lighting

Light Sources for Photography

Light Sources for Photography

Kevin

In a recent on-line discussion, someone offered a very confused (wrong) explanation of electronic flash options for photographic lighting.   To straighten out the confusion, here’s a very brief overview of light sources for photography.

Light sources that strobe/flash

  1. Studio strobe : Generally requires power from an AC wall-outlet
    More power (more than batteries) enables more light and shorter recycle time.
    Most studio strobes include a modeling light, which is a low-power continuous light that helps a photographer setup the light.
  2. Monolight (a.k.a monoblock) : Self-contained studio strobe (does not have an external power pack).  Some have an option to operate from battery.
  3. Speedlight : a small battery-powered strobe with hot shoe; can be used on or off camera
  4. Small strobe like a Speedlight but without hot shoe … is there a term for that?
  5. Camera built-in flash

Light sources that do Not strobe/flash

  1. Natural light, a.k.a. available light, ambient light … light not supplied by the photographer.
  2. Continuous light (a.k.a. video light) … is a light source that does not strobe/flash.
    Absolutely necessary for video applications, but can also be useful for still photography.
  3. Hot light … a “continuous light” that generates much heat.
    Tungsten and HMI (a.k.a. arc light) are examples of hot light technologies.
    LED is an example of continuous light technology that is Not hot.
  4. Flashlight / Light painting … this is a bit obscure, but some photographers have used a simple hand-held flashlight to “paint” light onto a subject during a very long exposure.

Light modifiers

Umbrella (There are reflective umbrellas and shoot-through umbrellas.)
Soft box
Beauty dish
etc.

Bad Light

Kevin

A beautiful morning Thursday in Beverly Massachusetts. I was there not to make photographs, but to get my car repaired.  By some accounts, Beverly is the birthplace of the U.S. Navy.  In recent news, it is the home of Angie Miller, a finalist in the American Idol singing competition.

Dane Street Congregational Church

After breakfast with a friend and a bit of research at the library, I walked the short distance to Dane Street Beach.  A chilly wind was coming in off the ocean, but that didn’t stop some folks from sunbathing.

Returning from the beach, I did not have a “camera” with me, but I did have a mobile phone that has a camera built in. Thought about maybe making a few photographs, but the time was almost noon and the light was bad.

What is “bad light”?  It is a term that outdoor photographers sometimes use. “Bad light” is often caused by bright sun directly overhead; it results in high contrast and hard-edged shadows.  If you look at a shadow (shadow cast by a tree or a person’s nose, it doesn’t really matter), the edge of the shadow can be a sharp transition from dark to light, or a softer gradual transition. Great weather for a picnic usually implies deep shadows with hard edges.

So, what is a photographer to do when the light is harsh?  First, you can make photographs in some shady spot; within the shade, the contrast is not as high, shadows are more subtle or perhaps disappear entirely (everything is under the same shadow).

Second, you might photograph subjects that are naturally high contrast.  So, on my walk back to the auto repair shop, I shot the two photos attached here.

IMG-0507131230

 

Different Light

Kevin

In some parts of the world, the weather is known to change quickly and people often say: If you don’t like the weather … wait a few minutes.  With regard to outdoor photography, the same thing can often be said about the quality of the light:  if you don’t like the light … wait a few minutes.

 

Case in point, the attached photos of Purple Fringe.  The first shot was captured in open sun near mid day.  Bright light like this causes not just shadows, but hard-edged shadows (transition from light to shadow is crisp rather than soft).  This is sometimes refered to as hard light.

For the second image, I simply waited for clouds to obscure the sun, resulting in soft light.  This eliminates the harsh shadows, but the image looses overal contrast. 

Keep in mind that light can change quickly and can greatly impact the mood of an image.  The second image here was captured 3 minutes after the first image.

Typically, I prefer soft light or side light.  I prefer the second image.  (Many outdoor photographers will tell you that mid-day hard light is “bad light”.)

However, both images suffer from cluttered background of grasses.  Perhaps I was so enamored with this amazing flower that I did not pay attention to the background.  I don’t recall.  A lower camera angle might have helped eliminate the grasses from the photo, but likely not enough. Perhaps the only recourse here is to walk away from this plant and find a different Purble Fringe with less grass nearby.

 

When the Light is not quite what you want

Kevin

Friday evening, as Hurricane Irene thrashed the coast of Florida, the weather in New England was clear and the warm glow of the setting sun raked across the land.  I went a short distance down the road to photograph the river.   But, to my surprise, the light on the weeds and grasses was largely back-lit and unflattering.  So I planned to return and try again Saturday morning, as the weather forecast called for overcast clouds.

Soft light / overcast sky

As expected, the morning provided soft diffuse light and I snapped a few images.  To get a bit of elevation above the river, I used two familiar tools.  One, a portable telescoping ladder.  Two, a tripod fully extended and raised far over my head.  The latter requires a bit more shutter speed to compensate for the unstable camera perch. 

