Exercise 14: Multiple Points

One of the basic skills of still-life photography, Michael Freeman writes, "is to be able to group objects together in such a way that they are linked attractively, in a relationship that is active rather than obvious and static. This is essentially a problem of placing several points."

This exercise calls for taking a series of images documenting the creation of a still life.  "The idea," Freeman says, "is to control the composition by rearrangement, not by changing the framing with the camera."

Exercise 13: Positioning a Point

"The point," Michael Freeman writes, "is the most fundamental design element.  In a photograph  for a subject to qualify as a point it has to be small in the frame, and contrast, in some way, with its surroundings.  The most obvious kind of scene in which you can find and use a single point is where the setting, or background, is plain and even, and from which you are at sufficient distance for an object to occupy just a fraction of the space."

This exercise required taking three photos demonstrating points in three classes of position:  center, off-center, close to the edge.