E-commerce & Lens Shoot

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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.

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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. 

 

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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

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. 

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Adding a second light

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With this shoot I wanted to work on building up lights and working towards moving beyond single light set-ups. 

I started the shoot with setting up a single light, setting exposure and roughly getting a nice lighting style. 

Here, in the middle image. I found the light was a little too high as the shadow from her nose was a little too long however April was moving around within the infinity cove so the light was going to change throughout each shot. The key thing was to keep the same distance from the light to ensure a consistent exposure throughout the shoot.

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I then added a snoot behind April to separate her from the background and create a glow around her head. The snoot allows me to create a narrow beam of light that can illuminate smaller areas more accurately without spilling onto unwanted areas.

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Overall this was a quick shoot with not much variety due to time on the day. However, I was please in seeing how effective a hairlight can in seperating subject from their background though I wish I was more careful aiming the snoot as the light doesn't quite reach the crown of April's head .

Single Light

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My first shoot with studio lighting began with single light set-ups.
This was the first time I had shot with studio lighting in a long time and something I was looking forward to as I had far less knowledge in comparison to ambient lighting. 

We were tasked to work in groups for this shoot, however upon being left to work in groups I found a lot of people taking out phones. This led to me stepping up first to shoot. 
I asked Katie to model for me and asked another person in the group to help move the light so I can see how the light falls on Katie's face without having to keep moving back and forth. 

I found taking lead of the situation was met with a little bit of cynicism within the group and that often when asking for help, I was met with people staring at phones. 

Studio lighting has always been rather intimidating to me as you're in control of every aspect of the image. I set my camera to 100 iso. This will allow me the cleanest image and, thanks to the intensity of light studio lighting can produce I don't have to worry about exposure at this sensitivity. I next set my shutter to it's highest sync speed of 1/250 which allows me to keep everything in the image sharp without causing sync issues with the lights. 

My aperture depended on the intensity of the light. Due to flash illuminating the scene for only a fraction of a second only the ISO and aperture value with determine how much exposure the sensor recieves. As I've set my ISO for the cleanest image possible, only the aperture will change in value to effect exposure. 
 

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Triggering the flash

The camera needs to be able to communicate with the flash in order to flash at the right time. This is done with either a sync cable which connects the strobe and camera with a wire or more commonly a radio trigger. 

The radio triggers consists of a transmitter which connect the camera via hotshoe and a receiver which plugs into the flash head, most commonly with a 3.5mm jack or a 6.35mm jack.

Upon pressing the shutter release, the hotshoe sends a signal to the transmitter which uses radio waves to send a signal to the receiver, triggering the flash.  

The drawback to radio triggers include interference, particularly if others are using the radio triggers nearby. These is remedied with channel switches on most sets. There is also an issue with distances and line-of-sight causing the signal not to received by the flash head. 

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Metering Flash

To meter the flash you need a light meter. A camera's built-in meter can only measure ambient light as it cannot register the short strobe of light. Modern light meters have a flash setting which can detect the burst of light and give a read out of which settings will ensure the correct exposure. 

I dialed in the ISO value, and ensured the infercone covered the light sensor to measure the incident light (the light falling on the subject) as opposed to to reflected light (light reflected from the subject) and placed the dome under the subjects chin facing the lens. I then triggered the flash which results in the screen producing an aperture value which will ensure the correct exposure. 

Using the modelling light as a guide, I placed moved the light until I saw a pleasing result on Katie's face. Resulting in the set-up pictured above. 

I metered the light and the result shows an aperture value of f/5.6. I dial the value into camera and take the shot. 

The result is an almost rembrandt lighting style with Katie's face being side lit.

Due to being light a soft box, the soft light produces feathered shadows and flattering light for her skin. However the direction of the light produces a dramatic look.

 

I asked Katie to change her pose slightly for a few shots to see how the light would change without moving the light while also seeing which angles would flatter her best. 

The image to the left broad lights Katie while giving a true rembrandt shadow. 
This creates an interesting lighting style but it's not ideal for a beauty image as part of her face is hidden.

The image on the right is a tad over exposed, this may due me metering from the wrong side of her face. However, the majority of Katie's face is lit and visible however there isn't much connection with the audience due to the angle she is turned at. As she's looking directly into the light source it creates a fairly flat lighting, flattering to her skin but creating little depth. 

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However, if I turned her more towards the lens while, I can still light the majority of her face while creating interesting shadows. Remetering also will help the exposure issue
 Such as the image below. 

