Viewfinder: Fitting the frame to the subject

For this exercise, I was instructed to choose a subject and take at least four photographs of it. the first one is just the subject from a conventional viewpoint, without giving much thought to the composition. The second photo the subject fills most of the frame, going to the edges. The third, the subject fills the entire frame with no edges visible. The final photo shows the subject in its environment.

For this project, I chose a shiny motorcycle parked in a bank parking lot on a partly sunny mid to late afternoon.



This is a rather plain photo.



This photo the subject comes right up to the edges of the three parts of the frame (I forgot that my viewfinder only shows about 95% of the actual recorded image). I like how the chrome one bike stands out, especially against the dark truck behind it. But the truck is in too much focus. I should've opened up the lens more to blur the background.


In this shot, the subject occupies the entire frame, with none of its edges showing. The chrome looks good, and there's some good contrast and detail. And it's clearly a motorcycle, you can see a part of the rear tire and portion of the seat. But you don't see much of the engine, which I think, as it turns out, is important for getting a feel that it's a powerful motorcycle.




While I was photographing the motorcycle, a man approached me, complimenting me on the bike. He thought it was mine. We chatted briefly, then the owner came up and started talking with both of us. I felt quite self-conscious, but as it turns out they were both quite engaging and we chatted for some time. I think this photo shows the bike in its environment, but I wish I had captured a better image of them talking about the bike. Like pointing at it, or leaning in, or something like that. Something that showed the bike as the object of conversation (which is a role it plays quite often, I'll bet). Anyway, this photo didn't quite get what I was going for. I knew it at the time, but I felt too self conscious to keep standing there waiting to take another. So I re-entered the conversation, hoping for another opportunity, but the conversation broke up more quickly than I thought it would.



This is an alternative version of the tight photo where the subject fills the frame. It shows the engine much better. It looks powerful, and I like the V shape. I also like the leg swinging, with the chain of the chain wallet visible. You can't tell if he's getting on or getting off, but you can definitely see the movement! But I think the straight on view is kind of boring.