Lighting Techniques

Classic Portrait (overexposed)

The background for this photo was made using the black side of a reflector, as I didn't have access to any black sheet or cloth. I tried different ways of lighting this picture in order to capture the least amount of creases possible.

Environmental Portrait

This photograph is of my friend playing a game, and the main light source was the TV screen, which gave a blue tinge to the photo.

Natural Light - Using window

This was taken in front of a window in my house, I chose the room that was the most bare in order keep as much focus on the person as possible, and not have too much happening in the background. I also felt that a slightly lower angle shot would work with the position he is in and the way his eyes are positioned.

Natural Light - Split lighting

This photo was taken in my garden, I wanted to have a background that would contrast well with the person in the foreground, and have a split in the background as well as split lighting in his face.

Natural Light - Even tones

This photo I think could have been framed a lot better, as the house behind him provides a background that is too detailed and is slightly overpowering, which draws attention away from the person I photographed.

Lighting Portraits - Artificial Lighting

This photograph was lit using a television, which was fairly close to him. The lit curtains behind him create a contrast an makes the darker side of his face stand out more.

Close Up

This photograph is closer to a mid shot than a close up, as I have more of the rest of his body in the shot rather than his face. I also think the photo could have benefitted from using a reflector to project some more light on his face, but he shadows are also fairly interesting.

Mid Close

In this photographs the light source was behind me and was covered up slightly by the branches of the tree he is sat on.

Full length

Gold Reflector

Makes the image look warmer & more pleasant.

Silver Reflector

Creates higher key lighting and lower contrast.

White Reflector

Higher key lighting, lower contrast and softer light than silver and gold reflectors.

Creating Shadows & Shapes

A light source was placed on the other side of a door with a pattern on, which created the shadow and the lines I tried to make the lines line up with features of tis persons face, to make it resemble a tattoo or something thats on their face, rather than light.

Reflector Photographs

NO REFLECTOR

WHITE

SILVER

Evaluation

My final images images were taken at a sea life centre, and were photographs that focussed on coral and other plants that live in the ocean - similar to Vittoria Amati. My artist research also helped me with choosing what to photograph in term of the colour, as the artists i looked at all took very vibrant photographs, as so i wanted to emulate this in my work. The lighting for these images was not up to me as it was at a sea life centre, so i had to completely change what i was photographing if i didn't like the lighting - but luckily there was a good mixture of lighting and vibrant plant life.

My first final outcome was photographed at a mid angle and very close up, in order to capture the detail of the plant. I also shot at a high shutter speed of 1/30th of a second. I chose this angle to make it look larger and as if the person looking at the photo was swimming towards it. An issue I found with the photograph is that some parts of it are slightly too blurred, whereas the intention was for it to be a crisp and clear image. I also think I should have shot it at a lower angle to add some dramatic perspective, as the image as it is now doesn't look too visually striking or eye catching outside of the colour, whereas if I had shot it from a lower angle it would look much more interesting.

The second final outcome was of the same type of plant as the one in the first photo, but instead is a different part of it. This one is much larger and I shot at a shutter speed of 1/15th of a second in order to capture some blur and show its movement. An issue is that most of it is slightly blurred, and so its hard to differentiate the parts that are moving faster than the parts that are moving slower. I think I should have shot this with a slightly higher shutter speed or a much lower one, as a higher shutter speed would mean there would be less blur on the areas of the photo moving less, while some blur remains on the faster moving areas of the plant - therefore there would be some blur left over. If I'd shot with a lower one it would create a more interesting picture than the one shown here, and the more blur would make it more abstract. As the photo is now it doesn't look as interesting as it could have been had I been more ambitious with the shutter speed.

This photo was intended to show a higher shutter speed (1/200), which is evident in the result. This again is a photo of another plant which is found in the ocean, along with some small stones and pebbles found on the sea bed. An issue I have with this is that the subject I chose to photograph doesn't show off the shutter speed I used very well, as you can't tell whether it would be moving or not. I probably would been better off choosing to photograph something that was more obviously moving. Other than that, I like how the light shines from the corner behind the plant and creates a contrast in colour. I think it would have looked a lot more interesting though if I had shot from a lower angle, as the photo, while looking interesting colour wise and the contrast, doesn't look as interesting as it could have been.

My last outcome is of another plant found in the ocean. I chose this one in particular for its golden colour, as it really stood out from the other plants that I saw. My intention for this one was to have it captured with a low shutter speed and the fish around it being blurred, but with the plant being very clear. I would have liked to have taken a much longer shutter speed to create a really interesting photo, but due to how busy the sea life was I wasn't able to, as there were often people leaning over which changed the lighting. The shutter speed I shot at was 1/4. I think the angle I photographed this at was good, although again I think I could have been a lot more ambitious with the shutter speed.

