Light & Dark

CHIAROSCURO

LIGHT CHIARO

DARK SCURO

LIGHT CHIARO

Cotan

DARK SCURO
LIGHT CHIARO

LIGHT CHIARO
DARK SCURO

The Distance
between light and subject

Demonstrate / Illustrate

The relationship between:
Light
Subject
Background

LIGHT CHIARO
DARK SCURO
LIGHT CHIARO

DARK SCURO

EDGE TRANSFER
The edge transfer denes the transition from the lit area to the unlit one, smooth in the case of most softboxes, and sharp in the case of small reectors and spots.

COVERAGE
Coverage denes how the subject is illuminated when the light is aimed directly at it. The coverage can be totally even, or it may show a gradation, or there may be a 'centre-weight' or central 'hot-spot'.

SHADOW DEFINITION
This denes the sharpness of the shadow. It also denes any substantial difference in the shadows produced when the subject is close to the background, and when the subject is further away.

SHADOW CONTRAST
This denes the density of the shadows, from pure black to barely perceptible.

The Direction of Light

Demonstrate / Illustration

From the camera axis
From the side

EDGE TRANSFER

FRONT LIGHT

SHADOW DEFINITION

Samuel van Hoogstraten, Trompe l oeil Pinboard, c.1666

TASK #1 - HARD LIGHT

Direction and distance

take 1 image with the light coming from the same direction as the camera FRONT LIGHT

take a 2nd image with the light coming from the side of your object
SIDE LIGHT

Hard light vs Soft light

Hard light vs Soft light

Hard light
Comes from a single point source Hard edged shadows - Maximum contrast between light and dark

Soft light
Light is reflected and diffused Soft edged shadowsWide spread of light - low contrast

HARD LIGHT: DEFINITION

Looking at the light of a point light source, we will see very clearly dened shadows. On a background or underground there is either light or shadow, but nothing in between, with no gradations.

Even the nest details provoke a clear shadow. The structure of any object (e.g. textile, skin) is pointed out very clearly.

A very hard lightsource is the only one that does not change its characteristics if we vary the distance (but according to the inverse square law it does change the power).

The shadows remain the same: very sharp.

An example of a Hard Light, modier:

Broncolor P70 Reector & Honeycomb

EDGE TRANSFER

HARD LIGHT

FRONT, SIDE LIGHT

SHADOW DEFINITION

Pieter Claesz 1628 Vanitas with the Spinario

EDGE TRANSFER?

HARD LIGHT

WHERE IS THE DIRECTION OF THE LIGHT?

Olivier Richn

SHADOW DEFINITION?

TOP, SIDE LIGHT

SHADOW CONTRAST

SHADOW DEFINITION

Cotan

TOP, SIDE LIGHT

HARD LIGHT

SHADOW CONTRAST

SHADOW DEFINITION

Ori Gersht

TASK #2 - SOFT LIGHT

Direction and distance

take 1 image with the light coming from the same direction as the camera FRONT LIGHT

take a 2nd image with the light coming from the side of your object
SIDE LIGHT

SOFT LIGHT: DEFINITION

The shadows on undergrounds and backgrounds are still clearly visible, even when they are not sharply dened anymore. Big parts of these shadows are graduated and a small cores hadow still exists. Small and ne details however do not appear.

The texture of our object is now shown in a lower contrast and is therefore not as clear as in a hard light. Soft light still increases the contrast of the object a little, but less than a hard one.

The colour saturation nally is lowered, somewhere in between the one derived from a hard light (high) and a diffused light (low).

An example of a Soft Light, modier:

Chimera Lantern mounted to a Broncolor

Being soft, our light source distance from the subject becomes very important:

The closer we get, the bigger the light source becomes (seen from the perspective of the object or model).

This means that our light becomes softer, when we get closer, and harder, when we use it over larger distances.

TOP, SIDE LIGHT

SHADOW CONTRAST

SHADOW DEFINITION

Jacques Bachelier

Ansel Adams

TOP, SIDE LIGHT HOW FAR IS THE LIGHT SOURCE FROM THE SUBJECT? DOES DISTANCE EFFECT CONTRAST?

SHADOW CONTRAST

SHADOW DEFINITION

Robert Mapplethorpe

Karl Blossfeld

DIFFUSED LIGHT: DEFINITION

Now the light source is huge. Shadows no longer exist as the light is big enough to shine all around the object or model.

