Light: Project – Photographic lighting; Exercise 40 – shiny surfaces

This exercise in the OCA’s Art of Photography Light module is concerned with dealing with shiny surfaces.  The purpose of the exercise is to deal with the problems caused by reflections from the surface.  Of direct relevance to this exercise are the insights gained from a core text for this course Light – Science and Magic by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, Paul Fuqua.  This text is reviewed here.  In managing the reflection caused by shiny surfaces – in the case here a medal placed on black velvet material. The following points were considered.

1. Making sure the light source is outside the family of angles (see Light – Science and Magic for a full description of the family of angles).
2. Using a large light source that, through diffuser material, will light the object more evenly and thus reduce the possibility of reflections.
3. Considering the use of a to help reduce the reflection.

For this exercise a combination of diffused and undiffused lighting was used using the desk top diffuser box shown in the exercise here.  With the exception of the first image the lighting set up for each of the images shown here (other angles were used but are not presented) was at 45 degrees down towards the medal which was in turn at right angles to the camera.   During the course of making the images a polarise was used but was not effective as the light being reflected was not polarised light.

In the images below four different lighting situations are shown and a commentary made on each one.

Undiffused and within family of angles

In the first image above an undiffused light source beside the camera, and thus within the family of angles, was used and the reflections are unacceptable as they obscure much of the detail.  This image is therefore the comparator for the remaining images.

Diffused

In the second image, the light source is to the left of the camera at right angles and shining down towards the medal at 45 degrees through the diffuser material.  The light source is outside the family of angles. With the exception of the top left hand corner of the medal the lighting is much better than in the first image.

Diffused and with GOBO

The third image uses the same lighting set up as the second but in this case a gobo (a small box between the light source and the medal) was used to help eliminate further reflections (see Light – Science and Magic for further description of gobo’s (go betweens) and thier use).  This image is marginally improved on compared to the second image.

Cone of diffusion material

The final image has the same lighting set up as before, i.e. at right angles to the camera, 45 degrees towards the medal and through diffuser material.  In this instance, however, a further cone of diffuser material has been used in the manner suggested in the exercise notes (pg 161).  The image is further improved in respect of reflections – the additional diffuser material further spreads the light reaching the medal and thus reduces the reflections.

Edward Weston is very well known for his still life images.  Interestingly, while objects that have some reflective properties such as peppers feature significantly in his work metals appear not to.  Here is a rare example of an image set up as a still life that features a large amount of metal and it is notable that he does not appear to have made any significant effort to control the reflections from the lighting source.

 

Light: Project – Photographic lighting; Exercise 38 – Contrast and shadow fill

This exercise from the OCA’s Art of photography Light module is concerned with contrast and shadow fill using artificial light.  The set up is a single still life object which is lit from one side only (with and without a diffuser) and a variety of reflectors (or none) used to deal with contrast and shadow fill on the unlit side of the still life.

Undiffused sidelight – no reflector

Diffused sidelight – no reflector

Diffused sidelight – plain white card set as reflector one metre on opposite side of jar

Diffused sidelight – plain white card set as reflector half metre on opposite side of jar

Diffused sidelight – aluminium foil (dull side) set as reflector one metre on opposite side of jar

Diffused sidelight – aluminium foil (shiny side) set as reflector one metre on opposite side of jar

Diffused sidelight – aluminium foil (crumpled, flattened and shiny side out) set as reflector one metre on opposite side of jar

The most contrasty version is the first one in which an undiffused light without a reflector provides the lighting set up. The diffused versions with reflectors are all less contrasty.  A previous exercise on the type of lighting generated using a diffuser showed clearly that the use of a diffuser makes the light source larger and thus better able to light up more of the object.  While the diffused version with the white card reflector set half a metre from the jar is the least contrasty it might have been expected that the foil reflectors would also have been more effective.

Light: Project – Photographic lighting; Exercise 37 – the lighting angle

This, the previous exercise and the following four exercises, deal with the use of artificial light sources and their use in still life photography.  Collectively they make up the Photographic Lighting project of the OCA’s Art of Photography Module.  Undertaking these exercises has involved making  home made diffusers and setting up a still life studio.  Where relevant, the set up has been captured on a camera phone and the results included with the exercises.

