I learnt what PECHA-KUCHA (20:20) was, the meaning of this is 'quick and to the point'. We will be expected to create a PowerPoint that represents 20:20, we will have 20 slides to fill and have 20 seconds to talk about each one, Andy showed us his example of a PowerPoint and just how difficult it can be if we don't prepare ourselves for it, to make sure that we are ready we should be practising at home to ensure that each slide is within the time limit and to also make notes about each photograph so we always have something to talk about.
I learnt the meaning of Scheimpflug - Is a geometric rule that describes the orientation of the plane of focus of an optical system (such as a camera) when the lens plane is not parallel to the image plane. It is commonly applied to the use of camera movement on a view camera.
In lectures we will be expected to take a photograph of an object in 5 different types of light and then go back to the lecture room and discuss what we have done, throughout this year we will be creating a paper-based portfolio of 6 'objects' photographs.
I have been researching photographers that interest me in this subject, I am excited about getting my portfolio started.
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On the 12/11/2011 we had to present our 20:20 (Pecha - Kucha) to the whole class, each person took it in time to show us what they know about lighting and creative techniques and still life, or what they have found out through research. I included information in my presentation that I found interesting and what would be knowledgeable to everybody else.
I talked about what I thought where simple ways or creating a great still life photograph, for example:
- Simple backdrop
- Angles
- Ratios
- Contrast
- Light
Simple backdrop
Try not to use a backdrop that contains wrinkles and ridges as this will distract the viewer from the main subject, keep it smooth and simple.
Angles
Think about the position of the lights to the subject and the position of the subject to the camera. Side lighting will give dimension but so will the angle at which you take your photograph from. Sometime photographs can be more interesting with a new perspective.
Ratio
Lighting ratio in photography refers to the comparison of key light (the main source of lights from which shadows fall) to fill the light (the light that fills in the shadow area)
Contrast
Whatever your using,
- Strobes
- Speedlights
- LED's
The main light should be the strongest and the second light should just simply provide a nice fill.
Light for shape
We see life 3 dimensionally, the most dynamic photographs are the ones in which the viewer could walk into the scene or reach out and touch the object.
I then went on to talk about some of the work of other photographers that I liked, here are just a few examples of the work I included in my presentation,
Leszek Kobusinski
Joshua Scott
Bill Gekas
I actually enjoyed doing my presentation, it can seem quite daunting but a 20:20 its not that long at all and when you have finished you can feel happy with yourself.
For next weeks lesson Andy has asked us to bring in our house keys and any object that will fit on the table in the studio as we are going to be taking some still life photographs.
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On the 19/10/2011 our class got to use the studio to take photographs of an object that we had brought in from home. I decided to bring in quite a small object (Thomas the tank engine train) to see what I could do to give it some character. I used the table top photography bench, two lamps, coloured tissue paper and a flash trigger.
To start off with I just took a few photographs on a faster shutter speed with 400 ISO to see what kind of image it would create. I then decided to use a slower shutter speed so I set the fstop to 2" and the ISO to 100 and then I set the white balance to flash as this was what I thought worked best as I was set up to the two lamps with a trigger. To make sure that there was no movement to my camera when the photograph was being taken I attached my Nikon to a tripod. I did this because if you are using a slower shutter speed and there is any movement to the camera the image that you have captured will look disorientated and blurry.
I played around with my camera and its setting to see what worked best for me, I even put blue and red tissue paper in front of one of the lamps to see what effect it would create to my photograph.
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We then looked at a copylighting
Then we looked at underlighting, this is when we turned off the other two lights that are placed at 45 degrees and just turned on the light that is placed under the table,
We then went on to add black cardboard to the table to see what results we would get,
Now doing a very similar setup but adding another light in, at the back off the table at a 45 degree angle,
We then decided to change the perfume bottle to one that is coloured than see through, took away one piece of black card and moved the 45 degree angled light to the front right hand corner of the table and turned off the underneath light,
We then kept the setup near enough the same, just lowered the light,
The shadow seems to be a bit shorter and the table seems to look a bit more lighter, exposure 1/125, ISO 400.
This setup consists of a light under the table and a light on the corner at the right hand side which is still at 45 degrees and the black cardboard has been taken away,
Now the next setup has a lot going on, a light underneath, a light at the right hand corner at a 45 degree, black card to the left of the bottle and a silver sheet tilted at the back of the perfume bottle,
As you can see we tried quite a few setups, it just shows that you might not change that much with the lights or objects that you are using but your photograph does change and it can make a big difference with just adding something as simple as a piece of black card.
We then went into the other studio to take a few portrait photographs using different ratios to see what affect we got then. Firstly Andy told us the different between a continuous light,
Continuous light
and flash lights,
Flash light
There is quite a few difference between continuous light and flash light, one of them being obvious from their names. Continuous is a white light that stays on until you actually turn it off, a flash light is a lot more complex, you have a trigger on your camera and one attached to the flash head, when you take a photograph the trigger on your camera triggers the flash to go off, you can change how strong you have the flash, you can also have it on lamp, beep or cell, you just push down the switch that you want it on. If you change the strength of light that you want you should always manual trigger it just to make sure it has changed.
