Exercise: Horizontal and vertical

This exercise seemed straight forward but was actually quite tricky. Not repeating examples was difficult and also ensuring that the picture was subordinate to the line was also not easy.

These are my examples of horizontal lines:

I think that with all 4 photographs that the eye is drawn intially to the horizontal line with the possible exception of the photograph with the of the water mill. Although there are horizontal lines in the building there are other more powerful distractions such as the wheel.

These are my vertical lines:

I think that there are several verticals in this photo, the rope the wall are the main eye grabbers

A photo of person standing is a good example of a vertical line. This shot is taken from a low perspective and enhances the vertical perspective.

There are other things in this photo but the vertical pole stands out the most.

This is an obvious vertical image- a tall building stretching into a blue sky.

Exercise multiple points

For this exercise I chose an unfussy part of the beach with attractive ripples in the sand. I thought that it would make an excellent back drop.

I then added pebbles of similar but varying sizes and colours one at a time.

with the first pebble I tried to place it on the thirds line, however I can see that on review it is probably too near the centre.

For the second pebble I wanted a bit of an offset but not too much and also a colour contrast.


The third pebble was placed again in a random position but still forming the inevitable triangle.


I then placed the fourth pebble in a position that I thought did not create an obvious geometric shape. However on review I can see that the shape of a square is clearly evident.

The fifth pebble was a brighter colour and I was trying to break up the obvious square shape.

When I added the final pebble it was clear that my positioning could have been better I was too near the centre of the shot with the stones and the shape was a little too geometric.


The blue lines show the relationship between the pebbles and displays a couple of clear squares, the red line is the outer shape and is a clear rectangle. Within the shapes the green lines show several triangles.

Exercise: the relationship between points

I found this exercise quite difficult as natural scenes with two points are quite hard to discover. I eventually settled on three pictures.

The shoes on the beach shot has two shoes that are equal in size so it is not easy to decide which one dominates and thus draws more attention. I think that the the one that draws the eye most is the shoe on the left as it contains more detail, colour laces etc.


The houses in this shot are also very similar so again it is hard to decide on which is the most eye catching. I would go for the one on the right as it is better lit.

In this picture of two conkers lying on the ground there is a clearer draw to one over the other. The conker that is still partially in it's shell is more eye catching as it is larger and more interesting.

As described in the task text it is almost impossible to resolve between the two eyes. I do quite like the composition though as it is slightly unusual.