Elements of design - multiple points

For this exercise, I took ten silver beads belonging to my wife.

- I tested various permutations before deciding to spread the beads on a mid-grey woolen scarf with a decorated silver box in one corner.

- I lit the scarf by indirect natural light from a window. I used the window blind to restrict the light to a narrow band across the bottom of the window. This lengthened and intensified the shadows.

- I chose a viewpoint slightly above and to the side to create a feeling of depth.

- Under these conditions I found I needed to shut down the aperture to f16 to make the area in which I planned to place the beads sharp from front to back.

I placed the beads one by one in the frame taking a picture after each addition. I placed them in the frame quite far apart to minimize overlapping of beads and shadows. I felt that the shadows added to the feeling of the picture.

I also rotated the beads to show the patterns and reflections in a variety of ways. The last few beads I propped against other beads. This had the benefit of showing the patterning and added some unevenness to the group.

I also tried reflecting light into the shadows on the beads, but the additional highlights added nothing to the composition.

The sequence of photographs was as follows:

Step 1. Single bead

Step 2. Two beads

Step 3. Three beads

Step 4. Four beads

Step 5. Five beads

Step 6. Six beads

Step 7. Seven beads

Step 8. Eight beads

Step 9. Ten beads

I sketched in the lines that followed the placement of the beads in the following picture:

Sketch of lines