ASSIGNMENT 4 – APPLYING LIGHTING TECHNIQUES

Gillian Ball 413218

www.gillballphotography.blogspot.co.uk

 

For this assignment I wanted a subject with versatility and different surfaces to work

with. I chose the shell because of these two features. The shell I choose has lots of

different textures and can be featured in many different ways, I tried quite a few and

have chosen the images I feel represent it in the best possible way.

I have photographed the shell in natural and artificial lighting situations using the

shadows to enhance some of the points I was trying to make. I personally like the set

up shots inside giving it a feel of being in it's natural environment and looking most

natural even though the photo was taken in a completely different set up.

Some of the images I took outside I am pleased with. The image on the plant pot was

taken in a series between the sun coming from behind the clouds to being fully out

and really shows the different lighting effects the natural light has. I also am

paticually fond of the images taken, again in natural light within the gravel. I wasn't

sure how these would turn out as the background is around the same colour as the

shells, but I feel this has given them a great effect and in some ways enhanced the

shells texture.

The overall feelings I have about this section of the course are that I have learned a

lot from the manual settings of my camera and the different feels the light can bring

out of an image. For example if the light is dull it can in some instances give

the image an eiry feel, whereas if the light is bright the images takes on a whole new

ambiance thus changing the feel of it completely.

 

SHAPE

 

For this section I used two different types of background to be able to see the

difference in shape definition. The first I used was a block of wood out side in

sunlight. I have chosen two images from the many taken which I think show the

shells shape in the best possible way.

Image one has the sunlight coming

form the right and is hitting the

shell directly to the side. The wood

background shows the shells lines

well and you can quite clearly see

the shape this forms. I think its also

a nice texture for the shell to be

sitting on as it contrasts with the

lines on its back.

Image two, has the light again

from the right but this time more to

the rear. Also the sun had faded

slightly making the shadows less

prominent and giving the shape a

more definite line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also took images on a plain background in indoor artificial lighting. I used white

instead of black as I thought this might reflect the light back up the shell giving the

sides a stronger line. Again I have picked two images a feel show this best.

 

In this image the light was directly above

and slightly to the right. Even with the

shadow on the image, the outline and

shape of the object can clearly be seen.

 

The lighting may be slightly bright and

this has resulted in the background

gaining a slight blue tint, however I feel

this works well against the shells colour

and enhances the overall image.

Image two. This image has a stronger shadow and therefore the tip of the shell

is in a darker place than the rest of the

body. Again I think this works well

within the image. The shape and outline

are again clearly visible and with the

focus being on the centre lines of the

shell the outline is out of focus and gives

the shell a softer appearance.

Out of these two images I prefer this one

as there is a lot more detail in that the

texture is seen more clearly and the

colour differences are shown, all this

while still showing the shape of the

object.

FORM

To show the form of the shell I used natural light for both ideas I had. One image was

photographed outside and one inside using the natural light from the window to

create the depth of the object. I tried to photograph the image through water, however

this became very difficult as the shells float for one and the effect wasn't the result I

was looking for with ripples taking away from the object itself. Therefore I have

decided not to include the images from this.

The images taken outside were shot on a glass table as I wanted to try something

different, something which would contrast the shells natural feel, and I think the

images have come out really nicely.

Image one has hardly any texture on the shell itself and having the reflection in the

table below it, gives the feel of 3D thus showing off the form of the shell in a

different yet effective way. This image uses the suns natural light to show the form of

it.

I used this idea as a replacement for shooting through water.

 

Image two shows two

shells in the same

lighting as the image

above. Again little

detail is shown giving

your full attention to

the shadows and

showing the form of

the object.

I gave this a tighter

crop than the above

image and shot it in

more of a downward

angle.

The indoor images I chose have been taken with the aid of a painted canvas. This

appeals to the nature of the shells and they benefit from this.

 

This image was taken just using the light through the window. This has created a

darker image and made the colours in the background dark and dingy. Having said

that the shells (which have been arranged to show the most shadows and create the

best effects) have created a great form and show the volume well.

For the next image I wanted to try it using to much light to see if this would show the

form better or worse.

 

As you can tell this

showed the lines on the

shells but not a lot of

anything else.

After spending a bit of

time in photo shop I

managed to create an

image I feel works.

I played with the levels on the histogram and by making the background darker and

enhancing the shells themselves, the form of the object has now become clear.

TEXTURE

The shell has two textures so I had to find two methods which would enhance both

the smooth inside and the rough curvature of the outside. Again I shot inside with

artificial light source and outside in natural. Inside I used a plain background and

outside I used the gravel. Both worked well after a lot of trial and error.

I deliberately focused on the bottom outside of the shell as this part is smooth as well

as the inside, however the inside is focused on in a lot of photos I looked at for

inspiration and research so I felt I'd use a different approach. I used a low diffused

light source in front and to the left of the shell to gain this effect. I like the way this

has turned out but it has caused some conversational debates among family as to

whether it should be like this!.

Image two, shows the rough

tip of the shell. This has

caused less debates! I

focused on the tip itself

giving the light and camera

the best angle to capture the

rough edges.

 

 

 

 

This was taken in natural sunlight. I was a bit concerned as to how this effect would

work with the aim being texture, however the overall effect achieved is, I feel, better

than anticipated and works very well with what I was trying to gain. I have left this

unprocessed and haven't altered the crop leaving the image how it was originally

taken. The smooth gravel contrasts well against the rough surface of the shells and in

the way they are arranged some of the smooth surfaces of the shells are shown here

to.

This part really challenges the best way to get the texture to be shown just right and

really influences the role in which light has to play in image construction.

COLOUR

  

This was by far the hardest task in this assignment. The shells have very little colour

in them and so creating colour (other than painting them) was going to prove

difficult. I thought about how light can change colour in different circumstances and

tried to work with this and I also used a colour filter as a second choice.

I used different coloured backgrounds for the shell in the hope that the light might

change slightly to give a different colour. This didn't happen but I think using the

different light sources made the difference. However having the backgrounds the way

they are does bring out the patterning on the shell and I like the effect it has created.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shot using a Blue filter...

Shot using a Red filter....

Using the coloured filters has created nice effects the only issue I can see with the

series of photos is that the crop is different on each image. The first image in the blue

sequence, I think is the best out of all of them. I also like the way the light can be

seen clearly getting brighter through the images. These were taken outside with the

sun gradually coming out from behind a cloud and has been shown as such through

the difference in the shadows.

The colour images taken on a coloured background have turned out better than

expected and have become my personal favourite coloured shots.