Lighting I

Diary Entry:

It was very exciting to get back into the developing room and get back into all the routines of photo developing. I found it a lot easier this year coming into Photo 2. It wasn't like I was starting a new class, it was like I came back after a long break into what I was doing so there wasn't a huge change there, nothing to adapt to.

I loved how we got to work with all the lights and really put into use everything that we had learned in London the pervious school year. I also really liked how our shooting time isn't always during class time but it's a lot more independent and the requirements for the prints aren't as specific leaving more to the imagination of each of us and let us interpret it ourselves. All in all it was a good start to Photo 2, nothing that stressed me out.

Theory Notes (Hard-light, Soft-light, Three-point lighting):

Hard Light:

• Is when light comes from a single source and falls directly on the object without reflecting on any other subject.
• It casts dark shadows, bright highlights and makes high contrast pictures.
• All details on the object are more accentuated.
• Can be used to do effects of texture.

Soft Light:

• Mostly used for portraits.
• Comes from multiple sources and multiple directions, or from a single very very light source.
• Reflected light is soft light.
• Easiest way to create soft light is by reflecting light onto the object.

Three-Point Lighting:

• Standard lighting method.
• Using three separate light positions the photographer can light the object and control the shadows.
• Key light: principle light, determines the pictures over all lighting.
• Fill light: put at an angle, usually at a lower angle than the key light, usually softer and less bright than the key light.
• Back Light: usually shines for behind, gives a sort of halo to the object and separates them from the background.

Examples:

1) Hard Light and Soft Light

<----------Hard Light

<------------- Soft Light.

2) Three-point light

Printing Compositions:

Contact Sheet-Hard Light:

Ap: 8 Time: 8s Filter:-

Test Strips-Hard Light:

1)

Ap: 8, Time: 8s,10s,12s,14s Filter:-

2) Ap: 8, Time: 13 , Filter: -

Problem Print:
Ap: 8, Time: 30s and 40s, Filter: 5

For this print I added a filter of 5 because the picture was slightly blurry and the filter would help sharpen it and bring out more texture in the print.
I had to burn the picture because the left side of her face (the side that was lit) was too light and if I was to expose it more the right side would get too dark. It was sort of a hard to burn because the burning was obvious to see because the line because of the strong contrast. Also the shape wasn't easy because her nose seemed to be sticking out every time I burned it.

Final Print- Hard Light:
Ap: 8, Time: 35s , Filter: 5

I really like this print, it was tricky to get right and as you can see there was no burning here. I settled for 35 seconds of exposure so it was between the 30 and 40 of the burning and it still turned out rather nicely.

I think its an obvious "hard-light" print because on the left side of her face the light bleaches most of her features expect for her eye that is also sort of hard to see.

Contact Sheet- Soft Light

Ap: 5.6, Time: 10s , Filter:-
















Test Strips- Soft Light
1)
Ap: 5.6, Time: 20s, Filter: 5
For this print I only have 1 test strip because sadly I lost the other test strips I had. Unlike the previous print this one was not blurry but the 5 filter helped bring out texture and contrast.

Problem Print- Soft Light
Ap: 5.6, Time: 20s, Filter: 5

For this print I don't have a problem with the time or the filter. Something I had a problem with was how it got strached up top on the head of my brother, therefore making me do another print.


Final Print- Soft Light:
Ap:5.6, Time: 20s , Filter:5
Even though the features on my brother's left side aren't easy to see they are still more defined than the hard light picture. Also it is easy to see how the light sort of glazes over his face.
What I really like about this picture is the sort of halo that is was able to great behind him.








Contact Sheet- Landscape
Ap: 5.6, Time: 8s, Filter:-










Test strips- Landscape 1
1)
Ap: 5.6
Times: 8s, 10s, 12s, 14s, 16s, 18s
Filter: -

Final Print- Landscape 1
Ap: 5.6, Time: 14s, Filter:-

Out of the two landscape prints I did this is my favourite one. I really like the contrast between the trees and the sky. I also like how there is a lighter part of the water.
Thankfully I don't have a copy of this print in where something was wrong.

Test Strips- Landscape 2
1)
Ap: 5.6, Times: 8s, 10s, 12s, 14s, 16s, 18s, Filter: -

Problem Print- Landscape 2
Ap: 5.6, Time: 14, Filter:-
The problem with this print was that it was too light. The sky was too white and the trees against the white sky were too grey therefore there wasn't that much of a good contrast.













Final Print- Landscape 2
Ap: 5.6, Time: 20s, Filter:-

This isn't my outmost favourite picture but I like how on the left side there are the trees, all big and tall. But then again on the other side it's pretty plain.
Taking another look at it, I would have maybe lowered the time a bit because the sky was starting to get grey.








Contact Sheet- Still Life
Ap: 5.6, Time: 8s, Filter:-










Test Strips- Still Life 1
1)
Ap: 5.6, Times: 8s, 10s, 12s, 14s, 16s, 18s, Filter: -
My test-strip went missing.

Final Print- Still Life 1
Ap: 5.6, Time: 16, Filter:-

I adore this print. I think the way that I managed to position the shoes is very nice and also i just really like the blacks in this and how the picture is a lot darker. I also like how it seems to gradually get darker the further down one looks at the picture. Also thankfully with this print I got it right on the first full print.

Test Strips- Still Life 2
1)
Ap: 5.6 , Times: 8s, 10s, 12s, 14s, 16s, Filter:-





Final Print- Still Life 2
Ap: 5.6, Time: 14s, Filter:-

What I like the most is how I was able to take this picture with natural light so the light is pretty even and it gives really like results when it comes to contrast. Also with this one I was lucky enough not to have to do more than one print. I think the reason for that is because of the natural light it makes it easier to spot the times since it's clearer.





Image Bank:
Hard Light Portrait:

This is a great example of hard light. There is a very harsh shadow towards the left side of his face and his shape is very defined. I really like this picture because most of the time when you think of hard light one thinks of a sad or serious picture but here the man is smiling and looks very nice and the lighting adds and extra touch.

I did not find out what the name of this photographer but I did find out that he is a London photographer based in Hanwell, Ealing.

Soft-light Portrait:

This picture falls under the category of soft-light because there is no really harsh or defined shadows created from one source of light. The light sort of glides across the whole image and really creates a very soft and nice texture .

And also I just really liked the baby.

This picture was taken by Kimberly Peck.

Still Life 1:

I really like the lighting of this picture because it doesn't gradually get darker, it's like all of a sudden there is this shadow that pretty much cuts off a part of the pear. Also there is a lot of texture in this picture because of the lighting.

This picture was taken by a person that goes by KY-Photography on flickr.

Still Life 2:

Even though this picture is also hard-light I really like how at the left side the cups merge with the black background. I also really like the angle in which the cups are leaning towards.

I think this picture was taken by a man called John Watson.

Landscape 1:

I really like the contrast that this picture has. I'm not too sure what it is to be honest but I like how, what I assume are rocks or land, are really dark and there is a clear difference between the water and the land.

This is a landscape photograph of Ireland taken by Patrick Donald. Patrick Donald travels around the world for different photography projects and he just recently went to Cuba to take street pictures.

Landscape 2:

I think that this picture looks so peaceful and inviting. There are a lot of blacks on this photo but they aren't as dark as the picture before. Like you can actually see that there are rocks.

This picture was taken by Gary Heald. He started getting into photography in 1980 and he loves shooting landscape, specially in black and white.