Though the added contrast in post edit slightly blows out the highlight I think due to the punchy nature of the image it's not a major issue. 

 
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Here I moved the light further to Katie's side to a 90 degree angle from the camera. This resulted in a split lighting. 

The problem I had with this image is with my camera being set to automatic white balance. 

The camera adjusted the white balance to the colour of the ambient light at the time, which must have been warm resulting in shifting the colour balance towards blue to compensate. 

However as strobe lights tend to be close to daylight in colour, a white light of around 5500k, the resulting image as a distinct cold blue tone to it. 

Thankfully I was shooting in raw making correcting this issue simple in post-production. Knowing the background was a neutral colour I could use it to correct the white balance. 

However, if I didn't have something in frame to correct the white balance, or i wanted to set a predetermined light balance in camera I could have taken a shot with a 18% grey card in shot with cameras and software being able to set white balnce knowing the exact colour value of 18% grey in 5500k lighting.

The result is this colour corrected image, which looks more natural and accurate in colour reproduction. The split light delivers a very dramatic image as the unlit side of Katie's face is thrown into darkness. 

This can again be alleviated by adding a reflector parallel to the light.

This would result in a image like the one below where the shadows are not thrown into total darkness and there is enough fill light to still retain detail.

The problem with this image is of course the posing taken at an unflattering moment. 
I also find the lighting too dramatic with my goal being to produce a flattering light in a beauty style. 

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Repositioning the light, I wanted to find an angle of light that would flatter Katie and work well in a beauty shot. 

As I repositioned the light, it was also necessary to remeter the light. I must have moved the light further away from Katie as upon remetering the light meter showed f/4 would give correct exposure. 

I find this loop lighting style is more flattering and suits a beauty style of image more than side lighting styles like rembrandt and split lighting. 

There is enough shadow on the Katie's face to create depth and form but the light is flat enough that it flatters and masks imperfections in her skin. 

 

 

Wanting a tight show, I stepped closer to Katie to have her face fill the frame now i'm satisfied with the lighting and pose. I then colour toned the image to add warmth to the image and added contrast which unfortuneatly drew emphasis on imperfections in her skin.

Original

Colour Toned

Colour Toned

The colour toning added vibrancy and contrast to the image, throwing the background into total darkness and helping Katie stand out from the neutral backdrop. 
I then took the image from Lightroom, where I colour toned, into photoshop to finish editing. 

Final Edit

I started with frequency seperation which allows me to seperate colour from texture and worked on the blemishes in Katie's skin that colour toning emphasised. Reducing redness and evening out her skin tone. I then reduced lines and wrinkles by working the texture of the image. I cloned out stray hairs and creating a 50% grey layer, overlayed and the doge and burn tool to enhance the detail in her eyes non-destructively. I then sharpened the image however, looking now I seemed to have over sharpened the image. 

It had been a while since doing a shot like this, particularly in editing. It was interesting to see how much the lighting helped in flattering Katie saving time in post processing. 

 

Studio Lighting

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The problem with ambient light is that it is uncontrollable. We can modify and attempt to alter the ambient light however we typically do not have control over intensity and colour and are ultimately finding work arounds to achieve the desired outcome. 

Studio lighting refers to light that can be controlled. Typically, in intensity and then modified with attachment to the light head which can act to soften, direct, shape and colour the light. 

In photography, we tend to use flash or 'strobe' light, which charge capacitors and then quickly dup the energy into a flash tube creating a very quick and strong burst of light.

There are many different brands of lights, popular ones include Bowens, Elinchrom, Profoto, Godox, Mets, Lastolite and Phottix though countless more exist and cover most price points. 
Most brands tend to have proprietary systems which attach light modifiers to their flash head however modifiers are universal in function.

Please click each thumbnail and hover over the picture to see their descriptions. 

With studio lighting you can also have as many light sources are your equipment allows. Each with different intensities and shapes. As strobe have a much greater intensity of light you can shoot at almost any camera setting allowing you to change settings for artistic purpose as opposed to compensating to gain correct exposure. 

Wedding (ambient)

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I was quite excited to shoot this wedding. Though i've shot weddings before this was my first opportunity with an entirely new kit from my last wedding. I had lenses which with low aperture values and a camera with better ISO handling meaning I could shoot more with ambient light.

