Photography Assignment 1 The Effects of Lighting on Photographs Submitted by Jolene Fernandes

Type of Light Classical Hollywood Film Lighting About the Picture Above is a still shot of a frame lit for filming a typical 1930s Hollywood cinematic film. Setup and Effects The usual setup followed in cinema of that era was the Three Point Lighting system. A primary light called the Key Light was used to illuminate the actors face. A Fill Light, generally dimmer that the Key Light is added on the opposite side, to soften and reduce shadows. The third light called the Back Light is placed behind the actor, illuminating him from below. This light is used to distance the actor from the background and add to the three dimensionality of the scene being filmed. As seen above lighting was used not only to light up the entire scene in which the action took place but also to enhance the glamour quotient of the actors/players involved. Soft and/or disused lighting minimises skin flaws and also adds a dream-like quality. Contrasts were kept low to avoid a jarring effect, very unlike and almost opposite to the high-contrast lighting of the Film Noir technique.
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Type of Lighting Backlighting Dim Source About the Picture Seen above is a studio shot lit by a singular source of light, at the back of the subject Setup and effects The backdrop for this shot was painted on translucent paper. The effect of water is created by layered blue plastic sheets. These two were mounted on stands and a custom made light, in the shape of a crescent moon was especially designed and placed behind the backdrop at a small distance from it. The model was dressed in dark clothes and made to stand at a distance from the backdrop, greater than the distance between the light source and the backdrop. The resultant effect is ethereal, with the blue/black monotone only broken by the illumination provided by the yellow moon. In the absence of frontal lighting, the
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model is seen only in silhouette. The glass in the models hand being transparent, adds a good effect. The brightness of the source of light progressively diminishes towards both ends of the frame and consequently, details of the painting become less distinguishable.

Type of Lighting Backlighting Bright Source About the Picture Seen above is photograph whose light source is a singular source of light (the sun), at the back of the subject Setup and effects The room is panelled with polished wood, with a wooden frame grilled window. The floor is greenish blue in colour. In the bright afternoon summer sunlight, the subject stares out of the window. The source of light, the sun, is harsh and washes out details of the window grills and the side of the model facing the light. The existence of the window grills is obvious as seen in its shadows cast on the opposing wall and floor. Shadows of the subject
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are also cast on the wall and floor opposite to the light source due to this harsh source of light. The light from the window bounces off the two framing walls and the ceiling; the opposing wall having the brightest reflection of the light, followed by the ceiling and then the wall to the left, in decreasing order of their proximity to the light source. In the absence of frontal lighting, the facing wall and the details of the model are not very clear.

Type of Lighting High Contrast Lighting About the Pictures Seen above are two black and white photographs; the first is a still image from the film Citizen Kane and the second is an iconic image from the song Waqt Ne Kiya from Guru Dutts film, Kaagaz Ke Phool Setup and effects Both photographs use the lighting in the high contrast technique. Contrast is the range of tones between pure white and pure black. Low contrast images have a wide range and appear soft to the eye, while high contrast images have a small range and appear stark. A single strong/bright source of light is used to illuminate the whole scene. In the first photograph, the spread of the light is larger and diffusion greater than the second picture, giving rise to lower contrast, and more grey shades. In the second picture, the light source is stronger and hence the contrast of the picture is greater. Sharp shadows are cast of all objects standing in the way of the direction of the light source. Due to the brightness of the light, details of objects facing it are
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washed out, but other details of the objects not directly facing the light source are not completely lost die due to multiple reflections of the light within the room.

Type of Lighting Lighting from multiple light sources About the Picture Seen above are two coloured photographs. The first has one main and many subordinate subjects and the second has six similar subjects. Setup and effects Both photographs have multiple sources of light, and interesting effects are created by the same. In the first photograph, a single car light lights the models lower half from the front, and the other light sources are the headlights and backlights of various vehicles, streetlights and advertisements; all which are relatively bright; have been multiply reflected off the wet road and other vehicles . This gives an interesting interplay of texture and colour in the photograph.
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In the second picture many wired bulbs are placed in a haphazard manner. Though the sources are multiple, they arent bright and therefore shadows are cast in the areas which arent lit by the bulbs. The red wires connecting the bulbs are partially illuminated.

Type of Lighting Outdoor lighting with Fill About the Picture Seen above is a photograph mainly illuminated by an outdoor external source of light, i.e the sun. The harshness of the sources is compensated for by a frontal fill light to avoid a silhouette, and expose details of the subject. Setup and Effects
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The evening Sun is a harsh source of light in this picture. The subject is placed in front of the sun, and the sun is only partially visible behind her right eye, whose details are partially washed out. The background and the subjects hair are lit by the sun. To prevent silhouette which is caused by strong backlighting, a uniformly spread large source of frontal fill light is applied. This enables us to see details of the subjects face not washed out by the sun, her dress and hair.