Assignment 4 - redo

Encouraged by Alan (my tutor) I have done a rethink of this exercise and replaced a lot of the photos.

1.      Rollei shape 1 :           no change

2.      Rollei shape 2 :           no change

3.      Rollei form 1 :            no change

4.      Rollei form 2 :            new view from above with a partial side view

Rollei form 2: f/22, 90mm efl, 2.5 sec, ISO 100

5.      Rollei texture 1: monochrome image of whole camera focusing on the knobbly black metal case

Rollei texture 1: f/5, 90mm efl,  1/30 sec, ISO 100

6.      Rollei texture 2: partial view of top of camera showing the ridges in the viewfinder and the grain in the leather

Rollei texture 2: f/3.5, 90mm efl, 1/30 sec, ISO 160

7.      Rollei colour 1: back of camera showing colour in worn leather (natural light)

Rollei colour 3: f/3.2, 90mm efl, 1/125 sec, ISO100

8.      Rollei colour 2: side view of whole camera  colour in undamaged  leather (natural light)

Rollei colour 2: f/2.8, 90mm efl, 1/125 sec, ISO 100

9. Rollei colour 3: looking inside

ISO 250, f/2.8, 90mm efl, 1/60 sec.

Rethinking this assignment was an interesting exercise. It was hard to think of different ways to show such an iconic camera. All pictures were taken with my Panasonic G1, mainly with a 45mm (90) prime lens. The exposure was metered by the camera.

I have a single camera mounted flash, which can be swivelled to bounce light and no other photographic lighting so the still life shots were done with a variety of household lights and then colour corrected in Lightroom3 where required. The monochrome image was edited in Silver Efex pro 2.

These images are different than the previous set, and, I think, improved. There is a wider range of lighting used and more techniques shown.

Post Assignment 4

Feeling rather flat at the present. Not a very good response to my last assignment. Pictures too similar and lighting also too similar, both comments fair, but I had tried to take them inside and under artificial light deliberately, this is always something I find hard.

Wondering whether to start again completely – or to take some more and go outside (if it ever stops raining).

Also need to use more explanations of what and how, I tend to put it in this blog, but still not in enough detail. Not sure how to do this bit, self reflection  is not my strong point – so make a check list.

before:

• think about what you are taking
• why are you taking it?
• what detail are you concentrating on?
• what light are you using?
• shutter speed and aperture
• focal point

afterwards:

• did it work?
• if so – why
• if not – why not
• what settings did you use
• what lighting
• what post-processing

This should help. Less and better is the aim.

Assignment 4: Applying Lighting Techniques

I spent a long tome considering possibilities for this assignment and eventually decided to photograph an old Rollei camera that my step-father used 40 or more years ago.  This camera has personal meaning to me as watching him use it started me on taking photos, it has meaning as a piece of photographic history as a camera everyone recognises and it also has some very interesting detailing.

All the images were taken inside on backgrounds of card or black velvet. The lighting was supplied by a standard household bulb in  a flexible table lamp.

All images were taken in RAW and processed using Lightroom 2 and Photoshop Elements 8. Monochrome conversion was via Silver Efex Pro 2.

Shape.

Example 1.

ISO 400, f/3.2, 40mm efl, 0.8 sec

Here the additional lens gives an interesting shape with an  image that is almost a silhouette















Example 2.

ISO 400, f/4.4, 80mm efl, 1/8sec

The rollei without any additional lenses is almost a rectangular shape in silhouette.















Form.

Example 1.

ISO 400, f/4.5, 90mm efl, 1/20 sec

The rollei without any additional lenses or the viewfinder open is a simple box shape.













Example 2.

ISO 400, f/4.5, 90mm efl, 1/15 sec

When the viewfinder is opened the shape is still basically a rectangular box.













Texture.

Example 1.

ISO 400, f/4.5, 90mm efl, 0.4 sec

This image was taken against a black background and the light was shaded from half the picture, what light remains emphasises the texture in the viewfinder and the faux-leather side.

Example 2.

ISO 620, f/4.8, 48mm efl, 1/8 sec

Here the camera is in its leather case and the texture of the shiny leather is emphasised by the black on white contrast.