ISO400    f2.8    1/60    70mm

Starting the day at the Bride's house, I found everyone was in the kitchen. The kitchen was light and airy with huge french door letting in a lot of light, with the white walls allowing the light to bounce all around the room and keep it's natural daylight colour. 

Here, the bride and her granddaughter have their backs to the french doors (the light source) which you can see from the directional lighting hitting their head and shoulders. 

However, thanks to the light coloured walls there was enough light in the room to light them with a reasonable ISO and have the directional light act as a nice rim light.

 

Due to the being the only uncluttered place available a lot of portraits were taken against the french doors. However this means people are being back lit which would typically result in silhouetting of the subject. 

However, I metered for the subject's face, this resulted in her being a bit washed out however thanks to the light walls again, there was enough light to ensure she was not silhouetted.

I then, in post, reduced the highlights slight, added some contrast which gives her back the warmer skin tone present on the day. 

 

ISO400    f/2.8    1/60sec   62mm

I also experimented a little with detail shots and light. When it came to the wedding dress it was interested to see how the light acted when shot through the lace with different layers of fabric. 

This image is also backlit, however as the material is translucent rather than being silhouetted or washed how it is instead lit up with each new layer of lace diffusing and slight decreasing the exposure thereby adding depth and form. 

The white wall to the right is also reflecting light from the window onto the dress helping balancing the light. 

 

ISO400    f/2.8    1/100    55mm

Further into the day, at the wedding venue, I was presented with a grand manor house which presented very different light to that in the Bride's house. 

In this image, taken while the Bride was talking to the registrars, hard sunlight is streaming in from the south facing windows. The bride is positioned in front of a wall, simply being lit by the reflected light within the room and very slightly by the indoor room light present out of frame. Her bridesmaid behind is being narrowly lit from the windows due to standing on a slightly different plane to the bride while her broad shit is being lit by the ambient reflected light around the room along with the indoor lighting in the room chandeliers. 

Here I find the focal point and light to work well with each other. The aim when capturing this image was to highlight the emotion and expression the bridesmaid is conveying with the bride in focus to add context. Typically, I would have the bridesmaid in focus, however I find as the bridesmaid is a few tenth stops brighter than the bride and is highlighted with the rim lighting of the window light, that this is enough to keep the bridesmaid as a primary subject along with the bride. 

 

ISO100    f/2.8    1/320sec    40mm

Something I still need to develop with my portraits is paying careful attention to detail in composition. 

In this portrait of the Bride and Groom, I now see that their placement in relation to the 2 bushes at the bottom of the frame is not even and symmetrical. This may be emphasised by the brides dress trailing behind too but I feel if I asked the bride to take 2 small steps forward, compositionally this would make a better photo. 

Lighting in this picture I find to be nice and soft thanks to the misty weather of the day and that the sun was low enough throughout the day, thanks to the time of year to provide a directional light that still ass contrast, shape and depth to the image. 

ISO400    f/2.8    1/250    70mm

Here is my favourite image of the day taken in ambient light. The bride and groom at stood in a woodland area. The light from the open sky infront of them is spilling onto the floor and is highlighted by the vignette caused by the lens making it look like a pool of light which I think enhances the tone.  I exposed for the brides back which seems to be a middle value in exposure between the darker areas in the grooms clothing to the bright sky they're being backlit by.  I've lot detail in the grooms jacket, however i've preserved the more important detail in the brides dress while allowing for a lovely rim light to surround them.

Are the background is in an open environment, it's brighter than where the Bride and Groom are standing, for me this works really well in the image as it reflects of story of newly weddings taking steps into a bright future but metaphorically and quite literally. You can also see the couple's dog highlighted thanks to his white coat waiting at the top of the steps, though not an important part of the image I thought it would make a nice picture for the couple personally to have their pet waiting for them in the story the picture conveys. 

 

Josh Glennon Shoot

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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/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. 

 
ISO 100    f/1.4    1/400sec     35mm

ISO 100    f/1.4    1/400sec     35mm

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    1/640    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

Ambient Still Life

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Having never really shot still life or product shots in the past, I was eager to get in some practice. With this shoot, I'm using a north facing window as my key light. I tend to associate still life and product photography with highly controllable studio lights so was interested in how this shoot would go with ambient light only.  The advantage of still life photography is the subject will only move if you move it, with ambient light, this means you can draw out your shutter speed to let in more light as the intensity of the light cannot always be controlled. 

