Lighting Pt. 1: Image Bank

Dave Beckerman:

Dave Beckerman is a self-taught photographer who sells black-and-white film photos he took of New York City. He had his first photo lab at 15 and has been doing photography for about 20 years since. He was a programmer until he decided to try his hand at professional photography and now has his own website.

I chose thsi image because I love how the dark becnhes contrast with the light sky. It is relevant to the project because the shadows are very dark and defined and really bring out the texture of the benches.

[ from http://www.davebeckerman.com/ ]

Keith Barraclough:

Keith grew up all over the world, as the child of a US diplomat. He is now based out of Washington, DC, taking commission, stock, corporate, advertizing, and editorial photography to the US and internationally. He prefers to let a scene "happen" rather than setting it up, because he says if it doesn't feel natural it's just not right.

I chose this image because the shadow is very dramatic and gives an interesting juxtaposition of moods, considering the rather whimsical subject matter. It relates to the project because it is very hard lighting, which gives it a serious feeling, whereas if it were soft lighting the scene would be very happy and cheerful.

[from www.keithbarraclough.com ]

Ansel Adams:

Ansel Adams had a rather dysfunctional family. His family was quite poor after the California earthquake and fire, and his father never managed to regain the fortune, his mother nagging his father all the while for it. He was also ostracized at school, but all this just encouraged his love of nature. He became a pianist for a long period of time (more than 12 years), giving him the dedication and discipline he then turned to photography. He began a prosperous photographic career as a photographer of the Sierra Nevada and later a well known nature photographer. He still, however, remained broke. He was known for his technical expertise and furious dedication. Born in 1902, he died in 1984 a legend.

I chose this image because I love the sharp contrast in the grooves of the sand coming from the bright sun. I also love the different levels he portrays here, This is relelvant because it is a hard lit photograph as well as a landscape.

[from www.anseladams.com ]

Lighting Pt. 1: Theory Notes

Soft Light:

Soft light is all-encompassing light that has soft-edged shadows, if any. It has the effect of "wrapping around" the object in question. A light source can be made "softer" if it is either closer to the subject or larger. It comes from a reflected or a broad source and is often indirect light.

Soft light is used to eliminate or reduce existing shadows, give a more youthful appearance by minimizing wrinkles, and make a light source seem natural.

Naturally, soft light can come from cloud cover or shade (under a tree, for example), since the sunlight is reflected off of the clouds or under other objects to produce less heavy shadows.

Soft light can create a calm, natural, or serene scene.

This picture is softly lit because there is hardly any shadows, minimizing all wrinkles. Soft lighting is used for a natural look. It conveys a happy, cheerful mood, and due to its blemish minimizing effects and positive feeling, is generally used for glamor shots.

Hard Light:

Hard light has very defined shadows, with less transition between light and shadow, giving a dramatic effect. It is produced more effectively when the rays of light are more parallel to each other, instead of rays from a mutual center point. Hard light also defines the texture and detail of an object.

Hard light doesn't necessarily occur naturally, since even the sun's rays aren't parallel to each other, although in direct sunlight on a cloudless day the shadows are more defined.

Hard light conveys an angry, agressive, scary, ominous, or night-time mood generally.

This is an example of hard light, because the difference between light and shadow is very large. Here an angry or offended feeling is conveyed because of the model's facial expression plus the lighting.

Three Point Lighting:

Three point lighting consists of light coming from three different sources and/or angles- the Key Light, Fill Light, and Rim Light (aka the back light).

To achieve 3-point lighting, one must begin with no natural light. You then begin with the Key Light, which is the main source of light, standing in for the natural light source. It should come from above, from 15 to 45 degrees to the side of the camera. It should then also hit the subject 15-45 degrees above where the camera does. The key light should be brighter than all of the other lights.

After you set up your key lights, you should add your Fill Lights. These soften the light of the Key Light, as well as lighting other parts of the subject, making more of them visible. If the Key Light is the sun, the Fill Lights are other light sources, such as reflection from the clouds, or a lamp, for example, depending on where the scene is supposed to be "set." There can be more than 1 fill light on a set. The Fill Light should normally be placed about opposite from the Key Light, but not exactly. It can be at the subjects height, but still lower than the Key Light. Fill Lights should not exceed half the brightness of the Key Light, since this is the secondary source of light. If using more than 1 Fill Light, the total amount of light from them should'nt exceed half of the Key's brightness either. The Fill Light's brightness can be changed to make the scene more shadowy, for example, or brighter. Fill Lights' color can also be changed to mimic the color of the light that would be reflected on the subject (for example, the light coming from below, reflected off the "grass," would be a different color from the light from higher above, from the "clouds.")

Lastly come the Rim Lights. They are set behind the subject to set them off from the background by creating a rim of light around them (hence the name). The rim light should be adjusted until it creates a clear and bright outline of the subject. It can be altered to however bright or dull you want the highlight of your subject to be. It should cast shadows, and many times only lights the top and/or side of a subject and doesn't affect the background.