The light does not show any direction anymore, the only contrast remaining in the photograph is the contrast of the object itself.

The structure of the objects surface is as at as possible, almost invisible and the color saturation is heavily reduced.

An example of a Diffused Light, modier:

Large Chimera Softbox mounted to a Broncolor Unilite

The following light shapers can be used as diffused lights:

Big softboxes at short distances for rather small objects.

Indirect lights reected/bounced by several polyboards . (These boards have to be neutral in color to avoid a color shift).

Light-tents wrapped around the object.

TOP LIGHT HOW FAR IS THE LIGHT SOURCE FROM THE SUBJECT? DOES DISTANCE EFFECT CONTRAST?

SHADOW CONTRAST

SHADOW DEFINITION

Fantin-Latour

TOP LIGHT HOW FAR IS THE LIGHT SOURCE FROM THE SUBJECT? DOES DISTANCE EFFECT CONTRAST?

SHADOW CONTRAST

SHADOW DEFINITION

Laura Letinsky

Edward Weston

The Distance between light and subject

Demonstrate / Illustrate Light falloff The relationship between: Light Subject Background

Rachel Ruysch

Rachel Ruysch

Jacques Bachelier

Jan Davidsz de Heem

COVERAGE
Here, the question is: how is the subject covered when the light is aimed on it. Is the coverage totally even, or does it show a gradation, or even a center-weight ? The answer to this question tells us what we can expect from the lightshaper and if we can use it for our purpose.

Laura Letinsky

HIGHLIGHT Is the highlight small or large ? If larger, is it rectangular or round, even or centerweighted? The highlight can be considered the most important: it tells us about the shape, the illumination / coverage (in case of a softbox) of the diffuser, the size.

Vanities of Human Life' by Harmen Steenwyck

LIGHTING: SOURCES

LIGHTING: COLOUR TEMPERATURE

Natural light: (K)

Noon sunlight on clear day Sunset



Articial light: (K)

Tungsten2,650-3,400


HMI lighting

Fluorescent

Flash lighting (should normally be)
Colour Film: (K)

Standard daylight lm
Standard tungsten lm

5,400 - 5,800
2,000

4,500-6,750
3,500-7,000
5,500

5,500

3,200

THE LOWER THE TEMPERATURE THE WARMER THE LIGHT

LIGHTING SOURCES: CONTINUOUS DAYLIGHT TUNGSTEN HALOGEN: ARRI, DEDOLIGHT HMI: ARRI, DEDOLIGHT LED: LITEPANEL FLUORESCENT ARRAY: KINOFLO

Tungsten Halogen: Arri Fresnel lights

Fluorescent Array: Kinoflo lights

Fresnel Lamp configuration

(A) Flood and (B) Spot positions

Stand configuration

STUDIO LIGHTING: ELECTRONIC FLASH BRONCOLOR PROLITE: MONOBLOC PROFOTO HENSEL NORMAN METZ: LOCATION

Broncolor Mobil Studio Packs

Bowens Prolite monoblocs

Control the quality of light with

Light modifiers

Shoot-through umbrella Very soft light

Spill-kill Prevents light from spilling.

Possible usage: Bounced light off of a background.

Hard Light

Bounce umbrella Soft light

Pancake/Lantern Soft light

Softbox (Large) Diffused through a series of... Soft, but directional light

Softbox (Small) Diffused through a series of... Soft, but directional light

dish (Beauty-dish) Medium/Hard, reflected light

Regular dish (what s the angle of light? Hard light, reflected in dish

Honeycomb Directs the light to produce a spot-light centre of different degrees depending on the size of honeycomb used. Hard light, very directional

Snoot Hard light, but directional light

Spotlight attachment Focused light-beam

TASK #2 Photograph your object:

1. Using hard light 2. Using soft light

Common types of light used in photography

Available light Daylight Tungsten (indoors) Flash Studio packs Speedlights (portable hammerhead flashes) Continuous lights HMI (daylight balanced) Tungsten ( colour temp?)

Equipment available in the Rochester Photography resource

Broncolor Mobil Studio Packs

Bowens Prolite monoblocs

Metz flashguns

Arri Tungsten lights

Redheads tungsten

Shaping the light

using flags (gobo s), reflectors and diffusion material

Flags
Stopping the light from hitting certain areas

Reflectors
Polyboards

Diffusion materials
Trace