Photography 1: TAOP, Ex Shiny Surfaces

Project: Photographic Lighting.
Exercise: Shiny Surfaces.

Objects with surfaces that reflect brightly, such as chrome or silver, are a special lighting problem.

For this exercise I used a shiny glasses case.  It was so shiny that you could see your face in it.  The object was placed on a flat surface so that it could be photographed from above.  A light was set up close to the camera.  A photograph was taken with this set up for reference.

5587.jpg; Reference image.

A large sheet of tracing paper was rolled into the shape of a long cone so that the wide end would sit around the object, (but out of view), and so that it tapers upwards to the small end, which fitted just around the lens.  The length of the cone was exactly the distance from the camera to the subject.  A second photograph was taken.

5589.jpg; With cone diffuser.

I then experimented with the light in different positions and at different distances.  I also tried changing the angle of the object slightly.  A photograph was taken of each setup.

5590.jpg; Light behind camera.

5591.jpg; Light to side, 1.5m away.

5592.jpg; Object turned slightly.

What have I learned from this exercise?

In order to photograph shiny objects successfully, set the proper environment.  Using a light tent where the light is very well distributed is key, (as created with the tracing paper in this exercise). If you do not have a light tent, create this environment by diffusing your light sources.

Set up the lights in a manner that will not reflect anything on the object. Take some sample pictures and see how they look. If they are not right, move the lights. Some positioning options are: above the object or in front of the object on either side.

Only let the light tent open enough to let the lens of your camera through. This will keep the camera reflection out of your photo. Do not use a lens hood. Being above the object and shooting in a downward angle is a good option, when possible. Shoot the object with as much opaque portions as possible facing the lens of your camera.

Photography 1: TAOP, Ex Contrasts and Shadow Fill

Project: Photographic Lighting
Exercise: Contrast and Shadow Fill

For this exercise I set up a simple still-life.  Room was left for access at the sides of the set.  The scene was shot from the same level as the objects.  A light was fixed about 2-3 feet to one side of the objects and at their level, so that it was aimed at right angles to the camera's view.

The first photograph was taken without a diffuser in front of the lamp and the second with a diffuser.  These were followed with a series of 5 exposures using the diffused light.  The light and camera remained unchanged.  The first two photographs are shown below:

5580.jpg; F11; 1/125s; No Diffuser.

5581.jpg; F11; 1/90s; With Diffuser.

The lighting of the objects is more even when the diffuser is used.  The diffused light is able to "leak" around the edges of the objects.

For the next image a white card was positioned about 3 feet away from the objects on the opposite side to the light and facing it.

5582.jpg; F11; 1/60s; White Card Reflector 3 feet away.

The next image was taken as above but with the white card positioned about 1 foot away from the objects.

5583.jpg; F11; 1/60s; White Card Reflector 1 foot away.

In the second of the two images above the side of the objects furthest away from the light is brighter than in the first.

The white card was then covered with aluminium foil, with the dull side facing the objects.  A photograph was taken.  The foil was then turned round to the shiny side and another photograph taken.

5584.jpg; F11; 1/90s; Dull Foil Reflector 2 feet away.

5585.jpg; F11; 1/125s; Shiny Foil Reflector 2 feet away.

The shiny foil reflected more of the light from the lamp onto the side of the objects furthest away.  More of the shadows were filled with light.

For the last shot the foil was crumpled, straightened out and re-attached to the card, shiny side out.

5586.jpg; F11; 1/180s; Crumpled and Shiny Foil Reflector 2 feet away.

I then compared each of the images and placed them in order of contrast, from greatest to least:

5580; 5581; 5582; 5583; 5586; 5584; 5585.

What have I learned from this exercise?

Using quite simple and easy to produce reflectors, the contrast in an image can be altered significantly.

Photography 1: TAOP, Ex Tungsten & Fluorescent Lighting

Project: Available light.
Exercise: Tungsten & fluorescent lighting.

Part 1.
For the first part of this exercise I found a room that was fairly brightly lit by tungsten lamps.  I turned off any fluorescent lamps.  Just after sunset, when there was only a little daylight left that was weaker than the room lights, I stood close to the window and looked out for about a minute, until my eyes became adjusted.  I then turned around and looked at the room light.  The room light seemed yellow.  After my eyes adjusted for a couple of minutes, it seemed less coloured.  I then quickly looked out of the window again.  The daylight outside seemed blue.

I next measured the light level at various points in the room with my camera's meter.  I took several readings including close to a reading lamp, and in the darkest corner.  I set the aperture to the largest available, F4.5 and recorded the shutter speed:

1/10s; 1/15s; 1/20s; 1/8s (darkest part of room); 1/10s; 1/10s; 1/30s (near reading lamp).

None of these readings would be good enough for hand-held shooting.

I next composed a photo in which both the interior lit by tungsten lamps and the exterior at dusk were both visible.  I waited until the light levels inside and outside were approximately equal, and took 3 photos, as follows: with the white balance set to Auto, with the white balance set to daylight and with the white balance set to tungsten.  The three photos are shown below:

5569.jpg; F11; 1.5s; Auto WB

5570.jpg; F11; 1.5s; Daylight WB

5571.jpg; F11; 1.5s; Tungsten WB

With the white balance set to Auto, the camera has made a reasonable compromise with the colour balance with neither the interior or exterior completely correct.  With the WB set to Daylight, the colour of the daylight is good but the interior light is too yellow.  With the WB set to Tungsten, the interior light is good but the daylight is too blue.

Part 2.

For part 2, I found two different interiors and lit them by compact fluorescent lamps.  I took four photos of each location each identically composed.  The first image was taken with the WB set to Auto, the second set to Daylight Fluorescent, the third set to Neutral Fluorescent and the fourth set to White Fluorescent.  The photographs produced are shown below:

5572.jpg; F11; 1/2s; Auto WB

5573.jpg; F11; 1/2s; Daylight Fluorescent WB

5574.jpg; F11; 1/2s; Neutral Fluorescent WB

5575.jpg; F11; 1/2s; White Fluorescent WB

5576.jpg; F11; 1/3s; Auto WB

5577.jpg; F11; 1/30s; Daylight Fluorescent WB

5578.jpg; F11; 1/30s; Neutral Fluorescent WB

5579.jpg; F11; 1/30s; White Fluorescent WB

In each location, the White Fluorescent WB setting gave the best colour rendition.  This uses a colour temperature of 4200K, the closest to that of the CFLs used  which are calibrated to 2700K, (the colour temperature of a tungsten incandescent lamp).

What have I learned from this exercise?

Tungsten lighting is much weaker than daylight and in most rooms it is very uneven.

Many commercially available fluorescent tubes include a continuous spectrum as well as the bands of light produced by the fluorescent coating to give a more pleasant light.  This means that they can be given an equivalent colour temperature although they can still produce a green colour cast without adjustment to the white balance on digital cameras.