Going into this shoot I knew I wanted to rely on an interesting set and props as I would be restricted with light both due to using ambient and lack of experience. With it being autumn/winter time I thought connotations of the season would work well with warming colours of fires and and comfort and indulgence being key to the theme. I chose to photograph alcohol, characteristic with the time of year and the glass bottles would result in some lighting challenges and interest.  

I began with building the set up one step at a time. 

Light diagram

Light diagram

Not worrying too much about exposure at first, I arrange my primary products first and took a frame adjusting each time to try and find the best composition.

I noticed immediately that the light wasn't directly hitting the front of the bottle, the most important part of the image.

I then noticed, due the tripod i was using, a light a portable one, shooting at 1/8 second due to the lighting conditions produced camera wobble as the tripod was not steady enough. And I opted for a more heavy duty and robust tripod. Changing composition each frame and then adding decoration. 

 
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Once I was satisfied with my set design, I decided to work on exposure. I wanted a dark background and for the Jack Daniels bottle to be clear and well lit.

From the first image above you can see the background is too light and the small logo of a bee which is gold foil is over exposed. I remedied this by softening the light with a scrim which changes the exposure slightly and allows the bee to stand out without being blown out.  I then make slight changes to the expose in 3rd stop increments until i achieved the desired exposure.  However with a new exposure to compensate for the bee logo and make the background darker, the side of the bottle is not thrown into a dark shadow. 

 

Adding a gold reflector, to warm the light and fitting in with the desired theme, I changed the angle until achieving the desired effect of adding shape to the bottle,filling in the shadows and, as a bonus, casting a nice warm reflection onto the copper muddler. 

 

ISO 100    f/8     1/3    70mm

Out-of-camera file

Here is my final image.
The light from the window is being diffused to help blown out highlights while a golden reflector is filling in shadows and giving the picture ambiance and the feel there may be a fire to sit by off to camera left.

The set dressing matches the warm colour tones and a cozy winter feel. Post processing involved toning the image given it a warmer and almost oaky feel to it. I've also darkened the background slightly with a brush adjustment underexposing a bit more and cropping to ensure a straight image. 

Changing subject, I also shot a prosecco bottle scene with grapes. I wanted the same winter warming feel and tones of decadence and indulgence. I began with building the set.

I liked the final image here, however as we've not places a skrim over the window yet there are quite hard and sharp lines where the light transitions to shadow. 

The bottle is also casting a shadow onto the chopping board and the light falloff from the window causes the left side of the grapes to be slightly underexposed. 

You can see very obvious and clear reflections you couldn't before due to the glasswares design and both bottle and glass having a round, tapered shape. 

In this image I've jumped straight to the set-up I had previously with the Jack Daniels set. I've diffused the window and added the reflector to provide a side light which casts an interesting shine on the bottle and helps with the light fall off with the grapes. 

The skrim has helped someone with the reflections however you can now see the curved glass is still reflecting everything within the room. 

 

I sort out advice from Holly on the issue, we tried experimenting with several different ways of rearranging the scrim material, doubling it up and moving it closer to and further from the window. 

However, the issue remained and, though a north facing wall was used, the sun was setting and we lost light before solving the problem.

Here is what I feel is the best image of the day.

The reflections remain and I noticed a fingerprint is present on the bottle. I do overall like the image, the tone and theme fit my plan and I learned a lot about how controlling ambient light can be difficult for particularly when photographing reflective surfaces.

I posted this image on social media along with my final Jack Daniels image and received advice from Richy Leeson regarding the shadows. He suggesting placing the scrim from backdrop to camera to wrap around the glass. 

I didn't have the studio time, but asked to use the studio alongside someone else and quickly was able to try this out and capture the following image the next day. 

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The result, after polishing the glassware, is a less distracting reflection however there wasn't enough scrim material to completely surround the set to remove all of them. By this time also, the decorations had been handled so much they look messy and uneven. However I feel if shooting this again, I would be more successful. 

 

Here's a link to a gallery to see all the images regarding this shoot: https://adobe.ly/2ECr0OX

Shoot with Fern

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This shoot was shot in Golden Hour along a quiet river bank. Fern, the model, is a close friend and this shoot helped me develop working with people who are not used to being in front of the camera. It was easy to put Fern at ease, being friends, however she still felt awkward having her pictures taken in public. The approach I took to counter this was to simply talk to Fern, give her directions of where to stand, sit or go and time my photo capturing to capture natural expressions.

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This photo of Fern was shot with a really low sun. Due to this the light is only hitting Fern and a small portion of the background where you can see the long shadows Golden Hour causes.

