Assignment 4: Lighting Techniques Reworked

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 1

Introduction
Here is the fourth assignment after a long batch of exercises related to lighting. I have tried to be as open to experimentation and practice as usual not only for the exercises, but also for the assignment. One of the first milestones to overcome was the selection of the object. I have been investigating in the learning blogs of other OCA students and I realize immediately that it was going to be difficult to choose an original object. After reading and viewing the work of the scottish photographer Niall Benvie (and I have to admit that I really like almost everything he does) I even considered to go for an unusual object (such as my house) and follow his de-construction techniques (but then much more than about eight photographs would be needed). However I reconsidered my position re-reading the assignment brief that clearly specifies a subject that you can move around (and I already had enough brief infringement, and corresponding full repetition of the assignment, in the previous block of the course). One of the things I like about this course is that it is motivating me to see the work of many great photographers. Photographers that (and I have to apologize for my ignorance) were completely unknown to me. In December (see here) I found (recommended by friends, and other blogs) Edward Weston. One of the things that stroked me is that he was able to make the most beautiful photographs of the most commonplace, ordinary objects. And then I realize that the object choice was not so important after all. Weston Is well known for the toilet photograph, for the peppers photographs and...for the nautilus shell ones among others. Shells are fascinating objects with an incredible varied typology, colour and size. Additionally, they are representative of one of the most recurrent and fascinating forms in nature....the spiral. I decided then to use a shell as object and I found one with good chances of become an interesting photographic object (in my humble opinion). Once I had the subject I have tried many different things including: different backgrounds, diferent positions of the object, different light angles and different qualities of light (artificial and natural, midday, late afternoon, morning, shadow of a sunny day, shadow of a cloudy day.......). One of the problems I found is that, being the shell a small object, and requiring in order to fill the frame (and not become an irrelevant point.....thing that I also tried, by the way) was requiring the camera and the lens to be quite close in distance. This originates a problem of depth of field, particularly when using a macro lens (this is apparently, a well known problem in macro photography). NOTE.- Most of the images have been processed with photoshop to remove dust spots and in some cases some other minor defects (such as a small fibre visible in the shell). Please, read here my first reactions and comments on the tutor report: http://leopin-socalcos.blogspot.com/2012/01/back-to-square-zeroon-assignment-4.html I have eliminated the b&w photographs and the photograph showing colour, and I have added some new ones (using other focal distances and set ups) I have not including drawings of the light schemas for the reason that they are all very simple and if not directly reverse-engineered from the photograph (in most cases) understandable with the annexed text. Leopoldo de Castro The Art of Photography Assignment 3 Page 2

SHAPE
Shell UV 3:

Camera: Lens: Exposure: Flash:

Canon EOS 40D EF70-200mm f/4L USM Shot at 200 mm Manual exposure, 1 sec, f/11, ISO 200 Off, Did not fire

Made with only a UV light source placed to the left of the objects and to their same level. The idea was to play with the idea of a spaceship in the space. I had to experiment quite a lot until I was able to produce this image. I focused first manually using normal light from a bulb, and then switched off all the lights in the room but the UV fluorescent. Both the white cardboard (with the strong colour cast) and the fact that the shell has an orange colour, produce a strong contrast that clearly defines the shape of the shell. See here for more details: http://leopin-socalcos.blogspot.com/2012/02/shellship-13.html

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 3

Shell eye 1:

Camera: Lens: Exposure: Flash:

Canon EOS 5D EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Shot at 135 mm Auto exposure, Aperturepriority AE, 15 sec, f/8, ISO 200 Off, Did not fire

This one makes a nice pair with the previous one in terms of colour contrast. Again the space metaphor was used. The set up is very simple with only one light source and backlighting, which emphasizes the shape and the transparencies of the shell See here for more details: http://leopin-socalcos.blogspot.com/2012/02/shellship-23.html

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 4

FORM
Form 1:

Camera: Lens: Exposure: Flash:

Canon EOS 5D EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Manual exposure, 0.3 sec, f/16, ISO 400 Off, Did not fire

On a flat surface and viewed from above, the shell receives natural sun light almost lateral, and the shadows produced together with the depth of field reveal a quite complex form. The shadow along the diagonal and the blue colour of the background contrasting with the orange tones of the shell, emphasized by the warm sun light, provide the impression of an asteroid travelling through space. No need to point to the fact that (as all the photographs before) the camera was on tripod and timer triggered.The tutor found this one as flat. I disagree, the shadows show clearly a particular volume.

