Greg Heisler said that he separates light into two categories: believable light and “for effect” light. In believable light, you try to augment the scene with your lighting so that the viewer is not really sure whether there is any lighting involved in the photograph. On the other hand, for-effect lighting is done just because it makes the scene look “cool.” I must admit, I never really thought about lighting in those terms, but, in looking through a few magazines, I can see his point.
All of the photographs this week were taken at an abandoned New Mexico prison. The prison had a very violent riot by the inmates during the 1970s and was closed shortly thereafter. The prison has some a very interesting grunge look that offers backgrounds with a lot of texture and color.
My first portrait is of Britt (who is the staff photographer for the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C). Britt is standing just inside a doorway. I wanted to do three things in this photo: make it low key; cast a shadow on the back wall to add a little more mood; and make it look like is was lighted by ambient lighting only.
I started by setting a strobe outside a wall with cross bars and directing its light through the bars. I set the strobe so that it would produce light that was about 1 to 1½ stops under my intended exposure values. Next, I placed a strobe with a fine grid just inside the doorway to put some light on Britt’s face. I wanted only his face to be properly exposed. I wanted the rest of the scene to be slightly underexposed.
I was relatively happy with my overall shot until I realized that I had not done anything with the light coming from a window to my left. Just enough light was coming through the window to cast some shadows going the wrong direction on the floor. I could have fixed this very easily by placing a gobo between the window and Britt. I think that the photograph would have been much more believable and effective had I eliminated these shadows.
Enjoy.
Camera settings: Nikon D3, 28-70mm f/2.8 at 48mm, shot at ISO 200, f/6.7 and 1/180.
Post Processing:
Lightroom: Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, clarity and vibrance and cropped photo.
I did not even notice the shadows going from left to right until you pointed them out in your write-up. To me it looked like you took a photo of some guy walking around a warehouse or some other industrial place. I like the colorful background and the low key. Good job.
ReplyDeleteAnne
Nice!
ReplyDeleteI agree that if all the shadows were going in the same direction, the photograph would have been stronger. But, with ambient light, you could have different sources of the light and therefore shadows going in different directions. I think that the inclusion of the door jam was very important because it makes you realize that you do not know everything about the room that Britt is standing-in. Good use of light to direct the viewer.
ReplyDeleteThe Professor
"Believable" and "cool"!
ReplyDeleteWell done!
Barry
I agree with Anne. Britt's clothes and stance makes this photo look like a guy walking around a not so pleasant building. I like the way you directed light through the bars to cast shadows on the far wall. It helps to set the mood and sell the setting.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
I doubt that many people would ever notice the shadows going in different directions. This is a good photo.
ReplyDeleteTed