As Fern is the only thing illuminated in the frame the background is underexposed helping Fern stand out from the surroundings.
However you can see the light doesn’t reach below her waist causing her lower half to be underexposed too.

As it was a very clear day, though golden hour, the sun is hitting Fern with a hard light causing her to squint.

 
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Here I’ve moved Fern slightly so her entire body is in the shade creating a much more even lighting across her and the background.

She is also able to open up her eyes and relax her expression as the sun is no longer in her eyes creating a more relaxed looking model and image.

As the photo was taken relatively photojournalistically ferns angled 90 degree to the camera making for an image that doesn’t really connect with the audience.

I could move to remedy this but in this specific situation we were on a riverbank with tall grass and wildlife making it difficult to move safely. 

 
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Moving into open shade, here Fern is evenly lit, able to keep her eyes open as has very soft shadows under her chin.

The soft light helps to smooth her skin and fill any flaws giving a natural and flattering look. Her hair still has highlights given contrast and texture which has been enhanced in post-production.

I asked Fern to keep a neutral expression to keep the tone of the image quite serious which I think fits well with the neutral tone. I find Fern’s dress sense and hair colour fit the out of focus background colours quite well.

However, the background does present a bit of distraction for me, the houses in the background are still in the sunlight highlighting the white windows.

As Fern is facing out into open sky from the open shade, she has nice catchlights in her eyes making her eyes pop.

 
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As light was fading quickly, I felt a bit rushed throughout the shoot and ended up with shots and poses that simply don't work. Here Fern is looking uncomfortable, I've asked her to sit on the wall and relax but she looks very tense. The harsh sunlight in her eyes is causing her to scrunch her face, her coat and bad are just hanging off her and there is no connection with the audience. 

Compositionally I've cut off her leg mid-calf, I would've perhaps had better luck shooting in landscape to fit all of her in the frame. But generally I think this pose and positioning simply wasn't comfortable enough for Fern to look relaxed.

 
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Stray Hairs are highlighted by the rim light 

Stray Hairs are highlighted by the rim light

 

This is my favourite image from the shoot.
As mentioned previously, fern has been turned away from the hard light giving her a rim light highlighting her hair.

This unfortunately highlighted the stray hairs on Fern causing a distracting and messy look. I’ve remedied this in post-production by cloning out the hairs creating a cleaner and more presentable look.  

I also removed my lens hood for this shot hoping for a lens flare, though nothing quite as dramatic as intended the images has a very slight washed out look and mild flare artefact on her lower half.

Looking back I wish I had kept a better eye on Fern’s hair to help save time in post and also reduced the messy look of her hair on her coat sleeve which has proven harder to correct.

 
 

Final Set of images

As a whole, I was really pleased with this shoot. It was amongst the first time I felt like I was consistent throughout the shoot and was genuinely pleased with the results. There are still a lot of things I can pick fault with within the set of images, such as composition, background distractions and posing however my chosen final set of images came out how I envisioned them.

Here is a link to see all the images from the shoot: https://adobe.ly/2EtP9XK 
 

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Golden Hour

Golden hour is the ‘hour’ just after sun rise and just before sun set.
Creates a directional warm glow of light (around 3000k) which is typically, though not always more diffused than midday sun.
Golden hour creates long shadows and as it typically occurs early or late in the day when shooting outside public places tend to be less busy.

Open Shade

Open shade is when the subject is stood in shade in an open environment so the direct, and therefore hard light providing sun, is not hitting them, they are however facing out towards the open sky. The open shade will provide a light that evens out the light removing harsh shadows and provide a more natural colour

Ambient Lighting

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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.

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North Facing Window

Ambient Lighting

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.

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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.

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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. 

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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. 

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.

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Flat Lighting

Directional Lighting

Flat lighting is when a subject is lit from the point of the camera. It is called as such as the result often produces a very low contrast, flat light due to filling in any shadows that may be being cast.


Out of the studio, when using flash on camera it’s typically best to try and bounce the flash of a wall or ceiling to creating some interesting shadows to enhance texture and form as the results can look very dull.


However flat light is often used in fashion and beauty portraits due to it’s ability to mask flaws in skin thanks to the low contrast.

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Butterfly Lighting

Directional Lighting

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Butterfly lighting is the result of having a light just above camera pointing down slightly. It’s called as such due the shape of the shadow under the nose supposedly resembling a butterfly.  