ISO 400, f/3.2, 90mm efl, 2.5 sec

The very overexposed effect caused by accidentally turning on the lamp during a long exposure has given an interesting effect of showing the texture and detail in the main body of the camera while loosing the edges. This gives a stylised effect similar to  a pen and ink picture.

Colour.

Example 1.

ISO 400, f/4.5, 90mm efl, 1/30 sec

There is little colour in the camera itself, black and silver, however, the leather case is a rich brown which contrasts against the pale blue background.

Example 2.

ISO 400, f/4.5, 90mm efl, 1/20 sec.

Here more of the leather case shows, this time against a neutral background, together with the lighter underside of the strap.

This possibly was not the easiest object to use for this set of images - but overall I am pleased with them. An object with a greater range of colours might have demonstrated the lighting effects better, but this was certainly an interesting exercise.

Exercise - Light though the day

This exercise should have been easy! I picked my spot and then ------ no sun. Every day that was a possibility for me (i.e. a weekend that I wasn't otherwise committed, wedding, work, family event) it either rained or was overcast.

Eventually I decided on another tack. This statue is of Andrew Carnegie. It is in our local park because he was born here and is our main local benefactor. I have taken lots of photos of it in different lights - so I went back over the last year and found some. They do not make up an entire day, and are not all at the same time of year, but they do show varying possibilities.

Taken approx 10am early this spring.

1 pm in the summer

1430 the same day (sun gone)

1530 (also in the summer)

1800 - but with no sun

1715 - against the sun

In the morning this statue is best seen from the front, in all his glory (plus seagulls usually).  By lunchtime the sun has moved around and lights the side view, and shadows are cast across the front. This does tend to highlight the 3-dimensional nature of the statue, and you can see the texture in the stone well. In the evening the back is lit, so you can either take from that side, or you can often get a very impressive silhouette, and (if you are lucky) a fabulous sky.

It is very important to consider time of day , and also time of year, when taking landscape images. You have no direct control over the direction of the light, and therefore the shadows at a given time, but watchful waiting, or indeed, returning another day either earlier or later may give you the image you want.

Exercise - Contrast and shadow fill

The aim here is to use a still life together with a fixed light and various reflectors to show the effect of reflected light on altering the contrast and the shadow.

This exercise was done with a simple still life, a household reading lamp (60 watt) and various sheets of card. The f/stop and focal length were kept the same. All RAW images were processed in Lightroom 2, with the exposure as given by the camera, and the contrast set to +50.

Overhead lighting ISO 400, 1/6 sec

The initial picture was taken with the general room lighting and has a 'flat' look. The contrast and shadow are minimal.

Side light - ISO 400, 1/20 sec

Here the picture is taken with a relatively bright light source coming from the left. There is high contrast and a lot of shadow. The right halves of the pots have little detail. The creases in the cloth are very visible (and exaggerated by the shadows).

With diffuser - ISO 400, 1/13 sec

Here the lamp is used via a diffuser, the general look is softened, with less harsh shadows, however there is still very little detail visible in the right hand side. The exposure has had to be lengthened.

 I then experimented with the reflectors. The tablecloth was slightly straightened when placing the card in position. Nothing else was altered. The exposure remains as chosen by the camera's light meter, ISO 400, 1/20 sec exposure.

White reflector - far away - ISO 400, 1/20 sec

Here a white sheet of card placed about 1 metre from the arrangement has been used to reflect the light. Using a reflector has definitely increased the amount of light on the right hand side, although it is still slightly dark. It also seems to have had the effect of changing the colour temperature. I have deliberately not altered this in the post-processing.

White reflector - near - ISO 400, 1/20 sec

Moving the white card nearer to the pots has evened out the light slightly more. The shadows are now much more even.

Dull foil reflector -  ISO 400, 1/20 sec

On moving to using a silver reflector made of the dull side of kitchen foil, the contrast is increased again, although there is more of a reflection showing on the gold bands and handles. This is more obvious on a larger image.

Shiny foil reflector - ISO 400, 1/20 sec

The shiny side of the foil has reflected more light back onto the pots, with more of a glitter in the gold handle. The shadows are very definite here, possibly because even with reflected light the  cloth is remains in shade .

