Our instructor was out tonight, but our lab assistant was there and between him and Jeff, they had an assignment for us for the night. The exercise we were given was adapted from Photo Workout: Flex Your Photographic Skills at Digital Photography Magazine online.
Light is critical to photography. Without light, you can’t take pictures! One of the keys to becoming a better photographer is to “see: the light and understand what it is doing within an image. The camera only sees the light and emphasized that light, even it it’s not flattering or beneficial for the subject. It is the job of the photographer to understand and properly utilize light for the desired effect.
ASSIGNMENT: Create an image using light as a creative or technical component to your composition. Illustrate how your light effectively interact with or within the composition (Does it affect the subject? Is it the subject? Does it provide movement? Does it increase or decrease the contrast Does it enhance the composition, if so, how?) You may use: natural, artificial, continuous, flash or any combination of them all. Your image must be shot in class time. Print one copy of your image, black and white or color. HAVE FUN!
Tips: Using the techniques that you have learned so far, find, create and/or use light in an interesting manner! Pay attention to both the quality and quantity of the light, and the effect it is having or producing. Look for spots of light, colored light, edge light, light contrasting with shadow or shadows themselves (as shadows are as much a part of light as the light itself). Look at the light, and what it is doing in your photograph. See how the light might be interesting in and of itself. Look at how light and shadows are interacting throughout the image.
So…
We were given an hour to go out and shoot, and then we were to come back to the lab to process and print one photo. We grabbed our cameras and out we headed out. I shot a lot of photos, and some of them su-u-u-cked, but I managed to shoot a few of interesting shots.
A light on the wall in Knowledge Center:
© Carissa Snedeker
Palms near the windows in the Knowledge Center with sun shining through their leaves.
© Carissa Snedeker
© Carissa Snedeker
Outside the Starbucks located in “The Joe” (Joe Crowley Student Union) I saw a table stacked on another. The shadow the leg cast on the brick wall captured my attention for a bit.
© Carissa Snedeker
Finally, I headed back to class and as I started to walk back through the Knowledge Center, these ceiling lights caught my eye:
© Carissa Snedeker
So which picture did I choose to print? And did I choose color or black & white? And will I change my mind before Tuesday?
Carissa Snedeker Photography 
If you are asking which I think meets the spirit of the instructions, the first of the two green pictures. I’d leave it in color.
I might have said the fountain if all that was photographed was the shadow. Of course, I’m not the one taking the class.
LikeLike
Fountain?
LikeLike
I think the first one of the palms because light has such an important part in this one, how it shines on some leaves and makes shadows on others. I think this one represents the assignment best, but I am no expert.
And for colour or bw? Have to see the bw first…I can imagine that it is even better in bw because the background in that case would even more ‘disappear’ . Love to hear which one you chose…
LikeLike
I actually don’t like that one as much because I am reflected in the glass. You probably don’t realize it’s me, but I do. I see that as a big flaw in the photograph.
LikeLike
I understand… I didn’t realize it was you 😉 I saw something in the background but couldn’t see what it was…
and as I said… I am no expert haha.
LikeLike
Well, there’s no “right” or “wrong” in the assignment either. It has quite broad criteria.
It was amazing how many different kind of photos everyone came up with. And one wasn’t “more right” than another. It’s interpretation, you know?
LikeLike
Interestingly, it’s also not the photo that the lab assistant or my classmates were most drawn to either.
LikeLike
Without reading the assignment and just determined by my own tast I would chose the last one because of the lines and colourtones. But then again; who am I, just another amateur having incredibly much fun in photography…
keep me posted 🙂
LikeLike
I really like the last one too. It’s between that one and the first one. The lines and curves and the glow of the lamps in the bowls and the recesses all work well together. Actually, I chose the first one to print and did it in black and white. It looks good. But I may still print the last one as my second shot. I’ll have to race over to the lab on Tuesday and get it done before class. There is no school on Monday due to the holiday, so the lab will be closed.
LikeLike
Thanks for your answer and I wish you luck on your ‘race’ on Tuesday… Have a great weekend!!!
LikeLike