As shadows are now being cast on Nicola’s face we can see more detail and definition. I think it has also slimmed Nicola’s face slightly due to the shadows cast from Nicola’s cheek bones and brow creating depth and shape to her face.


Sometimes butterfly lighting can create a dark shadow under the chin which is often remedied by using a reflector.

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Loop Lighting

Directional Lighting

Loop lighting is similar to a butterfly lighting set-up but about 30 degrees from camera, depending on the subject. It’s called as such due the shadow cast from the nose creating a loop on the subjects cheek.


Loops lighting is relatively popular as it flatters most people. It creates interesting shadows leading to depth and contrast in the image.


Here, the right side of Nicola’s face is rather dark, a reflector or fill light could remedy thing creating a less contrasty image while still keeping the loop lighting style.

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Rembrandt Lighting

Directional Lighting

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Rembrandt Lighting is again a similar set up to loop lighting but around 60 or so degree from camera. It’s identified by a distinct triangle of light on the subjects cheek in the shaded half of their face and is named as such due to the iconic style being used in renowned artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn’s portraits.

Rembrandt is similar to loop to whereas in loops lighting the shadow from the nose and cheek do not meet, here they do creating the iconic triangle just below Nicola’s eye

I find Rembrandt lighting to be moody and dramatic in tone, particularly without fill light particularly when comparted with flat or butterfly lighting.  

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Split Lighting

Directional Lighting

Split lighting is achieved by lighting your subject 90 degrees from the camera casting half of their face into shadow.

Here is an extreme example, it is full of contrast going from highlight to very deep shadows. Typically, I would lean towards adding a fill light or a simple bounce board to help fill in the shadow and retain from detail on the darker side of Nicola’s face.

Split lighting creates a very dramatic image portrait which I think would suit masculine subjects. I've also noticed, the more off centre the light gets from the subjects face, the more flaws, lines and wrinkles become apparent due to the deepening shadows. 

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Soft Light

Soft Light is a lighting quality that is a direct result of a large light source relative to the subject. Due to the larger light source the light can wrap around objects, diffusing shadows giving them softer edges.
Clouds on an overcast day are illuminated by the sun behind them creating a huge light source relative to everything below. A 40 inch softbox over a flash bulb is larger than bare bulb creating a softer light or bouncing hard light sources off of reflectors or placing diffusion material in front of light source increase the size of the light and therefore soften it.

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In this photo of Gary, he is being lit by 60inch softbox off to camera right.

The softbox was placed around 6 feet away from Gary. Though the distance decreases the light source’s size relative to Gary, it was still large enough that the shadows cast by and onto Gary have a soft feathered edge.

You can see on Gary’s cheek there is a gradient from highlight to shadow as the light falls off gradually as opposed to a clean-cut line.  

The soft lighting is also reducing any flaws in Gary’s skin as it will fill in shadows created by any flaws due to the light subtly wrapping around Gary.

This photo of Katie was taken on an overcast day. This meant the cloudy sky was essentially a giant softbox creating very soft light.

The soft lights of the shadow are much softer than the previous photo of Gary and this is due to the fact the light source (in this case, the cloudy sky) is a much greater size relative to Katie.

The shadows cast by Katie have a very gradual gradient from light to shadow. The shadows cast on her neck can be seen as very soft with a feathered and diffused edge to them.

Personally, I find the lighting interesting thanks to directional lighting casting shadows however posing and styling lets the images down.

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In this portrait of a Bride and Groom, they are being lit by an overcast sky.

This allows for a soft light which produces very little shadows.  Though there are lighter and darker shades its difficult to pick out exact shadows due to how soft the edges of those shadows are along with the fact the shadows are being filled due to the wrap of light from such a big light source as an overcast sky.

Due to the natural top down lighting, we can see highlights leading to darker tones but in a much more gradual fade.
You can see the shadow cast underneath the bench, and though distinct, the edges are soft and feathery.

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In this portrait of Katie, she is lit with a studio flash modified with a large softbox.

It’s placed high pointing down and to the camera right. The softbox produces a flattering light for Katie’s skin and the light wraps to fill in shadows that may be caused by flaws.

The shadow cast by her jaw on her cheek is soft and gradual without harsh lines which suits a beauty style image. The loop shadow under Katie’s nose is distinct and contrasty but doesn’t have the hard edge it would without the softbox leading to it feathering off.

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Hard Light

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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.

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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.  

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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.

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Basic Characteristics of Lighting

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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.