We then talked about ratios, lighting ratio in photography refers to the comparison of key light (the main source of light from which shadows fall) to fill the light (the light that falls in the shadow area). The higher the lighting ratio, the higher the contrast of the image, the lower the image the lower the comtrast.
Light can be measured in footcandles, a key light of 100 footcandles and a fill light of 100 footcandles have a 1:1 ratio (a ratio of one to one). A keylight of 800 footcandles and a fill light off 200 footcandles has a ration of 4:1.
The ratio can be determined in relation to Fstop since each increase in Fstop is equal double the amount of light: 2 to the power of the difference in Fstop is equal to the first factor in the ratio. For example, a difference in two Fstops between key and fill is 2 squared, or 4:1 ratio. A difference in 3 stops is 2 cubed, or a 8:1 ratio. No difference is equal to 2 to the power of 0, for a 1:1 ratio.
In situations such as motion picture lighting sometimes the lighting ratio is described as a key plus fill to fill alone. A light meter can automatically calculate the ratio of key plus fill to fill alone.
Common Lighting Ratios | ||
| Ratio | Stops Difference | Description |
| 1:1 | No Difference | Flat lighting |
| 1:2 | 1 Stop | General color photography |
| 1:3 | 1 1/2 Stops | General black & white photography |
| 1:4 | 2 Stops | Dramatic lighting, low key |
| 1:8 | 4 Stops | Very dramatic, low key |
We then took a picture of a water bottle to see the difference of light that you get from using a flash light instead of a continuous light,
Micheal then sat on a stool so we could take a few different pictures while changing the light on the flash head,
As you can see from this image that I have taken, the flash lights have been placed in a particular way at a 45 degree angle, you can also see that my image seems quite orange so I change my white balance on my camera to incandescent (tungsten).
Andy asked us to set our cameras to 1/500, incandescent, F22 and ISO 100 to see what kind of image we would get,
A black line appeared across most peoples images, this was because the shutter speed was faster than the flash.
Ao we then set our cameras to 1/250, Fstop 22 and ISO 100, this is the image I got,
because we were making the aperture smaller it means that the size of the hole gets bigger which then means more light is able to get into the camera. So we changed the settings on our cameras again to aperture 1/125, ISO 100 and Fstop 22 and we got a clear photograph,
The image is sharp and there are no black lines running through image.
It was very knowledgeable going through different ways of how to photograph an object or person, I have learnt many things in this class, a couple of things being, a 45:45 lighting setup, copylighting, when photographing a person, one light should be shinning on the subjects face and the other should be shinning a bit lower down and all about ratios.
Inverse Square Law
The inverse square law is basically when an object that is twice the distance from a point source of light will receive a quarter of the illumination. So what it means to a photographer is that if you move your subject 3 meters away to 6 meters away, you will need 4 times the amount of light for the same exposure. This can easily be achieved by opening the lens aperture by 2 Fstops or using a flash gun that is 4 times as powerful.
2x the distance is 1/4 as bright, and 1/2 the distance is 4x brighter (2 stops)
3x the distance is 1/9 as bright, and 1/3 the distance is 9x brighter (8x is 3 stops)
4x the distance is 1/16 as bright, and 1/4 the distance is 16x brighter (4 stops), etc.
Andy asked us to set our cameras to 1/500, incandescent, F22 and ISO 100 to see what kind of image we would get,
Ao we then set our cameras to 1/250, Fstop 22 and ISO 100, this is the image I got,
It was very knowledgeable going through different ways of how to photograph an object or person, I have learnt many things in this class, a couple of things being, a 45:45 lighting setup, copylighting, when photographing a person, one light should be shinning on the subjects face and the other should be shinning a bit lower down and all about ratios.
Inverse Square Law
The inverse square law is basically when an object that is twice the distance from a point source of light will receive a quarter of the illumination. So what it means to a photographer is that if you move your subject 3 meters away to 6 meters away, you will need 4 times the amount of light for the same exposure. This can easily be achieved by opening the lens aperture by 2 Fstops or using a flash gun that is 4 times as powerful.
2x the distance is 1/4 as bright, and 1/2 the distance is 4x brighter (2 stops)
3x the distance is 1/9 as bright, and 1/3 the distance is 9x brighter (8x is 3 stops)
4x the distance is 1/16 as bright, and 1/4 the distance is 16x brighter (4 stops), etc.
