scene a little more justice, but it serves to illustrate the point that there is more than one way to capture the drama of the building given any particular set of lighting conditions.
Conclusions