In this exercise the effect of changing the lighting angle is considered.  For each image the angle of the light source is described and observation made in respect of a range of characteristics such as shape, form, texture and colour.  In this exercise a combination of the home made diffuser and a desktop home still life studio comprising a small lamp and fabric covered frame was used.  The first image below shows the still life studio set up.  The camera set up was horizontal to the object (a sea urchin shell).  The WB was adjusted manually for the colour temperature of the lamps. In all cases exposure was controlled for the highlights.  This means that when the lamp is positioned behind the object it becomes darker.

Still life studio

In this first image the lamp was positioned beside and at the same level as the camera.  The object is reasonably well lit and colour is clear but it is ‘flat’.

In the second image above the lamp was positioned outside the still life studio and shines through the diffuser material.  There is good contrast between light and dark and reasonable depiction of form. The texture of the object becomes clearer with the light striking it at right angles.

In the third image the lamp is positioned behind and to the side of the object. Contrast is not as good as in the previous image and the sense of form is not as well depicted.

In the fourth image the lamp is directly behind the object and at the same level.  The shape of the object is clearly defined but form texture and colour are absent.

The fifth image has the lamp almost directly in front of the image but this time facing down towards the object at an angle of 45 degrees.  The home made diffuser was used for this image.  The form is very evident as is the colour.

In the sixth image the lamp is positioned to the side of the urchin and faces toward the object at an angle of 45 degrees.  Contrast is good, as is texture and form is quite good.

The seventh image has the lamp positioned behind and to the side and facing down through the diffuser material at an angle of 45 degrees.  The shape of the object is becoming clearer in this image but colour, form and texture are not as clear as in the previous image.

The eighth image has the lamp positioned directly behind and facing down towards the urchin at an angle of 45 degrees.  The shape of the object is very clear.  Unlike the image previously with the lamp horizontal to and directly behind the image the form of the object is hinted at because of the presence of the shadows.

The final three images have the lamp with home made diffuser directly above and slightly to the front, directly above and directly above and slightly behind the urchin.  This first image has the lamp directly above and slightly to the front of the urchin.  The colour is clear, and the texture is hinted at.  The shape and form are given some definition by the presence of shadows.

The 10th image has the lamp positioned directly overhead.  In this image shape and form are not as clear as in the previous one but the contrast between the top and bottom halves of the image is well developed.

The 11th and final image has the lamp positioned directly above and slightly behind the urchin.  The shape emerges clearly as does the form by virtue of the shadows to the front of the image. Texture and colour are virtually non-existent.

The positioning of the lamp has significant influence on the characteristics of the object being examined. Positioning the lamp to the side either horizontally or at an angle shows texture and contrast.  With the lamp behind the shape of the object emerges.  While positioning the lamp to the side and behind shows up form.  Interestingly with the lamp directly above and either slightly in front or behind allows shape, form and contrast to be developed.

Edward Weston’s still life images show a variety of lighting techniques that variously show the different characteristics of shape, form and texture.  Since his images were black and white the lighting was used to emphasise gray scale.  In this image side lighting slightly above the objects draws out texture and form.  In this image, frontal lighting is used to emphasise the shape of the nautilus shell. In this image the camera is positioned directly above the leaf and the light is coming horizontally from the topmost end of the leaf and draws out the texture very clearly.

Light: Project – The Time of the Day; Exercise 31 – light through the day

This exercise on the OCA’s Art of Photography course (Light module) is designed to allow examination of the way in which light changes throughout the day from sunrise to sunset.  The course notes recommend identification of a location with a very definite subject that can be accessed throughout the day and in which shadow and colour can be considered.  The location chosen was a scene in which Ben Bulben, an iconic, plateau topped mountain in north west Ireland is viewed over Sligo Bay.  The images were made during a sunny, occasionally cloudy, day in early January with the first image being made about half an hour after sunrise and the last about 15 minutes before sunset.  The images in the sequence below are in the order in which they were made starting in the morning.

In a previous exercise on the colour of light in full sunlight and in shadow and at  different times of the day it was shown clearly that in the middle of the day colourless light is present in full sunlight but blue appears in shadows as the reds and oranges are filtered out by the clouds whereas in full sunlight in the evening the blue is scattered by the longer travel through the atmosphere as it makes its way to earth – hence red and orange sunsets.  The theory therefore tells us that as the sun sinks lower over Ben Bulben the light should have taken on a red/orange hue.  This does not appear to be the case.  However, the theory holds because since the blue is not absorbed but scattered (Rayleigh Scattering) to the side as the light travels to the earth, if the sunset is viewed side on (as in this case as the view is to the north and the sun is setting to the west then only blue is seen. If The image was made facing west then red would have been seen.