Here is a link for inverse square law, it explains it really well,
http://fstoppers.com/photography-made-easy-inverse-square-law
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On the 9/11/2011 we went through light modifiers to start off with, these are a few examples,
Here is also an image showing a variation off light modifiers,
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On the 9/11/2011 we went through light modifiers to start off with, these are a few examples,
Softbox
Reflectors
Umbrella
Here is also an image showing a variation off light modifiers,
Light modifiers soften shadows by either refracting the light through a translucent material or bouncing the light off another surface, or some combination of the two.
If you refract the light through a translucent material, that material becomes the new and larger light source. The size of the light source will determine the softness of the shadows, i.e. softboxes and shoot through umbrellas.
Also there are grids,
Grids are another great modifier, they actually act like a spotlight. They go over, just go right over the light, and the honeycomb pattern works to direct the light into a very specific spot, and then also it diffuses the light really nice. The other, grids come in all different kinds of sizes, for all different kinds of reflectors, and also in very different honeycomb patterns. You can get them in, ten degree, twenty degree and thirty degree, it just means the holes in them are wider and it covers a larger area. The nice thing about a grid that I like is that the light is almost as soft as a softbox and when you put it directly on something you get a nice focused spot of soft light, depending on the grid pattern, right on the spot where you want it. The other thing is if you want it to be a little bit softer, you can throw a piece of diffusion over it, produces a really nice pretty light. You usually use grids when want to spotlight something. In a portrait, you tend to use it right on someones face when you really want it to pop out. You might also use it on like something in the background to make it really stand out.
Andy then asked us to go off in a group and play around with the lights and see what images we could get from a Kenzo perfume bottle that he had supplied us with, here are the images that I got,
I used different kinds of light modifiers with each image, at first I was just using one light with a grid in, then I used a softbox, then both a softbox and a spot light and then went in to use two strobe lights, for each one I got a different output. Also half way through taking photographs I added a black cloth to the table to see what kind of result I would get. In my own opinion my photographs got better with every attempt.
Also we went through the definition of Hi-key and Lo-key lighting,
Hi-key: High key is a lighting technique which produces images that are bright and not too contrasty. High key photos are characterized by the dominance bright tones and the lack, if not absence, of shadows.
Lo-key: For low key images, less lights are often used but precision is required in the application of the lighting to control important shadow detail. Successful low key lighting is often directed towards camera from behind the subject and is flagged to avoid spill and directed to bring out edge detail or a create a chiaroscuro effect. The skill is in making sure that the areas of importance are either pinpointed with controlled pools of low powered light or the careful application of reflectors.
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On the 23/11/2011 we visited Blackburn museum, the tour guide showed us around and told us a bit of information on each room, he said that some of the exhibitions are permanent and some of them are just temporary.
For our brief we have to have 6 images, if we want to photograph something that is on display at the museum all we have to do is email the museum and ask, they will then email us back telling us whether it is possible or not. This is very helpful a there was a couple of things that I would like to photograph but we also have to take in to consideration that the museum only has 15% of its art and memorabilia on display, 85% of it is being stored, if we really wanted to photograph a certain thing all we have to do is email them and ask them if they have got it.
I found all this very interesting and hopefully I will be paying the museum a visit in the next couple of weeks and there are a few objects I want to photograph.
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On the 14/12/2011 I answered some questions that Andy asked,
Have you?
· Photographed your macro/close up image, are you happy with the result – Yes I have photographed my candle and I am happy with it, it shows the flame and the wick in a picturesque way.
· Attempted a mini set build – Yes I have completed my mini set build, I used my historical item in a container of water and added a scuba diver so I got the effect of a shipwreck way down under the ocean.
· Photographed a product, a commercially viable one – Yes I have photographed my commercial product in a way I think would impress at client, I used soft lighting on my packet of M&M’s to get the effect I wanted.
· If you have done reflective, have you checked that reflections/specular highlights are professionally appropriate – I have taken an image of my engagement ring and the reflections are good and I have achieved specular highlights. I like the reflection on the studio table that I gained from this shot.
· Revisited the museum or located a historic object of your own – I used my own historical item which is a ship that has been in our family for many years and used it as part of my mini set build
Is your?
· Research material in order and does it include visual and written examples – Yes, all my research is on my blog, it has my own written work and images and research information and images
· Image evaluation, spell checked – My evaluations are complete and I have spell checked it and got someone to proof read it
· Box/folder labeled with your name and the module name and number – Need to find a box that I am happy with
· Printing organized and booked in, do you have enough ink and paper, if you are doing it yourself – I have given my images on a USB pen to Kevin so when I get back after Christmas they will be printed out for me
I wasn't sure on what specular highlight was so I researched it: is the bright spot of light that appears on shiny objects when illuminated (for example, see image at right). Specular highlights are important in 3D computer graphics, as they provide a strong visual cue for the shape of an object and its location with respect to light sources in the scene.
I have completed my 6 still life photographs so I have given my USB to Kevin and I have completed my evaluations for each one but over the half term I will make sure that they all have all the right and most informative information that I can include.
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