Light Metering

03 March 2010

1.
Metering for the (white) background.

Daylight from above.


f4.5 - ISO-200 - 1/60sec - WB-Flash

Background shows as grey in pictures.



2.
Metering for the background.

Daylight from behind.


f4.5 - ISO-200 - 1/60sec - WB-Flash



3.
Metering for face.

Daylight from behind.



f4.5 - ISO-400 - 1/5sec - WB-Flash


Bright background in pictures.

4.
Metering for the background.

2 Fluorescent lights bound together and hiding behind the subject unlike in my diagram where I have left them in sight to show the setup (although you can still see them slightly in some of the images).





f5.6 - ISO-400 - 1/13sec - WB-Flash

this creates a halo effect but under exposed face.



5.
Metering for face.

Same lighting setup as above.


f5.6 - ISO-800 - 1/4sec - WB-Flash

creates a halo effect but with a lighter background, and better exposed face.



6.

Metering for the background.

Same as previous lighting setup but with extra light on his face.

f5.6 - ISO-400 - 1/13sec - WB-Flash

This creates a halo effect with blue background and bright face.

The blue background is due to the WB being set to Flash when using fluorescent lights.

7.
Metering for face.

Same lighting setup as previous shot.


f5.6 - ISO-400 - 1/50sec - WB-Flash

8.
Metering for the background.

Beauty dish from behind.






f5.6 - ISO-1600 - 1/2sec - WB-Flash



9.
Metering for the background.


The same lighting setup as previous shot but using a mirror to reflect some light back on to his face.

f5.6 - ISO-1600 - 1/6sec - WB-Flash

10.
Metering for face.


Same as lighting setup as previous shot.


f5.6 - ISO-1600 - 0"5sec - WB-Flash

The picture is blurry due to having to use a slow shutter speed so camera shake is then apparent.

If you want a silhouette meter for the background.

If you want a bright background meter for skin.

If you cant get close enough to meter someones face, use your palm.

Group Task - Ambient and Mixed Light

10 March 2010

For this task we worked in a group of 5 people.
Myself, Ruth, Emma, Kathryn and Rik.

We had a choice of 3 Portrait style:

Corporate

Editorial

Environmental

We chose to try an Environmental Portrait.


This was our brief:

Environmental - Use studio lighting on location to produce a portrait of a staff-member or tradesperson (for example, receptionist/builders/traffic warden).

Requirement - The portrait should show creative use of studio flash units balanced with existing/ambient light. Try to underexpose the ambient light in relation to the flash.


We decided to photograph one of the ladies that works in the cafeteria and also delivers tea on a tea trolley in the University building.

We had already decided to shoot our portrait in the University foyer due to the very large windows and with a little bit of help from Andy F :) we decided to use the new coloured stools that were already in the foyer as part of our image.

This is a picture that I took of Emma while experimenting with the lighting and exposure before we brought our model in.




For the shot we used our in-camera light meter to slightly underexpose the sky that behind our model. We then adjusted the lighting to match our camera settings, using a had held light meter.




We used a lamp with an umbrella at 45o to the model and above head height on the right side. Using the umbrella gives a really soft and diffused light. We then added a lamp at lower strength on the left side, this helped to reduce shadows on the left side.

These are my results:

This is my preffered image from the shoot as I think it has been taken from a more flattering angle but as she seems to have a cross coming out of her head it is not an image that I would use.





This is my finished and chosen image.

Sodium lighting

This is my photo of an object taken under sodium lighting (street lamp).

I have adjusted the white balance to show the colour of light (very warm).

Daylight

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2400k

Incandescent light, zoom, telephoto

This is my object that has been photographed using incandescent light from above.

For this first image I left the white balance set to daylight to show the warm colour of the light.


This is the same shot as above but with the white balance set to tungsten.
This shot was taken using using a telephoto lens at 55mm.
Telephoto lenses are better for portraiture as they are said to be more flattering.



This image was taken using a wide-angle lens at 18mm.

This image has more depth.

Freezing action

Using a fast shutter freezes action. For this shot I used 1/125 sec and F16 to give the image a deep 'depth of field'.

For the setup of this shot, I filled a sandwich bag with blackcurrant juice and pierced a hole in it to create a constant, uniform drip. This made it easy to know when to take the pictures.

I used to a flashgun to light this shot and a lamp on the right side to help create shadows and definition.

Fruit/Vegetable - Lighting techniques

For my assignment, the following pictures are lit using the following lighting techniques:

45o/45o lighting.


Top lit.


Low key.


Back lit & High key.

45o/45o lighting - One light at 45 degrees in the direction at the subject and at 45 degrees in height - Created strong shadows.

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Top lit - Lighting the subject from directly above - Created strong shadows in any gap directly under the subject.

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Low key - Lighting an image so that the dark tones and shadows dominate.

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High key - Lighting an image so that the bright tones dominate with none or very little shadows.

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Back lit - Lighting the subject directly from behind - Can create shadows towards the camera

Studio - Coloured glass bottle

I have photographed a coloured glass bottle under different lighting set-ups in the studio.
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The following are lit by:
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Honeycomb on right side and slightly above subject

This gave a rich colour to the glass and good highlights but had stong shadows and reflection of the light in the bottle.
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Softbox (masked) on right side and slightly above subject

Bright glass and soft shadow but weak detail and very harsh highlights and reflections.
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2 Soft boxes (masked), one on each side and both slightly above subject

No shadow, good highlights. I like this.
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Beauty dish on right side and slightly above subject

Soft shadow, well lit glass and nice highlights but harsh reflection of the light.
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Umbrella on right side and slightly above subject

Good detail and soft shadow with highlights. Some harsh highlights on the bottle though.

This image shows 'drop focus technique'.

'Drop focus technique' - when a very small slither of an image is acceptably sharp and the rest is thrown out of focus.