In this, the penultimate assignment of the Art of Photography course, we were asked to draw together different lighting techniques and apply them to one object.
As was stated in the course material, a number of people are not particularly turned-on by this type of photography (and I am one of them, unfortunately) but I appreciate how important it is to understand how to use different types of lighting, singly and in combination. Having said that, I found the assignment very challenging and, maybe because of the subject that I chose (a cute and shiny, but not very colourful glazed squirrel), sometimes it was difficult to allocate a photograph into one of the four categories suggested - shape, texture, form and colour.
The lighting that I used was one, or a combination of the following. If it appears very 'Heath Robinson' , this is because it is! No two lighting combinations are the same in the chosen photographs.
- natural light from a small window
- spot-light diffused with a piece of white kitchen towel
- small led cell torch
- Canon Speedlite 430 EX11 flashgun
I used a tripod and cable release for all the shots which were all in RAW using a Canon 1000D SLR and Tamron 18 to 270mm lens. All shots were taken in Aperture Priority mode at f/11 and ISO 100. I used a white background throughout.
The results are as follows:
Shape
This is the aspect which involves the edges of an object - its outline.
This photograph was taken in a darkened room using only 'bounced flash' from the Canon Speedlite, fixed to the camera. Exposure time was 30 seconds. As no other light source was used, the shape of the object is very clearly defined against the white background.
This second shot used a combination of a light source behind the object (led light torch) and light from the window to the left. Exposure time was 6 seconds. The lighting at the back, and lack of frontal lighting, ensures that there is little detail apart from the shape of the object.
Form
This shows how three-dimensional an object is.
This photograph was taken using two artificial light sources. The main light was the diffused spotlight placed slightly above and at 45 degrees to the left in front of the object. The secondary light source was the led torch from the right hand side at the level of the object. Exposure time was 10 seconds. Here, the shadows and reflections combine to indicate the volume of the object.
In the second shot in this category, the only light source in the darkened room was the led torch at the left-hand side and level with the object. Exposure time was 4 seconds. Whilst there wasn't as much illumination as the previous photograph, with the result that there aren't as many reflections, there is a clear indication of the depth of the object.
Texture
Texture is "the quality of surface detail". With my chosen object, there were a number of things that could be highlighted - the shiny glaze, the slight cracking of the surface and the dust particles on the base. I adjusted my lighting to bring out these aspects.
By using the diffused tungsten spotlight as the main light, placed next to the camera, and the led torch to the right of the object at the same level, the glaze, in particular, shows up very well. The exposure for this shot was 8 seconds.
Using only the light from the window to the left of the object, I was able to emphasise the fine surface cracking and the layer of dust on the base. As there were no other sources of light, the exposure time was 30 seconds.
Colour
Perhaps because I had chosen this particular object, it was difficult to decide how to show the colour "as strongly as possible". In the end, I settled on the following as giving a 'true' colour representation, although there were other shots which made the object appear more 'vibrant' (and this could be achieved, also, by adjustments in the Camera Raw Adobe plug-in to Photoshop Elements).
This first photograph was illuminated by the diffused spotlight placed next to the camera and by the light from the window to the left. Exposure time was 6 seconds. I reduced the exposure setting by half a stop in Photoshop.
The second was taken with the light from the diffused led torch on the right-hand side and bounced flash from the Canon Speedlite, mounted on the camera. I increased the exposure setting by half a stop in Photoshop.
Conclusion
More that any of the other assignments, I am unsure whether the photographs taken are suitable to show what is required. I guess I could have chosen a different object to study - one with more colour, for instance - but the one chosen did have its challenges in terms of the glazed surface. Despite the absence of 'professional lighting, I think that I was able to use what I had available in an imaginative way and I now have a much better appreciation of lighting as a subject and of how challenging it can be.
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