E-commerce & Lens Shoot

January 08, 2018 in Lighting, Studio, Product, Still Iife

During the module we had the opportunity to sit in with photographer Richy Leeson.
Though learning a lot from the workshop one thing that stood out to me was hearing Richy talk business after education.

Richy mentioned e-commerce as being an excellent source of income and I was surprised to realise I had never really thought about the topic as a genre of photography.

E-commerce is essentially any transaction over internet. Typically a product/service being purchased for money. When we shop online, without really thinking about it we see pictures of the product, typically on a white background. The goal is not necessarily to sell the product but to show an accurate representation of what the product is and does.

Obviously, someone has had to take that photograph, deciding on composition, lighting and angles. Leeson brought this is my attention and stated typically practice consists of being paid a predetermined amount for every image.

For this shoot I used a 'product tent'.
A product tent is essentially a cube frame wrapped in a diffusion material. Sometimes, with different inserts for backgrounds.

The backgrounds served the purpose of avoiding photographing white on white helping to separate from the background.

I lit the product tent be pointing 3 softboxes (to soften the light further) into the left, right and top of the tent. This was to created ensure every part of the product.

ISO 100    f/13    1/200sec    105mm — ISO 100 f/13 1/200sec 105mm

By angling the side softboxes I was able to light the background evenly also.
As the tent will be reflecting light from all 3 light all around the inside, I thought building 1 light at a time would be impractical as I wanted a simple flat lighting.

I turned on the lights, set to the same value at the same distance and metered from the center of the lens with the infercone pointing towards the lens.

Due to the angle of the lights, there are enough shadows cast to show clear detail,depth and form .

However, the same intensity of light on the sides doesn't quite read the very front of the lens, due to the cylindrical shape.
I could have solved this problem by moving the lens furter back into where the light was being aimed however carelessness meant I didn't stop the problem on the day, partly due to shooting untethered and the built-in screen not being the best to evalute images.

The nature of ecommerce photography means different angles of the product is shown, as this product is second hand, this is also important to show and highlight the condition of the item.
With lenses, the condition of the glass is a very important factor.

the issue I had with this shot is the transparency of the glass. It shows the condition of the internal elements, which is good, however the front glass element, bar some flaring and dust specks, is too transparent to show the actual condition due to the light just passing through.

To solve this problem, I moved the lens so the angle of incidence of the light would bounce back into the lens showing the reflection coming off the lens.

This angle also allows you to see the depth and form of the lens as the head on angle gave a very two-dimensional look to the image.

Final Set of Images

Click here to see a gallery of all the images taken

Angle of incidence

Put simply, the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflectance; the angle that the lights hits a surface (incidence) is the angle the light is reflected of the surface (reflectance).

This is useful to know when you want to catch highlights such as the example above or avoid highlights such as photographing people with glasses.

Josh Glennon Shoot

January 07, 2018 in Lighting, Ambient

Throughout my time on the course I've been told by several members of staff, that to make it and be the best, I've got to step-up, put in the time and effort and push myself further than just what the rest of my cohort are doing.

The biggest problem I've found in photographing people is they are friends or people who are generally not used to being in front of the camera. People would smile for their pose in a candid or snapshot fashion or wouldn't pose at all. Helpful in learning about light and technical side of things but often left me feeling unsatisfied with images due to the subject being photographed.

I also know the importance of making contacts within the industry and, being a student often gives you a pass and a chance at things I would otherwise have to pay for.
Due to these reasons I took it upon myself to contact Tyne Tees Models. A north-east based modelling agency to ask if it was at all possible to photograph their models in return for the images (Time for files) along with a link to my website to act as a portfolio. They accepted and said I could have access to new faces and models that needed testing.

I knew I wanted to photograph men this was due do several reasons; The first is that I find men easier to photograph, though they are often less comfortable in front of the camera, I find men need less work in regards to posing and styling to look 'cool' within an image. I also have a preconception that when photographing females models there tends to be an emphasis on beauty. I wanted simple and relaxed images that portrayed metropolitan guys with an air of confidence about them but that where also more commercial in style and less 'instagram'.

I was nervous going into the shoot, I have never worked directly with models in the past and was thrown even more out of my comfort zone by being told the models all preferred to be shot in Newcastle. I struggle with anxiety, particularly with places I don't know, people I don't know and travelling, so simply getting there produced problems for me. I asked if I could bring an 'assistant' to help hold reflectors and equipment, which was true but also it meant a friend that would ease my anxieties.

Luckily, we had recently been on a trip to Newcastle and while there I noticed several places that would make for an interesting place to photograph. I found the places on Google Maps and used the street view function to screenshot the places for easy reference on my phone and confirmed time and place to meet Josh.

