Assignment 1: Figure/Ground
My idea was to create 3 pictures in a series showing an angry man chasing after someone (the viewer) in this imposingly grand edifice. I wanted the series to convey to the viewer a sense of menace and danger.
This story calls for a low-key composition. In fact, the available conditions in the spots I selected were already in line with this requirement: the location was indoor with rather low lighting conditions and quite somber surroundings. This was perfect for my purpose. The strobes I used to illuminate my subject did not affect this general feel of low-key lighting.
To put emphasis on my main subject and separate him from his Back Ground (which is one of the main goals of this exercise), I used the following techniques:
1- I blurred the BG by using a wide-open aperture on a fast lens ( f 1.8 ). This helped make my subject stand out. I did not wash out the BG completely because I wanted to retain some information about the nature of the location. For this, I opted for a 50mm lens instead of a long telephoto. This combination gave the right amount of blur that I wanted.
2- I did not gel my strobes (~ daylight color) to match the color of the ambient light (very warm sodium lamps). Instead, I adjusted the white balance to the color temperature of my strobes, which were used to illuminate my subject. This created a noticeable color contrast between him and the BG, and maintained as much attention on him as possible.
3- In post, I added some vignetting, which also helped keep focus on the subject.
From a compositional point of view, to create a progression in the level of psychological tension, from one shot to the next, I gradually increased the size of my subject in the frame by getting closer to him, until, in the last picture, he filled most of the frame and he seemed like almost pouncing on the viewer.
Another compositional element I used to emphasize the menacing nature of my subject, was to always photograph him from a low level, making him look strong and imposing.
Finally, I find the combination of the warm background color with the bit of graininess complementing to the general mood of the story, even though I did not intentionally create it ;)