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 5

Form 2:

Camera: Lens: Exposure: Flash:

Canon EOS 5D EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Manual exposure, 1/30 sec, f/20, ISO 800 Off, Did not fire

In order to have all the shell sharp, and given the short distance of the lens to it a quite high f/ value is required. In order to get a reasonable exposure the ISO or the exposure time has to be increased. I decided to increase the ISO value. In my opinion, even though the ISO has a relatively high value, the amount of noise is reasonable.

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 6

Shellship 2:

Camera: Lens: Exposure: Flash:

Canon EOS 5D EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Shot at 135 mm Manual exposure, 1.3 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100 Off, Did not fire

One continuation of the space saga. This one with a more sophisticated lighting. The shadows produced by the flash from the top right, and softened by the reflector on the opposite side provide a sense of three dimensions. More details here: http://leopin-socalcos.blogspot.com/2012/02/shellship-33.html

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 7

TEXTURE
Shells and finger 4:

Camera: Lens: Exposure: Flash:

Canon EOS 5D EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Manual exposure, 1/10 sec, f/11, ISO 100 Off, Did not fire

Only ine light source on the top right of the frame and just a bit above the level of the shell. The suggestion to include some flesh was nicely suggested by the tutor. This shot also required quite a lot of experimentation, see here: http://leopin-socalcos.blogspot.com/2012/02/shell-and-flesh.html

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 8

Shellsand 1:

Camera: Lens: Exposure: Flash:

Canon EOS 40D EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Shot at 135 mm Manual exposure, 1/15 sec, f/11, ISO 200 Off, Did not fire

Another contrast, this time between textures. Two sources of light (daylight and a flash) More about this photograph here: http://leopin-socalcos.blogspot.com/2012/02/reminiscences-of-beach-part-22.html

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 9

Colour
Other 1:

From this one I like the spiral shape contrasting with the rest, and the shadow. It could have been used also for shape (with some doubts) or for colour.

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 10

Other 2:

Camera: Lens: Exposure: Flash:

Canon EOS 5D EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Manual exposure, 1/125 sec, f/11, ISO 200 Off, Did not fire

This one I like for the strong contrasting shapes (the sharp rugged shell against the round uniform chestnuts) and tones (the clear tone of the shell attracts the viewer strongly). It has also some reminiscences of rhythm and pattern. The tutor suggested a 'more sympathetic postprocessing', but I don't really understand what he meant.

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 11

OTHER In the original assignment I introduced some shots under other and the tutor considered that they were better off the assignment or in other categories. I have nevertheless decided to keep this section to put some other shots which add variety to the assignment. Reminiscences of the beach 2

Camera: Lens: Exposure: Flash:

Canon EOS 40D EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Shot at 60 mm Auto exposure, Aperturepriority AE, 1/6 sec, f/11, ISO 200 Off, Did not fire

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 12

More on this photograph here: http://leopin-socalcos.blogspot.com/2012/02/reminiscences-of-beachrepetition-for.html

Shell and stone 2:

Camera: Lens: Exposure: Flash:

Canon EOS 40D EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Shot at 135 mm Manual exposure, 1/15 sec, f/11, ISO 200 Off, Did not fire

Details on this photograph here: http://leopin-socalcos.blogspot.com/2012/02/more-on-shell-last-one-for-reworked.html

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 13

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS All in all the best part of the course so far, both in terms of interesting and varied exercises and challenges proposed. I have tried to work as hard as with the other blocks and keep my motivation as high as possible (which is not always easy). Fortunately during Christmas break I had plenty of time to think about the assignment and to make the right photographs for each of the points of the brief. I have tried to be careful both with the technical aspects (and I believe that the photographs are sharp, with low levels of noise majorly, and free of dust spots and other defaults) and composition aspects (looking for different perspectives of the subject, backgrounds, variety of photographs, etc.....). Now, after the assignment review, responding to the tutor comments in the evaluation report, I feel even more satisfied with the result. This assignment has supposed an enormous amount of time and energy, but in my view it is my best result so far. As usual the selections can be questioned. Other different photographs could have been chosen for every section, but this selection process is far from objective in any case and, right or wrong I have made always my choices.

Bibliography: For the B&W conversions I consulted : M. Freeman, "The complete guide to Black and White Digital Photography", Ilex, 2009. The idea of the shell : "Edward Weston. 1886-1958", Edited by Manfred Heiting, Taschen, Koln, 1999. For the lighting angles: David Prkel, "Iluminacion", Blume fotografia, Barcelona 2009

Leopoldo de Castro

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3 Page 14