Lighting angle

Here I took a still life beer glass, illuminated from different angles using a simple table lamp.

Similar to the post, 'Variety with a low sun', the shots into the light are much more dramatic and interesting than those with the light behind the camera, and here with the translucent glass, the rim lighting effect is increased. The front lit images are fundamentally flat, and nothing can be done in Photoshop or similar to correct this.

Softening the light

Here I took some fruit, shooting with and without a simple piece of paper between the light source (table light) and the subject to act as a diffuser. I lost about 2 stops of light, but auto exposure compensated for this.The closer I got the paper to the subject, the less distinct the highlights in the fruit.

In this case, the diffused image looks 'flat' but there is a quality of light which could be very suitable to some subjects. For instance, I did another shoot of aluminium drink cans which are very reflective, for which the diffused light is useful to prevent burnout of the highlights.

I think its a case of adjusting the light to suit the subject.

paper diffuser over (top) light

no diffuser

aluminium can, paper diffuser over light, foil reflector to right

Variety with a low sun

Here I was tasked with shooting an object with a low sun, moving around it to show the effects of frontal lighting (sun behind camera), side lighting, back lighting (shooting into sun) and edge lighting.

For this, I choose a simple footpath marker post as something of bright colour which I could move around freely:-

What I see is that as I shoot progressively towards the light, the image becomes more interesting, ultimately creating a dramatic sillouette, even of this uninspiring object. With less exposure, I might have achieved a rim lighting effect, but even without, I've got a dramatic black/white effect with maximum contrast.

By contrast, the frontal image is flat. Any texture in the wood has disappeared, unlike in the second shot where the light is from the side.

All shots were taken with 'auto exposure' and no attempt to bracket. So even with a very basic camera or phone, its apparent that varying levels of interest can be achieved in an image simply by modifying viewpoint relative to the light source.

Measuring Exposure

Here the images were shot, ranging from 2 stops underexposed to 2 stops over. With the flowers, the overexposed images appear more pleasing as it emphasises their colou, even though parts of the images are burned out. The 'correct' exposure looks dull. Even though the background is brighter, its out of focus and hence still does not distract the viewer.

So here's an example where the camera's 'correct' exposure is not necessarily the ideal.

Another long delay

Back on the course after another long delay. I've been spending the past few months preparing for the art show in the village where I've been exhibiting my work 'old and new', a collection of old photographs of the village combined with my new shots taken from the same viewpoint.
The show went OK, and I sold a number of pieces of work, but mainly the old photo's - people didn't generally see the interest in the new shots. I never did see the new shots as being particularly photogenic - the village 100 years ago was very much a working village and neatly kept, whereas now its a largely a commuter village and the style seems to have become one of 'leave nature alone', which results in the place getting somewhat overgrown! I guess the new photo's will be appreciated in the years to come. For now I'll probably donate them to the county records office.
All of this has mean't that I haven't had much time for the course. Hopefully that's about to change. Partly with the challenge of a new assignment and partly as I reach the end of the course and have the opportunity to bring together what I've learned in work that is hopefully more artistic.

Images to follow tomorrow.