I made sure to arrive early and I walked the planned route in reverse to make sure there were no issues like closed roads or building work. Unfortunately the shoot was taking place on a Sunday which is market day at the Quay side. This meant more people than usual in the area.

I took a few test shots in the location I was in, The Baltic, of my assistant so I could get a feel of how the images where going to look. I started with my 24-70 f/2.8 lens which would allow my different focal length and a wide aperture to through the background out of focus.

Josh arrived and shooting began.
To begin with we a posed with issues from hard light outlined here.

This is amongst the first images I took of Josh. Instantly I was happy with how comfortable and natural Josh looks in the image. He has very sculpted features which catches the light well and he's styled close enough to my brief.

One thing I noted was although the background was nice and out of focus, particularly thanks to the distance from Josh, I wanted to really isolate Josh from everything and make the background as creamy as possible when I wanted to, know i wouldnt always have this level of distance from the background.

Knowing the capabilities of the 35mm f1.4 lens I own, I soon switched. Knowing it may not be as ideal for close up shots, but also that I would be more inclined to take mid/full-length shots of Josh later in the day.

ISO 100    f/2.8    1/250sec    70mm — ISO 100 f/2.8 1/250sec 70mm

ISO 100    f/1.4    1/400sec    35mm — ISO 100 f/1.4 1/400sec 35mm

I positioned Josh in against this wall in the open shade to have soft directional light hit his face. The light is soft enough to reduce flaws in his skin but the directional light is enough to still add interesting shadows highlighting his features. The wide angle of the 35mm meant I get to get fairly close to Josh to get this shot but allowed me to get in the background of the baltic being directly lit by the sun.

Here, I've used a prism against the lens to refract the light hitting the lens this creates what looks like a light leak or double exposure. What we're seeing is what was at a 60 degree angle from the cameras point of view. The wide aperture helping to blur were the refraction meets the actual image.

Also, on Josh's face, you can see that there is a very subtle warmer tone the the left of his face. I had asked my assistant to angle a reflector towards Josh. Though he was stood in open shade it was enough to very subtly add that hint of directional warm light.

With this image, I used a reflector to cast some warm like onto Josh's face creating a loop lighting effect.

This is enhanced his jawline and given his cheek bones definition. You can also the golden light being cast onto the slightly reflective surface of the billboard which serves to separate the dark side of this head from a dark background.

In this image of Josh, it's golden hour and the sun it setting just slightly to camera left. You can see he being side lit.

I had to be careful as when shooting into the sun, even indirectly, can produce lens flares, which my lens hood helped to shade the front element. However after seeing this shot, I decided to remove my lens hood and shoot from a lower angle.

This would make Josh seem taller due to perspective, and it would also allow the sun to hit the front element of the lens directly.

ISO 100   f/1.4    1/1000    35mm — ISO 100 f/1.4 1/1000 35mm

ISO 100   f/1.4    1/640    35mm — ISO 100 f/1.4 1/640 35mm

The result is a flare which I think, due to it's central placement adds intrigue to the image. Josh is a little washed out because of the flare but I think that adds to the ambiance of the photograph.

Unfortunately due to the different angle we now see background distractions like a road sign that Josh's body was covering when shot at eye level. However I don't think this detracts from the overall image making it one of my favourites of the day.

The lighting conditions did prove difficult at times.

For example the above image, being back lit, meant my camera's built-in meter would at times read the background. I tend to shoot with spot metering and, as I was utilising focus recomposition a lot in this shoot, I found myself forgetting I had already metered for Josh's face and quickly flicking the dials on the camera to change expose for the new incorrect exposure when my focus point would move during recomposition.

Resulting in images like this.

Before even taking this picture I knew the under lighting wasn't going to work. However, Josh himself expressed interest and I was intrigued to see if the colour would help alleviate the unflattering and creepy feel under-lighting gives.

It didn't. We're used to seeing parallel or top-down due to always seeing things lit from above thanks to the sun.

It gives off a macabre look that can definitely work in certain situations when that is the intention, however luminous teal underlighting creates a sort of juxtaposition that simply doesn't create a flarrting image.

Throughout this shoot I found myself actively looking for places with interesting light more so than I usually would. I wasn't just looking for well lit places with soft lighting I was looking at how like reflected off the environment and how the colours of the scene could add to the image.

Here, the sun had just set so daylight had a very blue tone to it. I saw that under a bridge that had very warm orange lighting which I thought would contrast well. Particularly with Josh himself as he has ginger hair and is wear a lot of blue.

The colour of light and styling seems to mesh perfectly so I positioned Josh under the light but far enough away it would only cast a rim lighting which you can see wraps around his back hitting the top of his head and his arm to the left. The light hitting his face come from the opening of the tunnel under the bridge.

