Multiple points.

Because the theme I have chosen for this assignment is the sea and or the Wirral coast, and to make life a little easier, also includes dogs and dog walkers.  This meant keeping the exercise within the constraints of the above was not going to be easy.  I came up with the idea of constructing the still life out of beach pebbles on sand.  There were several problems, the nearest beach was an hours drive away, and having  never done still life photography before I guessed it may take some time, also it was January so therefore very cold. Not ideal conditions for setting up a still life.  I had purchased some bags of pebbles for a project in the garden, so all I needed was some sand.  A bag was soon obtained from a local builders merchant, this was spread out on a big tray in my conservatory, problem solved. The following pictures are the result.

The one I got wrong.

This is an example of how easy it is to spend lots of time doing something, only to find it is not exactly what was specified in the instructions of this exercise.  I had used too many objects to make up the still life. Although I had spent quite some time setting up the above, it was not a complete waste of time, as my second attempt was a lot easier to do.  The following is how it should have been done.

Set up a still life, with a background that is unfussy but not entirely plain.  Use between six and ten similar sized objects, each compact in shape. Fix the camera on a tripod, aimed down at the background.  The idea is to control the composition by rearrangement, not by changing the framing with the camera.  Begin by placing one object; make a record of this by taking a photograph.  Then add the second, then the third, and so on; each time take a photograph.  The aim is to produce a final grouping, which is not so obvious as to be boring (avoid regular shapes), but which hangs together visually. This process will take some time, give it proper thought.

When I constructed the first still life, shapes seemed to be obvious fairly quickly.  I don't know if that was because I had taken so long to do it, or if I had subconsciously been trying to make up shapes from the beginning.  When I realized that I had used too many stones in the original composition, I read the instructions more carefully.  I then tried to place the pebbles in as random a way as possible, it was not easy, only having 10 stones to play with.  I wanted the background (the sand) to be smooth, so I could not just throw them down, also there would be the problem of keeping them within the frame of the camera viewfinder.  In any case I had to assemble the still life one piece at a time.  After looking at the above photographs, it is not until image 6, that a clear shape appears, then only by image 10 do more shapes become obvious.  No's 11 and 13 are included to show some minor changes that were made in constructing  this still life, No 14 explains itself, showing the shapes I see within the final composition.  I have enjoyed doing this exercise a lot more than I ever thought possible, and will certainly do more still life.  I find my second attempt,quite pleasing, a work of art maybe!!