STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY - 45 DEGREE LIGHTING

In the studio, there are a number of lighting techniques which may be employed. In the following, I have used a pineapple, since it is quite an interesting fruit to observe. I have used various equipment which I will detail as I go along, to create a number of different lighting effects. Throughout, I have used my Nikon D80 SLR, and a tripod, in order that I could achieve the same angle of view in each picture, which in turn allows me to see the full effect of my lighting in comparison to each technique.

The first photograph employs 45 DEGREE lighting. Here I positioned my subject on a still life studio table, and positioned my studio light with a soft box diffuser at a 45 degree angle to the rear of my subject, with the light on the same level as my subject. It should be noted that greater contrast can be achieved by using a naked light rather than with a diffuser. The camera was set to ISO 200, and since the flash sync. speed of my D80 is 125th of a second, this was the shutter speed I used. Using a light meter, I established that the correct exposure was f11. The focal length of my lens was 45mm.

This type of light casts a shadow to the opposite side of the subject to the light source. This technique can be used to highlight a specific part of your subject, for example, if this were a person, to highlight and make interesting contrast to their face. You could then use a reflector to fill in the light to the darker side to your liking. You can read more about this type of technique in Langford's Basic Photography, Focal Press, 8th Edition, 2007, section 7.

TWO WEEKLY PICTURE PROJECT

These were my images for "Time", one being the idea of the sands of time, and the other a bit of a spoof, referring to the time lords.

TWO WEEKLY PICTURE PROJECT

This is my take on an English Breakfast for the two weekly picture project. I took it using available daylight in my kitchen and deliberately focused on the toast corners, with the hint of the egg in the background to draw the viewers eye into the scene.

LOCATION PHOTOGRAPHY - MAGIC HOUR LIGHTING

Today I looked at MAGIC HOUR lighting, which is when the suns rays are almost finished, or just beginning, so 1 hour as dawn begins, or 1 hour before sundown. The light is at its most extreme angle casting long shadows and a beautiful soft side lighting. Contrasts are high and the autumn colours appear more vivid.

CREATE AND MAINTAIN A BLOG - HOW TO.....

In the first session at Blackburn University Centre I created my first blog.

After setting up your blog site, you click on NEW POST, give your blog a title, then click on the picture or video icon to upload your work. You can only upload Jpg images in roughly medium size files.

Click UPLOAD image. You should then label your post with relevant topic names so that other bloggers can look at relevant subject categories. Then simply decide whether to save it for now, or publish! BLOG DONE!!!

This image was taken at the beginning of magic hour -10th October 2009, 17.51 hrs, using a Nikon D80 Digital SLR, with an 18 - 55mm short zoom lens. ISO 400, Focal length 52mm, and using a tripod to avoid camera shake at slow shutter speeds, Aperture f.16, and shutter speed 1.6 seconds.

Although this is not the best example of magic hour lighting, you can start to see the side glow from the sun setting. So, you wait patiently, and watch the magic unfold......

PRACTICAL SESSIONS - Available Light Sources

This is under lighting using a daylight balanced light tube. This gives an eerie look to your subject, especially human ones, since we do not normally see the catch lights in the lower half of the eyes, as sunlight doesn't shine from below.
This may be used extensively in the movies to create eerie effects, drama and mood.

PRACTICAL SESSIONS - Available Light Sources

This is the effect you get when you use a daylight balanced light tube held overhead, as per the set up shown. This replicates the look you would achieve if looking upwards towards daylight, or sunlight, which is a natural human thing to do, so is quite effective.