Concentrating Light

  I have fitted a snoot to my flash head to concentrate the light into a narrow beam, I then used it to take a self portrait. Although the picture was taken in daylight, because I have used a small aperture only the flash light has shown in the final image.

Self Portrait, Snooted head

  As you can see by using such narrow beam of light a highly atmospheric effect it achieved, the light has to be very carefully positioned because it is so narrow, and quite low powered.I found it best to use the light to pick out the edges and texture of the subject by angling it from above and behind, this has produced a strong chiaroscuro effect.

Contrast & Shadow Fill

  I have set up a very simple still life for this exercise to see the effects of diffusion and different types of reflectors  as a fill light. The first image is taken without any diffusion or fill light.

No Diffusion or Fill

   As you can there are deep hard shadows and quite hard highlights, although I still quite like the image, it reminds me of a still life by Andre Kertesz. The hard shadows give the picture a certain amount of dynamism.

Diffused

  The picture above has a diffuser over the light, and as you can see the shadows are much lighter and softer. The highlights are just as bright, but they are softer edged. The contrast across the vase is quite strong, so I am now going to place a reflector opposite the light to produce some fill light.
  To start I am using a plain white card, 1 metre away from the subject.

White Card, 1 Metre

  As you can see the reflector has had very little effect, the side of the vase has been lightened ever so slightly. For the next example I have moved the same white reflector closer, to 0.5 metre from the subject.

White Reflector, 0.5 metre

  Moving the reflector closer has had more of an effect, the side of the vase is lightened significantly and evenly. Also the shadows under the objects have been lightened, so the contrast across the whole image has been lessened.
  Next I have covered the card with the dull side of a sheet of tin foil.

Tin Foil, Dull Side

  As you can see the tin foil has created a hard highlight on the shadow side of the vase. This is because the silver foil will produce a direct reflection of the light, whereas the previous white card reflector will always produce diffuse reflections ( Hunter,F.Biver,S.Fuqua,P, 2007 ). I find the hard highlight distracting and I do not think it suits this particular picture.
  Now I have turned the foil over so that the shinier side is facing the subject.

Foil Shiny Side

  As you would expect this has produced an even harder and brighter highlight.For the final version of the picture I have crumpled the foil and then flattened it out again.

Crumpled Foil

  This has produced an almost identical effect to the white reflector at 0.5 metre, this is because by crumpling the foil we have made it reflect the light in many directions, thereby making it a diffuse reflector.
  This exercise shows that reflectors are very useful as fill lights, but you have to be careful to match the reflector to the subject. For this subject I found that a diffuse reflector suited the subject best because all of the objects have a matt finish, so a hard highlight does not look right.

  Ref; Hunter,F,Biver,S,Fuqua,P,2007, Light, Science & Magic,Elsevier,Oxford.

The Lighting Angle

  I have chosen a small figurine for this exercise because has lots of folds and small details, which should show the effects of the changes in lighting angle well. The first four photographs are taken with the light at the same level as the subject.

Light In Front

  The light is hitting the front of the subject and shows the outline of the figure very well, but there is very little modelling.

Side Light

   The side light shows the folds on the front of the figure very well, but the contrast across the width is too great and the detail is lost on the side away from the light.

Light Side & Behind

   This side and rear light gives a nice edge light, but there is no detail on the front of the figure. It does bring out the texture of the linen really well

Light Directly Behind

  The light behind the figure shows the outline with a complete silhouette.
  The next four images are taken with the light angled down at 45 degrees and follow the same pattern as the first four.

Front Light, 45 Degrees

   This shows the outline really well and has slightly more texture than the straight ahead version.

Side Light, 45 Degrees

  This lighting shows the form of the subject very well, the contrast across the figure is not too great, it could just do with a little fill light on the left side. Overall the figure has good texture and outline.

Side Light, Rear 45 Degrees

   This image has a nice side light with some light spilling onto the front of the figure, the dark side of the subject is lost in the background.

Rear Light, 45 Degrees

  This is not a complete silhouette because some light is bouncing up from the cloth, and there are some interesting highlights around the edges of the figure.

Light Directly Above

  This image has a nice balance of detail and outline, although some of the shadows are a bit dark and the light is fading towards the bottom.

Above and Slightly Behind

  This image has a nice outline at the top with a small amount of detail on the hands and arms.

Above and In front 

  This picture with the light above and in front has a lovely balance of out line and detail, the contrast is nicely controlled, this type of lighting is widely used in fashion and beauty photography as it is very flattering if you are young with good bone structure.
  There are two images here which show good form and outline, the first is the one directly above and the second is the side lit, 45 degree version, but I do feel the second needs some fill light on the left to reduce the contrast.

Softening the Light

  This is a straight forward exercise to see how diffusing the light used when taking a photograph affects the image. I used a flash head with a reflector and then with a soft box, this meant that the first light is a small hard light and the second is a large soft light.

No Diffusion

   The above image has no diffusion and it is evident that the shadows are very hard edged and very dark with a complete loss of any detail. The garlic has lost any texture on its right side and there is a hard highlight on the inside of the bowl, and on the red onion. These two factors together mean that this picture has a very high contrast.

