Field of View: My Examples

What better pictures to use as examples than the last series that I shot (for my Exterior Location Brief, set over three different car boot sales/outdoor markets)? In these- and other examples- I aim to discuss field of view (via the selected focal length) is one of the central creative decisions when creating my images.

f5.6, 1/50, ISO800, 29mm.
Ignore the fact she isn't looking at me. This would be a decent shot of  couple that share time together on a Sunday morning selling their home made wares on the car boot. It shows us the activity they are taking part in, but with little wider context.

f5.6, 1/50, ISO400, 18mm.
The wide angle of view places the couple within a much wider context. Its less intimate than the last, and the subjects themselves would be less likely to have this on their mantlepiece. It was exactly that wider context I was after in this shoot, though, so I much prefer this. This would never stop me trying different focal lengths, mind.

f5.6, 1/125th, ISO200, 29mm.
With enough cropping this is the ideal field of view. It is cluttered, but this is part of the feel I was going for, because of how it fits with the others in the series. 

f5.6, 1/125th, ISO200, 18mm.
This is obviously the wider of the three. If the above image encourages the viewer to search for the subject, which adds to the appeal of the image, then this- for me- takes it too far: its downright cluttered. Sometimes, some subjects do not benefit from a larger field of view.

f5.6, 1/125th, ISO200, 40mm.
Again, by zooming I have excluded a lot of the context/setting (i.e. extraneous boots and parts of stalls). Maybe it would work more if she wasn't smiling, but this is another post entirely. It looks to basic.

Below are more examples of how different fields of view, this time from a music gig I shot over the summer. To make things easier I've used the same band.

f6.3, 1/100th, ISO200, 18mm.
This is quite typical of gig photography: to get the whole band in I needed to choose a wide field of view.

f6.3, 1/100th, ISO200, 55mm.
For all five of the bands I shot that day, I took the same types shots: wide shots of all of band members, portrait-type shots like this (where two members are in the field of view, allowing us to see their actual personalities) and close-ups of the lead singer for extra rock n roll intensity.

f5.6, 1/125, ISO200, 90mm.
This is an example of the close-ups. It worked particularly well with this lead singer because of the sheer energy and wackiness she brought to the performance.

In the next few posts I will speak about field of view in terms of the work of other known photographers.