Exercise : The user's viewpoint...

 At the hairdresser's...

I decided that my hairdresser's would be a good subject for this exercise a while back. Luckily my hairdresser was OK, if not intrigued with the idea. We agreed that first thing in the morning would be best as it gave me free run using a tripod without getting in the way of her team or clients.
The salon was created in previous ground floor office space a few years ago - I really like the mirror effect that they created to give a lovely sense of space though it presented the challenge of not getting myself in the image.The discreet lightening also proved difficult without a flash unit. The resulting high ISO produced a lot of noise.

P875:F16@ 1/40  18mm  ISO 3200

Most of the images where taken from where I would sit as a client - the chairs swivel to allow clients to get up easily which allowed me the opportunity to take images from a different seated sightline looking across the salon.

 

 

P877:F16 @ 1/13  26mm  ISO 3200

P876:F16 @ 1/15  18mm  ISO 3200

P880: F20 @ 1/30  37mm  ISO 3200

P884: F4 @ 1/80  18mm  ISO 3200

I tried taking the wash area from sitting down at one of the washbasins but standing up by the side of one ( i.e. about to sit down ) gives a better viewpoint.

This exercise was all about capturing the user's point of view in two or three locations so for my second and final location I chose a bus stop. Bus stops are often designed these days to offer both protection from the elements for people waiting for their bus, timetable information and very often an advertising space for local and national businesses. As people either stand or sit while waiting, I took images from both these viewpoints.

P894: F5.6 @ 1/400  18mm  ISO 200

P894 Standing within the bus shelter and looking towards where the bus will come.

P896:  F8 @ 1/250  18mm  ISO 200

Still within the bus shelter and looking in the same direction but sitting down. Not as striking as P894 or as attractive.This angle does not show the inside of the shelter as effectively or as attractively as P894 which maybe important if the image needs to show what the design offers bus passengers.

P895: F8 @ 1/125   18mm  ISO 200

Here in P895 the standing position offers a better view of where the timetable is and the advertising screen for the passenger

P897:  F5.6 @ 1/250  18mm  ISO 200

Sitting waiting for the bus and looking down the road shows the foreshortened view of the space in which they are sitting to anyone perched on one of the seats.

Choosing such a small and narrow space to take images from the user's point of view was always going to be a challenge. That said, setting aside the slight distortion from using a wide angle to try and include as much detail as possible.i.e. what the user would see either stood up or sat down, taking the images from the user's point of view made for a more visually interesting image than standing outside and well back . That offered a fairly 'pedestrian' view....

 

P899: F5.6 @ 1/500  18mm  ISO 200

P898: F5.6 @ 1/400  18mm  ISO 200