I sat off centre to Josh and asked him to look straight down the lens causing a directional light creating a very near rembrandt triangle which I was pleased that I noticed on the day itself as opposed to being a lucky mistake, making this one of my favourite images of the shoot.

In this picture, we were simply walking by and I noticed the setting sun streaming through.
I stood Josh just against the wall of the bridge support where light was hitting and it creating a beautiful rim like making him pop from the background.
Though it seemed dark in person, I was able to see enough light and how it was hitting Josh's face asking him to face the camera creating a directional light which emphasises his bone structure due to directional light give form, depth and shape resulting in my favourite image of the shoot.

Selected images

Click here to see all the images of the day

Ambient Lighting

January 07, 2018 in Lighting

Ambient Light refers to light already present in the scene, it can may usually refer to the natural light of the outdoors but can also refer to overhead artificial lighting indoors, or any light source the photographer typically has little control of or had not added to the scene.

Exposing for ambient light is completely done in camera due to having no control over the ambient light. Though the light can be modified which might affect exposure, exposing for the scene is done using a light meter, typically built-in, and then changing settings in camera to suit.

North facing windows and walls are really useful photographically as throughout the day you’re mostly going to see an even, none direct light regardless of where the sun is in the sky.
This is due to the way the Sun rises and sets, from east to west and due to being in the northern hemisphere, the sun moves through the sky further to the south as opposed to directly overhead.

As the sun light hits the surround area, the light will be reflected onto the subject, either through a window or directly. Due to the sun not directly lighting the subject the whole area becomes the light source.
This produces a very large and even light source regardless of the time of day.

This portrait of Katie was taken using a North facing wall directly behind camera.

The windows along with the reflected light shining through are acting as a giant light source creating a soft flat lighting on Katie.
Even under her jaw you can see slight shadows but they are very faint due to being filled in from the light.

Her face is free of any shadows and she is evenly light across the entire frame. This lighting will have remained very much the same throughout the day as the position of the sun, until sunset, would have had very little affect, hence the benefit of a north facing window.

In contrast, on this south facing wall you can see very direction lighting coming from camera right, the shadows, though softend from a cloudy day are contrasty and are only being filled in from the wall reflecting some light back onto Katie.

The difference within the shot give of 2 very different looks but where taken just an hour apart simply from how the ambient light was being used. The light here will also change throughout the day, the direction of the sun would have lead to a front facing light as opposed to side lighting Katie.

Arguably I would say this image is more interesting due to the directional light.

However, it is of course possible to create directional light with North facing windows; In this photo of Nicola, we have light coming from a windows the right side of her face.

Here Nicola is broad lit with the narrow side of her face in shadow, though the shadow is still reasonably lit due to the room being well lit thanks to the large window. The directional light creates interest in the picture.

The problem I had with this image was composition. Distracting background elements make the image look cluttered but Nicola is well lit, the white walls are reflecting enough light to fill the narrow shaded side of her face enough to still retain detail will creating depth and shape.

Here, again we have very directional light coming from a north facing wall. This time however, the room it was shot is was very large providing little for light to reflect off to fill in shadows. This could be remedied in post production with sensors in the modern day being able to capture more dynamic range, however it would result in loss of quality and would most likely take more time.

The fix was to simply add a reflector parallel to the window and tilted slighted toward camera to ensure light was not spilled on the backdrop and to create a small rim/back light on the bottle. In this instance, I used a gold reflection as opposed to white/silver this was to create a warmer light, as though from a fire or incandescent light. Using white/silver would have reflected the 5000k daylight, which would've worked however I wanted to play with a mix of white balance within the image.

Hard Light

December 11, 2017 in Lighting

Hard light is a lighting quality that is a direct result of a small sized light relative to the subject being lit. Light sources like the Sun, though massive in comparison to anything we photograph, relatively is very small, a coin sized incredibly intense light source. Similarly, bare bulbs, unmodified flash guns and even things like candles are small light sources that create hard light.

Hard light casts harsh contrasty shadows with a hard edge. These shadows emphasis texture, shape and form. For portraiture it was add an edgy, gritty style but can also highlight flaw in skin. Hard light, particularly continuous lighting like from the sun or lamp can also cause a person to squint.

Here’s a shot taken on a clear day around 2pm. The model, Josh, is stood facing the direct sun.

The texture in Josh’s jumper is apparent as harsh shadows are being cast from the textured wool. The creases and folds in his coats are more pronounced, his hair is textured and contrasty creating an interesting look.

However, due to a pole between the sun and Josh, we have a long harsh shadow being cast on his body, the shadow cast by his nose his connecting with the unlit side of his face. Due to the intensity of the sun he’s also squinting and therefore scrunching his face making an unflattering portrait.

To alleviate some of the issues, I decided to turn josh parallel at a right angle to the direction the sunlight was hitting him.

