Use of Natural Light

Silhouette photography is a wonderful way to convey drama, mystery, emotion and mood in a picture. (Smashing Magazine)

Hilton discusses the principle advantage of studio lighting - tungsten and flash - as providing the photographer with consistent lighting for predictable results. Whereas daylight is not consitent nor predictable influenced by time of day, weather, season, warm or cool lighting.

Bibliography:

Better Photo.com undated, Silhouette Pictures, viewed 2 April 2011

dpreview.com undated, Indoor portrait shot using only window light, viewed 2 April 2011

Hilton, J undated, Studio Portrait Photography, RotoVision SA, Hove, England

Smashing Magazine 2009, Captivating Examples of Silhouete Photography, viewed 2 April 2011

Wikipedia 2011, Silhouette, viewed 2 April 2011

Wikipedia 2011, Portrait photography, viewed 2 April 2011

The Portrait and background

Since we had so much time available to shoot I've posted and evaluated three portraits I took on 30 March. I've included the original image and the final versions.

For the first photo I found two women sitting in the courtyard talking. When I approached them about taking a photo they both initially said no but when I explained it was for an assignment this woman agreed but said she would just continue her conversation with her friend. This made it more difficult to take a traditional portrait so it is more an environmental portrait.

Details: 1/50 f7.1 ISO 100

I wanted to isolate the woman from her friend so took it from a position in front of the friend, there was not too much distance between them and they were not willing to do anymore than allow a photo to be taken.

Original

Considering the restraints put on me by the subject the shot as it stands is not very well composed and needed some treatment. Although not readily visible in these jpg photos the brick wall is very soft when viewed at 100%.

Post Processing: Cropped the right hand side to get rid of the grey doors so the only background was the red brick wall. The crop resulted in removal of some of the subjects left shoulder and arm but conveniently placed her in the right third of the image giving 2/3 of the area to indicate she is gazing at something/someone outside the frame.

The exposure was increased less than 1/3 stop, contrast raised slightly and the image was sharpened.

Post Processing

The final image is more flattering to the sitter and works as a portrait.

The second photo is of one of the coffee shop workers who was having a break. Again another reluctant subject not willing to pose but OK with having her photo taken while she continued her discussion with people at the table.

Details: 1/100 f4 ISO 100

Original

Post Processing: increased the exposure by 1 stop and sharpened.

Original photo obviously underexposed because I failed to compensate in the manual exposure mode for the brightness of the subjects shirt and the light building in the background. I used f4 to purposely throw the background out of focus as much as possible; f4 is the widest aperture of the lens being used.

I intended to get the subject as natural as possible. At first she kept trying to hold a position for me to take the photo. I told her to just carry on as she was with her conversation and I would make the image when she was being natural. It didn't take long before she seemed to forget I was there allowing me to get the image.

Post Processing

As a photograph the image came out well as a snapshot but as a portrait I feel this image does not cut it. It is lacking something that I just can't quite put my finger on. Perhaps it is lack of engagement with the viewer.

The third subject was much more agreeable to posing outside the coffee shop. I wanted to use the umbrella as the background by taking the photo from a low angle. Couldn't quite get the angle I wanted and the subject jumped up on the bench to accommodate and make it possible to use the umbrella for the background. One problem with the umbrella was it was impossible to get the subject positioned where the arms or centre of the umbrella were not visible.

Details: 1/25 f4 ISO 400

Original

Post Processing: cropped, increased exposure by 1/3 stop, sharpened, slight noise reduction to soften skin.

Post Processing

Good portrait, engaging with viewer. The bar over her left shoulder is distracting and should be cloned out. I did not clone as I'm trying to present the works with the least amount of manipulation. The close cropping and square format works well. Overall this would be my choice portrait of the three.

Research Assignment 1 Admired Photographer

I chose the work of Don Fuchs a Sydney based freelance international photojournalist (www.dfuchs.com). The reason I chose Don is twofold, I like his work and I had an opportunity, with one other photographer, to work with him on a three day photo shoot in April 2010 capturing a variety of images for the Goulburn Mulwaree Council’s Goulburn & Surrounds Visitor Guide.

