LA: Shooting in Low-Light Conditions (week 10)

Question 1

Written assignment

Describe the steps that you will take to ensure that you take a high quality photograph in low light conditions. Refer to exposure, lenses, tripods, colour temperature, flash and ISO. Your answer should be a minimum of 350 words.

When you are taking photographs in low light conditions, there is several things you have to do to ensure that you get a high quality picture.

Exposure

Setting the shutter speed down, will give your photograph a longer exposure time. The lens will use longer time to shut, letting more light into the picture. Lower shutter speeds is more sensitive to any movement, and the photograph can get blurred quite easy. To ensure the right exposure for low light photography, adjust the shutter speed and keep the camera still and steady.

Tripod and self timer

A steady tripod is a must for a good result for a photo with slower shutter speed. The tripod gives you freedom to where you place the camera and frame your shot, and it keeps the camera still. You can use the cameras self timer in addition to make sure there is no movement or shake when the photograph is taken. If you don’t have a tripod, you can use the cameras image stabiliser function. This will help reduce blue from movement in the picture. However if you have a tripod using the cameras stabiliser function may cause blur.

Lenses

Different lenses gives different results to the lighting in your photograph. Lenses whit different sizes and zoom lengths can give you more range and better results when photographing in low light conditions.
As a note zooming in lets in less light and a darker picture. Zooming out lets in more light.

ISO

ISO refers to artificial light. A higher ISO gives the photograph more light, but it also produce a grainier picture. It creates more noice. Experiment with the ISO settings, and the shutters speed to ensure enough exposure for the subject you are photographing and control the amount of grain and noice the pictures gets. If you want a grainy effect set the ISO number up. If you want a clear picture set the ISO lower and rather give a lower shutter speed.

White balance and color temperature

Different light sources gives different color tones to your photographs. Have different color temperature. The camera needs to know what white looks like in the different lighting conditions, so that you end up with a photo where white is white, and not influenced by other tones, as blue, orange or grey. Unless that’s a wanted result. The camera has different white balance settings, that will fit the different lighting conditions. In times where there is mixed light settings you can use the auto white balance setting, and edit the light temperature in your editing software.

Question 2

• Watch the Lynda course:
• Take four low-light photographs.
  – One should be a sharp photograph that focuses on a static object, like a building or statue.
  – The second photograph should showcase moving objects, like cars or running water.
  – For the third photograph, take a moody portrait of a friend and use high ISO settings to your advantage.
  – The fourth photograph should explore using external light sources, like a Speedlite flash (please note, if you don’t have the equipment to take this last photograph, you may leave it out).

LA: Shooting in Low Light Contitions (Week 10)

Moody:

Static:

Moving:

LA: Mastering Product Photography (week 9)

This week I have been practicing product photography.

Question 1
Written assignment (Research and analysis) (1 hour)
Draw up a list of the most important aspects of a product photograph. Refer to shadows, lighting, quality, ISO and editing in your answer. Mention at least five things.

Light: Use lightning equipment that creates soft shadows or no shadows.
Format: Shoot in RAW format on your camera
ISO: Set the ISO to the lowest possible setting, it should preferably be no higher than 100.
Background: A white shameless background, with no harsh lines.

 

Question 2

1. Make your own DIY light tent I bought a tripod for my camera and made a light tent out of Perspex storage box with a curved sheet of white paper inside. On the outside I put a white bed sheet outside of it to soften the light and avoid reflections on the objects. I could not find the lamps that I wanted, and ended up with to light bulbs without reflectors around it. My fiend help me to hold the lights up i different locations.

 

1. Take product photographs of the following objects:

   Something fluffy, like a stuffed animal

   Something shiny, like a knife and fork

   Something hard, like a book or a mug

   A liquid, like a glass of wine

2. Draw a diagram of your lighting scenario for each of the above photographs and submit it along with the photographs.

   Edit your photographs with the software of your choice. Write an accompanying paragraph for each of your photographs and explain what you did during the editing process.

 

Photographs and diagrams

Something fluffy

I have adjusted the white balance from a slight pink/orange to colder white.

 

Something shiny

In the photo of the knife I have adjusted the white balance slightly, to less warmth.

 

Something hard

In this photo I have adjusted the white balance and the light to give more contrast.