From these photo's I've learned that I need to start considering more inventive angles in which to shoot at, in order to create a more interesting photographs, as well as be more ambitious with the shutter speed. I also need to think about photographing things in environments where I have less restrictions, as when I was at lea life taking these photos I was restricted in terms of using a much lower shutter speed.

Final Outcomes - Technical Project

Mood Board

My final idea is to photograph plants that live in the ocean, like coral and urchins. I want to capture very vibrant colours to create eye-catching photographs. I chose to focus on plants rather than fish because i feel this would be more interesting to experiment with shutter speeds, as there isn't a lot you can experiment with when it comes to fish. I'd like to try and use dramatic perspective to exaggerate the size of the plants and give a new perspective of them. While i'd also like to have fish in some photographs to give a sense of scale, i don't want them to be the focal pint, and instead make them look insignificant. While many of photographers focus on fish, and use the coral and other plants as a backdrop or something that just adds to the photograph, i'd like to do the opposite.

Artist Research - Vittoria Amati & David Hall - Technical Project

Vittoria Amati

Vittoria Amati is a marine photographer who has taken numerous photos of the sea life that lives in and around the coral reef. She uses very high shutter speeds for her photos in order to freeze the motion of the fast moving sea creatures. Her photographs are always in colour and a lot of them are very close up i order to capture all the detail of the sea life. As well as photographing the fish who live in the coral reef, she also photographs the coral as well. Due to the subject of her photographs, her photos are always very colourful and vibrant and look quite saturated. One of her aims is to show how beautiful all marine organisms are, not only the large ones like whales or colourful fish, but also the tiniest ones, like sea urchins or coral.She also sometimes uses software to edit her photos, so that they display the opposite colours. She changes the colours layer by layer while trying to keep the effect natural. Originally she achieved this effect by accident, but was happy with the result, and so added the effect onto 45 other photographs. She also takes a lot of her photos at night, as that is when the sea life is much more active.

This is a photograph in which the colours have been inverted, and the effect given makes it look almost like its on an alien world or that its on a microscopic scale, since the background appears similar to a group of cells. The background also makes the fish stand out, as due to the effect it looks slightly over-exposed, while the fish looks correctly exposed, and so makes the fish stand out a lot more when compared to the background.



This photograph has also had the colours inverted, although its less noticeable this time around. Instead for this photo it makes it look like the organism is projecting light, and also makes it look a lot larger - whereas the previous photo had the effect of being on a microscopic scale. This photograph also looks very alien, and in someways looks like an alien city, due to the lights. The dramatic perspective used for the photographs also makes the striped protrusions look a lot larger.

David Hall

David hall is a photographer who primarily focuses on sea creatures, although a lot of his photos also appear to have been taken in rivers. He focuses on more vibrant and colorful sea creatures, similar to Vittoria Amati, but instead she takes more photos of the coral than fish. Hall traveled all over the world in order to take his photographs - many of which have been taken in British Columbia. He often uses a modelling light for macro photography to help him find and focus on small objects, especially when night diving.

The Sea Lions in this photograph appear to have been painted in, which gives them a orange and golden effect. This helps to make the animals look more three dimensional, and also make them stand out more from the ocean background. You can also see the reflection of the light in all of their eyes, which also puts more emphasis on their eyes, making them look more alive and real. This photograph is also photographed from a mid angle, meaning it makes us feel equal to them, whereas a low or high angle wouldn't, and would instead make us feel more separate.

 

The angle at which this photograph has been shot at is a low angle, which adds dramatic perspective and makes this incredibly small creature seem like a giant. The perspective used also makes the plants in the background seem a lot bigger, almost like towering skyscrapers. The fact that this is also shot with the sea dragon facing away also helps it to seem larger than it is, as it seems disinterested in the photographer - unlike the photograph of the sea lions, which were looking straight into the camera.

Compositional Skills

Dramatic perspective

Dramatic perspective is when you use a certain angle/ perspective, for example a low angle, to give the object a sense of power and exaggerate its size.

Use of lines

Use of lines includes leading lines and converging lines. Leading lines are lines which lead you into the picture and help you to focus on more than one object. An example of converging lines is when a shot of a road is taken, the edges of the rod appear to go into a point as they gain distance from the camera.

Framing

Framing is when you use a natural frame in the image like a window to frame something. An example of this is f you were to photograph a window, on the other side of which is a person.

Rule of thirds

Images are split into 9 segments, and you would place a point of interest onto an intersection of the 9 segments. his is known as the rule of thirds.

Moving i close

Moving in close is when you take an extreme close up photo of something in order to show the amount of detail on the object.

Balance/symmetry

Balance is when two sides of a photo have mirrored imagery, and are balanced on either side. This can be horizontal or vertical.