Exercise 7 - Focal length

"Pretty much every compact digital camera on the market has a zoom lens, and of course there is a wide range of zoom lenses available for all digital SLRs, as well as a variety of non-zoom lenses with different focal lengths. A zoom lens is one that has a variable focal length.

The focal length of a lens is an expression of its magnification power, and is usually stated in millimetres. If you look on the front of your camera, usually inscribed around the front of the lens you'll find the focal length range."  (Explanation of focal length from -http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/digital-photography-tutorial-focal-length

I have a Nikon D5000 and used a DX VR 18-105 mm f3.5-5.6 zoom lense to obtain the following pictures to illustrate the different focal lengths.  As you look through the pictures you can see how using a longer focal length reduces the width of the picture and condenses the image.

First image with focal length at 18mm, f11 @ 1/1000 sec

First image with focal length at 18mm

Second image with focal length at 24mm, f11 @ 1/1000 sec

Image with focal length at 24mm

Third image with focal length at 35mm, f11 @ 1/1250 sec

Image with focal length at 35mm

Fourth image with focal length at 50mm, f11 @ 1/1250 sec

Image with focal length at 50mm

Fifth image with focal length at 75mm, f11 @ 1/1250 sec

Image with focal length at 75mm

Fifth image with focal length at 75mm, f22 @ 1/400 sec

Image with focal length at 105mm

Exercise 8 - Varying pose

These images are in a sequence of pictures which I took as part of Assignment 1 where the subject showed various pieces of jewellery which she made to sell.  The first two were too far away to see the necklace she was wearing clearly but the mother was holding it to empasise it. 

Various poses showing off jewellery

The later poses worked better for me as they formed a natural image but the main problem was the background.  There was very little room in the subject's house so we stood in the hall. It wasn't until later that I realised how hard the background looked in that colour blue and that the stairs intruded to much into the picture.  As there was no chance of doing a reshoot, I had to use Photoshop to remove them.  The images were much improved when I had done so.