Experiments in Aperture

I've started a photography course at Create Studios in Brighton. The second week's task was to take some photos exploring aperture, utilsing it in a creative way. Directly below are some simple examples of focussing on the foreground and then the background.

In these next pictures I wanted to purposefully not focus on either the foreground or the background, hopefully making the colours blend into each other. It didn't work particularly well, the articifical lighting in the top photo created sharp shadows which made the subject pop out more than I wanted, but the idea was there. The second photo, under natural light, was slightly more successful. I ripped the concept off the shot in Garden State (good film) where Zac Braff's wearing a shirt which has the same pattern as the wallpaper he's standing infront of.

The photos below worked quite well. I wanted to have the victim in the foreground in clear focus and the assailant blurred in the background. There are numerous things that could be done to improve the shot, remove the books in the table over which the victim is hanging, or replace them with horror movies, which are the main inspiration for the shot. Also, the narrative of the shot doesn't quite make sense, the victim's supposed to be dead, so why would the attacker be raising her axe? But all in all I'm pleased with the result, I had an idea and I achieved it. I also enjoyed orchestrating the scene, from the make up on the victim to the attackers costume, and working out both their positions. 

With this shot I wish it was framed slightly better, pulling out a bit so that more of the victim's face was in the shot and her eye didn't bleed out of frame, as well as the attacker's axe being more visible, which could have been achieved with better lighting. But again, it worked, the victim's clear and in focus and her assailant lurks ominously in the out-of-focus background.