Crumpled foil reflector - ISO400, 1/.20 sec

There is little difference here with the reflector made from crumpled foil, although on close inspection the light is reflected onto slightly different areas of the pots.

The difference between the last 3 images is subtle and much more visible with a larger image. They would probably be much more obvious with a stronger light , as much of the light will have 'diffused' naturally across the length of the  set up (approx.2 metres). It would be worth repeating the exercise with everything much closer together or with a more powerful light source. The images with side lighting and contrast are much more interesting than the first one with the overhead light. 

In the images by Stieglitz and Weston shown as examples the shadow is essential to give definition to the faces, they would have been much less interesting without them.

Learning points:

• side lighting can be much more interesting than overhead
• a household light bulb has limitations!
• diffusing the light can give a softening of contrast, without loosing it altogether
• home-made reflectors with kitchen foil do work
• the distance between light, subject and reflector is important.

Exercise - The Lighting Angle

In this exercise you are looking at the different effects produced by lighting an image from a variety of different sides and heights. All else is kept equal.

Lighting level and in front

Here the lighting comes from in front of the statue of the cats. Most of it is well lit.

Lighting level and from side

Here the light is from the side, only a small amount of the cats are lit, with most of the faces in deep shadow.

Lighting level and behind to the side

Here the cats are virtually unlit, other than a rim of light around the left side, little detail is visible.

Lighting level and behind

Here the lighting comes via the diffuser directly behind the cats, this forms a silhouette, with some vignetting effect showing the shape of the bulb.

Lighting 45deg. and from  in front

The lighting has now been raised and is coming from about a 45 degree angle above the statue. This shows the shapes of the heads and upper parts of the bodied well.

Lighting 45deg. and from the side

Here the side lighting is ineffective in showing the planes of the cats. The overall shape is shown, but with little detail.

Lighting 45 deg. and behind to the side

This is more successful and shows some rim lighting on top of the cats heads as well as showing the shapes of the bodies.

Lighting 45 deg. and behind.

I am not sure why this has come out with such a different colour than the rest. Here the lights almost give a silhouette, but her is some light showing on the cats heads, and just enough on the bodies to act to separate the two cats.

Lighting above and centre

Here the light is held directly above the statue, the top edges are lit, but the rest is in darkness.

Lighting above and in front

In this one more of the cat is shown in detail and the faces are modelled more clearly.

Lighting above and behind

Oddly enough this is successful - with enough light coming though between the statues to illuminate the body of the smaller cat.

In retrospect this exercise would have been better if carried out using a lighter statue, possibly one with colour. In the full images (not made smaller for the web) the changes in  light patterning are much more visible showing a wide range of possibilities.

Out of these my preferred image is the last one, although the first one shows most detail.

Experimentation with Flash

While I had the flower pot in place I experimented with using the 'on camera' flash both directly and bouncing it of a multi-surface reflector, that gave a variety of possibilities, white, black, silver and gold. I also tried this using the AWB and the camera 'flash' white balance.  None of the images have been altered in photoshop.

AWB - direct flash

AWB and direct flash, This gave a very similar effect to using a direct single undiffused bulb, although the shadow edges are slightly less harsh and are directly behind the plant. The colour is too blue

Flash WB - direct flash

Here the white balance was set to the camera's 'flash ' setting. The colour is much too yellow and seems slightly overexposed.

AWB - silver reflector

Here the flash is bounces off a sliver reflector placed to the right of the flowers. The shadows are considerable softer, and the overall image less blue.

AWB - white reflector

Here the colour is again slightly blue, but the shadows are nicely softened, and the leaves show very well.

AWB - black reflector

Using a black 'reflector' to bounce the light off interestingly gives much deeper shadows, and more detail in the pot, with less reflection from it, however the image is too cold

AWB - gold reflector

As would be expected the gold reflector gives a much warmer image, and overall a very pleasant effect. The plants leaves are probably slightly too yellow but the pot is not over-exposed with a blown highlight, and the table is the correct colour.