Sources:

http://www.scphoto.com/html/lighting.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_light

http://www.3drender.com/light/3point.html

Photo Sources:

http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/Equipment_Lessons/LiteDisc_Holder/Fashion_Lighting/1108668957_350x350_Header.jpg

http://www.sito.org/synergy/crosswire/imgs1/d2.gif

http://www.thedigitalstory.com/blog/img/photos/diy_studio_lighting.jpg

Lighting Pt. 1: Printing Compositions: Landscapes

Contact Sheet: My negatives were very dark, so it was hard to get my contact sheet, but I eventually managed by opening up the aperture all the way and adding more and more time. Aperture: 2.8 Filter: 0 Time: 48 seconds Landscape 1 I kept adding time, eventually doing a full print at 60. Aperture: 2.8 Filter: 0 Time: 60 seconds I then continued adding time, since the print was still too light, but otherwise keeping the other settings the same. Aperture: 2.8 FIlter: 0 Time: 63, 66, 69, 72, 75 seconds (right to left)

I eventually did a final print at 105 seconds.

Aperture: 2.8

Filter: 0

Time: 105 seconds

Landscape 2

This print I did at the same settings as the previous. Aperture: 2.8 Filter: 0 Time: 105 seconds

Lighting Pt. 1: Printing Composition: Still Life

For my still life pictures, I decided to use the vase of flowers as my soft lit image and the chemicals as my hard lit. However, I liked all of them and had a hard time deciding which to use.

Aperture: 4

Filter: 0

Time: 15 seconds

Still Life: Chemicals

To begin, I did this test strip at the same settings as the contact sheet, only with a range of times.

Aperture: 4

Filter: 0

Time: 14, 15, 16 seconds

Next I tried a full print at 15 seconds. Aperture: 4 Filter: 0 Time: 15 seconds

The previous full print seemed a bit too dark at the bottom at 15 seconds, so I reduced the time to 13 seconds, leaving the rest of the settings the same. This fixed the problem, so I left that as my final print.

Aperture: 4

Filter: 0

Time: 13 seconds

Still Life- FlowersTo begin, I did this test strip at 13, 14, 15, and 16 seconds, and left the rest of the settings the same as the contact sheet. Aperture: 4 Filter: 0 Time: 13, 14, 15, 16 seconds.I then did my full print at 15 seconds. It initially seemed a bit dark like the chemical print, so I tried another full print at 13 seconds to compare. I decided on the 15 second print as my final. [Above] Aperture: 4 Filter: 0 Time: 13 seconds [Below, final print] Aperture: 4 Filter: 0 Time: 15 seconds

Lighting Pt. 1: Printing Compositions: Portrait 3

For the last portrait, I did a test strip at the same settings as the previous portrait, then did a full print at the same settings.

Aperture: 4

Filter: 0

Time: 7 seconds

Lighting Pt. 1: Printing Compositions: Portrait 2

For my 2nd portrait, I began with the same settings as the previous print.

Aperture: 4

Filter: 1

Time: 7.5 seconds

For my final print, I just reduced the filter to 0 and the time to 7 seconds.

Aperture: 4

Filter: 0

Time: 7 seconds

Lighting Pt. 1: Printing Compositions: Portrait 1

Contact Sheet

Portraits Contact Sheet

For my portraits, I chose to use the 3 yellow checked images. I misunderstood the assignment initially and chose 3 instead of 2. the first two are my soft lit images, and the farthest to the right is my hard lit image.

Aperture: 2.8

Filter: 1.5

Time: 8 seconds

Portrait 1

For this print, I started out with the same settings as the contact sheet. I gradually closed the aperture to 4. In this test strip I experimented with different times- 5 and 6 seconds.

Aperture: 4

Filter: 1.5 Time: 5 and 6 seconds

For the final print, I reduced the filter to 1, focused the image (since I realized I had forgotten to do that previously, and made the print at 7.5 seconds.

Aperture: 4

Filter: 1

Time: 7 seconds

Lighting Pt. 1: Diary Entry

All in all, this project was quite succesful. Surprisingly, I was able to get all 6 of my prints done (and done well, for that matter) in a rather short period of time. My experience in the black room was very positive- I managed to put my film onto the reel in record time. Developing my negatives went through without a hitch, and my nagatives all turned out wonderfully. I think this is because we put up the lights for the portraits and all of my other pictures were well lit, so I didn't have any problem with bad negatives as I used to. All of my developing of my prints worked very well since my negatives were all good. It was also very relaxing to be in such a small class, since not many people were fighting over the chemicals and the darkroom wasn't very crowded. The only frustrating part of this project was the first landscape picture I worked on. Since the negatives were very dark, I kept having to add more time, eventually ending up at 105 seconds. It took virtually the entire block to get one print done, and I was very ready to be finished with it when I finally got it. However, it was easier than it could have been because I was only adding more time instead of changing the aperture and adding a filter. It was also frustrating that I hadn't read the directions carefully, so accidentally did an extra portrait, wasting probably about a full block doing so. This gave me a chance to choose which print I wanted to use, though, which is good. All in all, I was very proud that I barely had to use a filter throughout this project since I was used to having a filter of 5 not being enough. This was very satisfying. Also, it was great showing all of my friends my prints and having them gawk at how nice they were. I even had one friend begging me for the extra print of my flower still life (which I gave her), which made me feel extremely proud of my prints. This project was a very positive experience for me, and I hope that other projects turn out as well as this one did.