Something liquid

In this photo I have adjusted the white balance and the light. The background still doesn’t have the correct white that I wanted, and is still slightly pink.

Other photos taken during this week:

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I had bad lighting equipment, and struggled to find the right white balance for all the photos. I shoot in RAW format so I could edit the WB after.

LA: Studio lighting

Question 1:

1. Name three lighting sources and their functions.

2. Name two light modifiers and explain the difference between them.

3. Draw a diagram of and describe the three-point lighting setup.

 

1. Light sources are the sources used to emit light into your scene.

Three examples of light sources.

Key Light: The key light is the main light used to light the subject or model.  The key light is stronger than the other lights used in the photo, it is the main light that defines the light and shadow areas in the picture. It could be a window, a lamp, the sun or any other source of light.

Fill light: The fill light is a softer light source placed a little further away from the subject or model than the key light. It is there to soften the shadows and contrasts made by the key light.

The Back Light: The back light is used to give the picture more depth, or to create a sharper separation between the subject or model and the background. It is also called separation light, because it separates the subject from the background, or hair light because it can be use to light up the model from the back lighting up their hair creating a halo effect.

2. Light modifiers: Modifiers are anything you use to hold in front of – or attach to- the light source. They modify the way the light hits the subject or model.

Two examples of modifiers

Softbox: A softbox is a box placed in front of the light. It softens and spreads the light.

Snoot: A snoot is conical shaped tool that narrow the distribution of light. It can be used to create a focused and harsh light, snoots are commonly used as back light or as a spot light.

 

3. The 3 point light setup:

The 3 points in the setup are the Key light, the fill light and the back light/separation light.

The key light in the scene I have drawn is a window, it is strongest and the closest to the model that you can see in the middle.

On the other side you can see the lap that operates as a fill light for the shot. It is placed furter away from the model and is placed so that it fills in and softens the sharp shadows created by the key light.

Behind the model there is a backdrop, this is the background of the shot. The background could also be a wall or something else. Between this backdrop and the model the back light/separation light is placed.

Exposure basics Q1 (week 09)

I have a Nikon D5300 camera, with a standard lens. This post is an answer to Learning Activity: Exposure basics, question 1.

After reading the appropriate section in your prescribed textbook From Snapshots to Great Shots, please answer the following questions:

1. Name all the functions / buttons on the front of your camera

2. Name all the functions / buttons on the back of your camera.

 

Buttons on the front of camera:

1.Infrared Receiver

2. Lens mount

3. Release Mode Button

4. Lens Release Button

5. Lens Mounting Mark

6. Function button

7. Flash mode button

8. AF- Assist Illuminator

 

Buttons on the back of camera:

 

1. LCD/Information Screen

2. Thumbnail/Playback Zoom Out

3. Playback Zoom In

4. Delete button

5. Multi-Selector

6.  OK button

7. Memory card door

8. Playback button

9. Command dial

10. AutoExposure/AutoFocus Lock Button

11. Information edit

12. Mode dial

13. ?

14. Menu

15. Infrared receiver

 

Buttons on top of camera:

1. Movie record button

2. Shutter release

3. Exposure Compensation/Aperture Adjustment

4. Info button

5. Live view switch

6.  Mode dial

7. Flash hot shoe

8. Speaker

9. Stereo Microphone

 ISO, aperture and shutter speed:

 

How to set the correct ISO:

1. Rotate the Mode dial to any setting other than Auto or Auto (Flash Off).
2. Press the i button on the back of the camera to activate the cursor in the information screen.
3. Use the Multi-selector to highlight the ISO Sensitivity option, and press the OK button (A).

 

 

Explain how you would change the aperture:

In P mode (programmed autoexposure) and A mode (aperture-priority autoexposure): The camera displays its recommended f-stop (aperture) and shutter speed when you press the shutter button halfway. But you can rotate the Command dial to select a different combination of settings. The number of possible combinations depends on the aperture settings the camera can select, which depends on the lens you are using.

The camera automatically changes the shutter speed as needed to to get good exposure.

 

 

Explain how you would change the shutter speed:

S mode (shutter-priority autoexposure): Rotate the Command dial to set the shutter speed. When you do, the camera automatically adjusts the aperture as needed to get a good exposure.