I did repeat all the variations with the camera's flash setting for white balance, but they were all unpleasantly yellow, and there was little difference visible using the various reflectors.

In this instance I prefer the picture taken using the silver reflector, but I think the gold one is equally pleasing, just a less accurate colour rendition. 

This is certainly worth exploring further, especially when taking pictures of people using flash either inside or as an adjunct outside.

Exercise - Softening the Light

This exercise involves look at the effect of a diffused on a harsh light and examining the difference. For this exercise I used a plant in a glass pot. The plant has a large number of this leaves that cast a detailed shadow, and the glass pot gives a bright reflection.

ISO 400, f/14, 36mm efl, 0.6 sec

This is the image without any diffusion to the light. The light source came from in front, slightly angled to my camera, as this gave the best shadow pattern. The shadows are harsh, and the glass pot throws a bright highlight. The shadows give a strongly 3-d look to the image.

ISO 400, f/14, 39mm efl, 0.8 sec

Here I used a diffuser in front of the light, the shadows have almost disappeared and have might softer edges and the lighting on the leaves is more even. The glass pot is still too bright. This image looks much 'flatter'.

The only difference in settings is in the slightly longer exposure. Overall I prefer the second image with the diffuser, although I might have liked slightly more shadows of the leaves. The first image is too harsh and there is less detail in the leaves.

Artificial Lighting–Indoors

I do not possess any photographic lighting equipment, this is partly because of cost and also because up to recently I have found no use for it. The main photographs I like to take are landscapes and flowers, so mostly outside and in the daytime.

Up to very recently I did not even possess a flash gun and relied on the on-camera flash, although I preferred not to use any flash at all and made a lot of use of timed exposures.

My first foray into photographic lighting has been to buy a flash gun for my camera. My camera does not appear to support syncing with a flash that is not attached to the hot shoe – although I may yet find a way around that limitation so I can use the flash from away from the camera. However, at present I am still experimenting with the use of the flash and bouncing the flash of a variety of surfaces to give variation to the light and to use it as a ‘fill’ flash.

The exercises here have been carried out with a mixture of household lighting and the help of my son. he makes an excellent light stand! However the lights tends to be les bright than I might wish and also less focused. The new regulations for the type of obtainable light bulbs, (CFL’s using low power) are making the use of these lights less and less practical.

I have enjoyed working with ‘still life’ type images for this course, and am starting to feel limited by the equipment I can access so may acquire some more lighting, the difficulty is in knowing exactly what is needed.

ISO 640, f/5.5, 70mm efl, 1/10 sec

 Lit with overhead lighting from a large CFL ceiling light, and post-processed via Lightroom 2 and Siver Efex Pro 2 this old water jug with a pewter lid shows its complex shape well.

Artifical Lighting

As an adjunct to the exercise taking photos outside at night, I looked for some images that were taken indoors under artificial, and uncontrolled - at least by me, lighting.

ISO - 800, f5.3, 1/15 sec

 Rock concerts - taken from a distance, with a small camera borrowed from my son. You get some very strange colours!

ISO 1000, f5.6, 28mm efl, 1/10 sec

Inside a castle - actually daylight outside, but very dim in here.

ISO 250, f/5.6, 90mm efl, 1/60 sec

Ceiling lighting in our local shopping center, I think fluorescent - but I am not sure.

ISO 400, f/3, 1/100

And in contrast, a light in the Abbot House, an old building, used mainly as a cafe.

ISO 2000, f/4.4, 40mm efl, 1/8 sec

Son et luminiere - at the local Abbey

ISO 1600, f/5.6. 28mm efl, 0.4sec

and another view of the lit pillars

f/2.8, 1/6 sec

The staircase in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh.

f/2.8, 1/6 sec

All I did here was to push the saturation up to maximum. The colours must have come from the light, again I am not sure what kind, probably fluorescent as it was cold, and anything hot would have been dangerous.

All of these were hand held, and opportunistic,  the results of simply carrying a camera everywhere. However, I do not carry a tripod, and therefore many were taken at very high ISO settings, and hence grainy or at very slow shutter speeds , and blurred, or even both. I have a small gorilla-pod - its needs to live in my bag, next to my everyday camera!