A bit later, after returning home, the sun was peeking through the clouds and I considered repeating my brief excursion in different light.  But, in the end, I did not.

As you can see in the image here, the soft light features no distinct shadows.  This is not automatically good or bad.  A diffuse light avoids high contrast and specular reflections, but it can also reduce sense of  shape and depth.  A moderate light from the side (side light) will wrap around a subject and enhance the subject shape.  But too much and the shadows may be too dark, loosing all details.

When dealing with natural light (not electronic flash), sometimes we can anticipate the light we want.  But sometimes, the light really is not doing what we expect or want.  When that happens, sometimes the right thing to do is simply try again after the light has changed.

 

 

 

St.Patricks Day Parade in Southie

Kevin

From California to Georgia, there are a dozen notable St.Patrick’s Day parades that are staged annually in the United States.  But the mac daddy of them all occurs in South Boston.  In 1737 the Irish Society of Boston hosted the first parade to honor St. Patrick’s Day.  Today, this parade can draw a crowd of spectators numbering more than 800,000.  You won’t find big expensive floats like the Rose Bowl Parade or Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, but come on now … the Irish are bit more down to earth.  This parade is a casual affair.  People have fun.

Above all else, anyone thinking of attending this event should be aware of one thing … don’t expect to find a parking space!  Take public transportation.  Parking in Southie is a scarce on normal days; but when the parade route is cleared of all parked vehicles, those displaced vehicles (belonging to local residents) fill every available nook and crany.

 The light was a bit challenging this year … bright sun and deep shadows.  In such situations, a little fill-flash is often the solution to reducing unwanted facial shadows.  Though I had a flash in my bag, I neglected to use it because it has been quite some time since I have done a shoot in this light.   This means a lot more work in post-processing to recover the shadow details (not something I really want to do if I can avoid it.)

(click on an image to see a larger view)

http://www.saintpatricksdayparade.com/boston/boston.htm

Photographing a live drama performance

Kevin

In the past, I have photographed drama productions using high-speed 35mm film. The results were prone to a great deal of grain and visual noise. Last week, I shot a drama production using the Canon 5D mk II DSLR and the results far exceed anything I could do with film.

During the actual performance I used ISO 12800 with no flash. During dress rehearsal, I had freedom to use electronic flash and shoot from different angles not possible during the live performance. I setup a remote flash bounced off of a 36″ reflector; this provides a larger and softer light source. Because the flash was being bounced off a reflector, I configured the flash for higher intensity output than normal/default.

The images shown here provide comparison of shooting with flash and without. The primary light source is always the spotlight. The flash provides fill-light in the shadow areas.

Notice the shadows cast on the wall. Both the spotlight and the flash create shadows. (Here, the shadow from the spotlight appears low on the wall because the spotlight is mounted near the ceiling, probably eighteen feet above the floor.) The shadow from the flash has a soft edge while the shadow from the spotlight has a hard edge. This difference is due to the differing sizes of the two light sources. The bounce flash is giving me a light source 36 inches in diameter at a distance of 25 to 40 feet. The Spotlight is maybe 10 inches in diameter at a distance of 25 feet. Both size and distance of a light source directly effect the hardness/softness of the light.

Neither approach is better than the other. Sometimes you want hard light. Sometimes you want soft light. It can be nice to have both.

Wedding shoot

admin

Having been making photographs for many years, most of my work has relied upon available light. However, in photographing a wedding yesterday, I employed some artificial lighting techniques.

I rented a PocketWizard remote flash setup and also a better flash than what I own, both from LensProToGo. Unfortunately, testing the equipment the evening before the wedding, the PocketWizard transmitter failed. While this is certainly not as bad as discovering a failure an hour before a shoot, it was stressful none the less. Fortunately, I was able to make a long detour on my way to the wedding and pickup a replacement from LensProToGo. The moral of that story is: make sure to get rental equipment in your hands (and test it) a few days in advance of your shoot; if there is any problem, your supplier has time to ship you a replacement

During the actual wedding ceremony, I relied upon available light. After the ceremony, with more time and freedom of place, we staged some photographs with the bride, groom, wedding party and parents. For these staged shots, I primarily chose electronic flash bounced off a reflective panel. A small light source (e.g. flash pointed directly at your subject) can be harsh with specular highlights and hard-edged shadows; the reflective panel creates a larger light source, which creates for a more gentle light, reducing specular highlights and softening shadow edges. Having the flash on a remote stand allowed me to change my camera position without needing to move the reflector.

It was a very lonnng and tiring day. Late at night, reviewing the images on the camera LCD, there were definitey some issues, but I was most concerned with apparent bluriness. However, the images looked much better once I got them onto a desktop computer display.

For information on wedding photography, I recommend the training videos by David Ziser at KelbyTraining.com. KelbyTraining allows anyone to sample the first few video chapters for free; subscribe as a member to see all chapters.