Diffused

  This is the diffused version, and apart from a dark triangle between the red onion and the bowl, the shadows are much softer edged and are lighter, managing to retain their detail. The highlights are also softer edged and not suffering from any burn out, the image generally has lower contrast than the undiffused version, but it still has a full range of tones.
  In the still life used the diffused version is obviously better, but that that does not mean that it will suit all applications, you must still choose the correct lighting for each subject.

Cloudy Weather & Rain pt 2

  All of the following pictures were taken under the sort of flat cloudy skies that are so common in Britain for much of the time.

Red Rose

  As you can see the first image is a close up of a red rose, the soft even light of the clouded over sun has the effect of a giant soft box, the lack of strong contrast allows you to see deep into the flower and the low light level has increased the saturation of the red. The only problem with this image us that because of the low light level I had to increase the camera ISO level and still have the aperture quite wide, therefore the effect is softer than I would have liked.
 

Ivy

 In the picture of Ivy above, once again it is evident that the soft even light has allowed for a high level of detail, even in the shadow areas. There is also no glare on the leaves, which is a common fault with plant shots taken in sunny conditions, the texture of the leaves is fully formed.

Green Tomatoes

  Obviously the tomatoes above have a very glossy surface, but the clouded light has proved perfect for allowing enough shine to add form to the tomatoes and show that they are glossy without burnt out highlights. This light has also allowed a high level of detail to be shown in the hairy plant stems. Overall the light has helped to produce quite a sensuous picture.

Anenome

  The only problem with cloudy days is that they also tend to be windy, therefore capturing delicate images such the Anemone above, blowing about on the end of its stem can be trying. But I think the results speak for themselves, this light is perfect for this type low contrast subject as you get very light shadows which compliment the delicate curves of the petals.
   This exercise has proved that for a lot of subjects, where you do not want to include any of the sky, cloudy days can provide the perfect light, although the low light levels can be a problem, especially if the subject has any movement.
  If it is sunny you can try to achieve the same effect by putting a diffuser between your subject and the sun, as long as your subject is small enough or you can get a big enough diffuser.

Cloudy Weather & Rain pt 1

  I was drawn to the first subject for this exercise by the complimentary colours of blue and orange, and the dynamism caused by the strong diagonal shadows.

Building in Sun

  As you can see it is a strong graphic image with bold colours and texture brought to life by the strong, hard light. The light is colourless because it is full sunlight during the middle part of the day.

Building Under Cloud

  This second version taken under a cloudy sky has got a definite cool tone, the texture of the building and container have almost been lost without the strong light, the whole image is a full two stops darker.Without the strong raking shadows and deep blue sky the image has lost its dynamic image, and has become much more of a deadpan style of picture.
  Next I decided to try a portrait, the light was very strong so my model had to look away from the sun.

Portrait In Sun

 As you can see even though the model has looked away from the sun, she still cannot fully open her eyes, so the portrait is unflattering.There are hard shadows across the face and deep shadows across the eyes leaving them looking dead.

Portrait Under Cloud

  Under cloud the light for portraits is much better, the model can fully open her eyes and the soft shadows are much kinder to the gentle curves of her face. The eyes are fully lit, but there is a very slight blue tone to the overall image, although I do not find it too intrusive. Once again there was a full two stops difference in exposure.

Succulents in Sun

  The colours of the succulents above are very strong, but as I did not use a polariser there is a lot of glare on the leaves. The shadows are very deep so that some parts of the plants are completely lost in darkness.

Succulents Under Cloud

  The soft light under cloud means that because of the lower contrast no detail is lost to shadow or glare. The colours are more muted and cool and there is a full five stops difference  in exposure.
  Even with these few examples it becomes obvious that you have to match the light to the subject, soft light for delicate subjects and hard light for strong graphic images.






































































































































 

Variety with a Low Sun

  For this exercise I have chosen this thistle type plant that I found growing in a field, the location was fairly open so I knew that I would be able to keep shooting until the sun was almost completely set. I felt that the shape of the seed heads would be good to show the effects of back and edge lighting.

Frontal Lighting

  As you can see from the picture above the low sun gives a nice warm tone to the image, but the head on fall of the light makes the picture appear quite flat, there are very few shadows to help form the shape of the plant.

Side Lighting

  The side lighting in the picture above is better, it has helped to separate the plant from the dark background and has shown the form of the stalks, although the seed heads still look a bit flat, they do not have any real roundness.

Back Lighting

  With the sun hidden behind the body of the plant I have achieved a very strong silhouette of the subject which relies totally on shape with no sense of form at all. Also by placing the bottom of the plant against a dark background I have produced a good rim light.

Edge Lighting

  The edge lighting was quite difficult to achieve because I could not move the plant and I wanted to show the effect against a dark background. I think the final effect is pretty successful, this type of lighting has separated the plant from the background and has given substantial form to the whole plant. As the sun was at this point almost set, there are no hard shadows and the low angle of the light has shown some of the translucence in the leaves.
  I really enjoyed this exercise, even though it did mean rolling on the ground in some fairly questionable substances, and it has taught me some valuable skills that I hope to use again in the very near future.