Don uses Nikon camera uses available light adjusting his White Balance setting to the lighting situation. Lens he used most at the above shoot was his 80-200mm and a wide angle for interiors.

Following images © Don Fuchs

Aboriginal Boy

The shot seems to have been taken in the mid-morning sunlight that suits the image of an Aboriginal living in the desert area of Australia. The light is strong, based on the dark shadow on half the face and shoulder, but not too harsh and brings out the yellow paint on his face and chest. Rembrandt style was used with the triangle of light on the subject’s shaded side of the face. A large aperture was used to get the background out of focus probably f2.8, the background person is not too close to the subject. Suspect it was shot with an 80-200mm.

The boy is centred and fairly tightly cropped on the sides with lot of room above the head. Lovely portrait. Lighting is a little harsh to reflect the country in which the boy resides and quite strong light is needed to capture the features of dark skinned people.

Corporate

Corporate office photo of one of the executives of Linfox transport company. Interior shot with a wide-angle lens, small aperture to have the truck, subject, painting, and exterior building in focus, f32. Natural lighting coming from the window on the photographers left lighting the subjects right side yet there is still good light on his left side with only minor shadow. Bounce of natural light from the white wall and possibly a wall or reflector just out of frame on the photographers right could provide a soft fill light. Lighting is soft and the light from the window with the large DoF may be to show that Linfox appreciates clean air that is juxtaposed to the model that symbolises their business.

Resort

Interior shot of a room at a resort. Lighting – there are a number of tungsten lights visible lighting various areas. Look to be some natural lighting to the photographer’s left and slightly behind maybe sliding glass doors. There appears to be a shadow on the floor at the foot of the bed so their might be a studio or flash to the photographers right. Taken with a normal 50mm lens or a Tilt Shift lens, as there does not seem to be any distortion in the photo. Lighting gives a warm welcoming feel to the room.

Chickens

Interior shot with fluorescent lighting. It also looks as though the photo was taken from the exterior of a shop, open air market, and the vertical red strips are hanging from an unseen wire. Quite a large depth of field using a small aperture was used, probably f16. Based on the angle of view probably shot with a wide-angle lens. Lighting shows a well-lit and apparently clean environment with the birds laid out in an orderly fashion and clean white tile splashboard behind the woman and sink. Shows that this business has nothing to hide in the hygiene department.

Exercise

Wide-angle lens, natural exterior light on a cloudy day making the light soft and the window acting like a big soft box. Interior tungsten lights visible and turned on and there may be more outside the camera view to help illuminate the subject and large white reflector of some sort behind photographer to provide lite on the subject. Very small aperture used, f32, because of all the clear distractions seen outside – stuff on veranda, neighbours washing hanging out and buildings quite far from the subject. The incandescent lighting gives a warm and airy feeling to the large room and the cloud-muted sunlight through the windows gives the feeling of fresh air. While the small aperture mentioned above we might see distractions but some would see that the air is clean, clear and fresh enough to hang out laundry and breath deeply.

Horseman

The caption of this photo is “A horseman in Hiva Oa, the Marquesas” taken in French Polynesia helped me to read the photo as a man sitting on a horse, thus his upright posture, with the wind blowing across the island and his hair blowing. Taken in direct sunlight as indicated by the highlights on his forehead, under his eyes, and on his shoulder. Lens was a zoom with aperture f5.6 or f8 to get he wooded area and sky out of focus. Lighting in this case is harsh and rough like the Horseman himself.

Assessment criteria:
Yes, submitted blog containing sufficient and relevant research.
Yes, submitted a typed analysis of the images.
Yes, demonstrated an organised and self disciplined approach to performance.
Yes, participated and contributed towards group learning.

High, extent of the exploration.
High, evidence of appropriate research skills.