This created an arguably more interesting lighting style by split lighting him which also meant he wasn’t directly facing into the sun allowing him to open his eyes.

You can see the high contrast detail in Josh’s hair and clothing while reducing the distracting shadows from his face but still retaining the interesting definition in his jawline and around his eyes.

We have lost some of the detail of the texture of his jumper due to the shadow cast by his coat, this could be remedied with a reflector to bounce light back onto his jumper but was unnecessary as it is not vital to the image.

Here is a picture shot during golden hour on a clear day. The sun is really low in the sky with the subject, Fern, looking directly into it.

Due to the harsh shadows, the texture on the stone wall is emphasised helping to enforce the rustic feel of the bridge.

Though Fern’s face is lit well the hard light is causing her to squint and her face scrunch due to the intensity of the sun. Though there are no shadows cast on her face, her chin is casting an unflattering shadow on her jaw.

The harsh shadow cast on the building behind Fern is a good example of the hard lines hard light shadows cast but is rather distracting in the image along with the very flat harsh shadow on the bridge wall to the left.

To remedy the issues with the previous shot of Fern, I asked fern to face her back to the sun, creating a bright rim light on her hair.

This allowed the open shade surrounding us to softly light Fern’s face, ridding her of any unflattering shadows but still retains the interesting texture in the stone wall.

The downside to doing this is that the rim light has highlighted every stray hair causing a very distracting and messy portrait. This can be easily fixed both in shoot by simply taking more care while shooting and is simple in post to fix but it does show hard light is very unforgiving when it comes to highlighting flaws.

By changing my shooting direction I have eliminated the distracting background shadows on the building as I’m shoot the side of the bridge not lit by the Sun.

Basic Characteristics of Lighting

December 10, 2017 in Lighting

Langford (2000), states there are six features of lighting to bear in mind when taking a photo; Quality, Direction, Contrast, Unevenness, Colour and Intensity. He advises to looks at each of these features one at a time and how they relate to different kinds of equipment and techniques.

Quality of Light

Quality of Light refers whether the light is ‘hard’ or ‘soft’. Of course, light doesn’t have physical attributes the terms hard and soft refer to the type of shadow the light is causing an object to cast. Hildebrandt (2013) relays that hard light is defined by “…strong, well defined shadows with a high degree of contrast” and that soft light is “characterised by soft or not easily defined shadows and low contrast

Direction

The direction of light determines when shade will fall on the subject. The use of directional lighting can affect the texture of and form of the subject (Langford 2000). As we’re used to seeing light from above, due to the sun, people typically see lighting from above as more acceptable and pleasing. Lighting from below tends to relay an eerie tone, particularly in faces. Flat lighting, lighting parallel to the subject is named as such due to producing a very flat looking texture to the subject as it fills in any shadows. The opposite is true when side or top lighting, shadows are created therefore creating texture.

Contrast

Contrast relates to the difference in light from the lit parts of the subject to the shaded parts. Due the way film and digital sensors work in the present day, their dynamic range (the information that can be recorded from pure black to pure white) is significantly less than the human eye can detect. This can lead to, when exposing for highlights, to have darker than intended shadows and conversely, when exposing for shadows, blown out highlights. The problem can be remedied with several different methods such as creating HDR (high dynamic range) images by way of compositing differently exposed images, and today’s higher end cameras can recover more detail from RAW files without too much loss in quality. You can also use fill lights or reflectors, or moving away from the light source will create less light fall off giving a more gradual fade from light to shadow.

Unevenness

Langford (2000) describes unevenness as unwanted light fall off due to a (most likely hard) light source being too close to the subject. This links to the quality and a contrast of light and can be remedied by utilising the inverse square law.

Colour

Colour is based on the spectrum of light and where the most energy lies in the spectrum, for example most domestic lightbulbs (like tungsten or fluorescent) have more energy in the red and yellow wavelengths and less in blue, the inverse is true for most flashes though to much lesser ratio. Midday sun produces what is called ‘white-light’ which is relatively equal wavelengths in the light spectrum.
This colour of light is referred to as colour balance or temperature and is measured in Kelvins. Tungsten light is around 3200K whereas white daylight is around 5500K.

Intensity of Light

Intensity of light can mostly be controlled by exposure settings in the camera. There may be some trade-offs when exposing for light however. For example, if you were shooting a portrait and wanted a shallow depth-of-field shooting at f/1.4 in really bright light, you would need a really high shutter speed, possibly one quicker than the equipment will allow. Similarly, in low light, you may want to shoot a 1/60 a second to reduce motion blur, and shoot at f/8 to ensure best results from the lens, this will mean you need to raise your ISO and therefore reduce the quality of the image due to noise being introduced and a reduced dynamic range.