Maybe I’m feeling a little sad that the lighting class is just about over. I was in the first group so my final project was critiqued at tonight’s class. Next Tuesday we will critique the second half of the class and then say our good-byes. I’m not eligible to take the advanced lighting class as I have not taken the color class which at this point is an impossibility since it is only offered during the day (9 – 11:45 am), and there is no way I can leave work for 4 hours a day twice a week to take the class. Not that my learning will stop. I’ll just have to look elsewhere.
Anyway, our first assignment was to shoot a ball, cube, and cylinder using a single light source. This assignment was to get us to “see” the light: its intensity, the quality of it, how it falls on objects of different shapes, planes, angles, etc.
It seems simple enough: shoot a white cube, sphere and cylinder against a white background using a single light source. Simple, yes. Easy? No! Here’s the catch: Nothing can bleed into anything else. All planes must be distinct, including the backdrop and the table top. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, photographically speaking.
My results at the time were less than stellar, even after hours upon hours over several days of trying to get it right:
Jeff challenged us at the time that if we wanted to, we should re-shoot this assignment, once the class was over, using what we’d learned in the class. I gave it a shot tonight. It didn’t take me long to get close to what I was looking for. Not perfect, but not bad for just a few minutes of trying. I may give this a longer whirl this weekend.
I guess I might have learned something.
08-May-2012: After looking at this last photo again, I’m still not satisfied. Top of the cube and cylinder are too close to the shade of the background. Will. Keep. Trying.
Carissa Snedeker Photography 