Tuesday 9 August 2011

Exercise 39 The Lighting Angle

What: The main brief of this exercise was to take two a number of photographs of a single subject where the diffused light would be moved around the subject to light it from different angles.
Where: Inside the house, during the day with the outside light blocked by blackout curtains.
When: During the day.
How: I setup the still life with the camera locked off in a tripod pointing directly at the subject on the same level. I then started from position 1 which was in front of the subject beside the camera and after each photograph I then moved the light to the next described position.

This went a lot better as I was back on “safe” ground again, I was aware of what happens when you move a light around a subject .

Again I went back to the small Chinese statue as I wanted something with a lot of relief but also with a little shine on it so that I could see what happens to the light as it is reflected back from the subject.

Beside the Camera

With the light sitting on the left of the camera at the same level as the subject and the camera, pointing directly at the subject.

D80,Aperture f/11, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

Front

I can see that some of the light has been reflected directly back into the lens from the shiny parts of the subject and that both sides of the subject receive almost equal amounts of light.

Front Left

With the light still in front of the subject and to left of the camera at the same level as the subject and the camera, pointing directly at the subject.

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

Front Left

Here the subject is divided into two unequal parts, spilt by the amount of light that they are receiving, the face behind the basket is now at lot darker and there is a higher amount of contrast in the image. I can also see that some of the subject is now washed out with too much light. An adjustment of the aperture would have helped to prevent this from happening.

To the Side

With the light at the side of the subject and off to the left of the camera and at the same level as the subject and the camera, pointing directly at the subject .

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

Left

Again the subject is almost split in two, with one light side and one dark side. This throws a lot of the statue into relief and brings out the three dimensions of the statue.

Rear Left

With the light at the rear of the subject and off to the left of the camera and at the same level as the subject and the camera, pointing directly at the subject .

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

Rear and to the Left

To the Rear

With the light behind the subject pointing towards the camera and at the same level as the subject and the camera, pointing directly at the subject.

D80,Aperture f/22, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

Directly Behind

This creates a silhouette of the subject.

Above and to the Rear

With the light high above the subject pointing down towards the subject while the camera remains in position at the same level as the subject and pointing directly at the subject.

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

High and Rear

This is almost like a hair light, where the subject is light from above with the majority of the light being thrown on the hair of the subject. This helps to define the top of the subject without it being blown out by too much light. It also helps to define the shape of the subject. I like this type of lighting as I feel is produces a nice quality of light which is not harsh and it helps to create a wide high level of contrast.

Above, to the Rear and to the Left

With the light still to the rear of the subject it is high above the subject and is pointing down towards the subject while the camera remains in position at the same level as the subject and pointing directly at the subject.

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

High and Rear Left

I feel that this final image is a little dark and the edges of the subject are a little harsh on the side which has been light. The other side of the subject is still quite dark but again it has not lost any definition as the light is still able to reach it

Above and to the Left

With the light high above the subject and is pointing down towards the subject from the left while the camera remains in position at the same level as the subject and pointing directly at the subject.

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

High and Left

Again this produces which I feel is a nice quality of light, the subject is not over bright and the shapes and colours of the subject are well defined

Above and to the Front Left

With the light high above the subject and is pointing down towards the subject from the front left while the camera remains in position at the same level as the subject and pointing directly at the subject.

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

High and Front Left

I think this is probably the best of the lot so far, it is not too bright and it is not too dark, there are little to no reflections from the subject and it is well defined and its’ shape has been brought out well.

Above and to the Rear

With the light directly above and slightly behind the subject and is pointing down towards the subject from above the camera while the camera remains in position at the same level as the subject and pointing directly at the subject.

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

Above and to the rear

This has a lot of contrast and shadow in this image, I can see the shadow created by the light on the ground. I am unsure as how to feel about this as although I like the lighting I am not sure about some of the relief that the lighting has created within the statue itself.

Above

With the light directly above the subject and is pointing down towards the subject from above the camera while the camera remains in position at the same level as the subject and pointing directly at the subject.

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

Directly Above

I was surprised to see how cold an image this produced, there appears to be a sharp blue hue to the light and this has produced a low contrast image with little shadow. Again I can see that some parts of the subject are better defined that others.

Above and to the Front

With the light directly above and slightly in front of the subject and is pointing down towards the subject from above the camera while the camera remains in position at the same level as the subject and pointing directly at the subject.

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/180 sec, ISO 100, 62mm (35mm equivalent 93mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 55-200mm lens

Above and to the front

I was again surprised by this final image as I expected it to be washed out with high bright whites and little contrast. I was surprised to see that the subject was well defined and that it produced what I think is the best image for this subject. Here the light has filled in the shadows seen in the last image and now there are almost no shadows in the image. This is a nice representation of the subject and I like the light in this image.

I have learned a lot on this exercise as I can now see what the effect of light is on a subject depending on the placement of the light. I can also see that I can use the light to create better definition of the subject depending on where I place the light. I can also see how a combination of lights in differing locations could be used to create a well defined image with good definition and contrast.




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