The Three "Ls" of photography

[pontiac1940]

In 2011, while on a winter getaway in Arizona, I wrote an article on light for a now-defunct photo forum. 

Click here for the PDF of The Three L's of Photography.

If the link does not work send me a PM. 

Maybe one winter's day I'll update it. Comments and suggestions welcome. Thanks.

Clive

[BuckSkin]

Thanks for sharing; I downloaded it to my Kindle for easier reading (meaning it will soak into my head better)

[hmca]

Thanks, Clive. Like BuckSkin, saving to read later.

[whippet]

You missed your vocation, Clive. You should have been a tutor.
I think your article was very well written. Even I understood it.

[Sydney]

An excellent read and very impressive, Clive. You are a great writer with tremendous knowledge on the subject of light in photography. Thanks muchly for putting it together - I will definitely be hanging onto it as a reference guide.

[Bailey]

Hi Clive,

A very good overview of natural lighting in photography.

If you get a chance to update it as you mentioned, I can offer one suggestion you might consider expanding on.

On page 2 you mention -

The photo in the lower right was taken with a fill
flash and is perhaps the best lighted from a skin tone
perspective. However the lighting is harsh. This
could have been improved with a soft cover over the
flash.

For me, here you are discussing flash lighting which is different to natural lighting. Perhaps introduce another chapter dealing with flash lighting since it can be used as a key light or fill light.

As you are most probably aware, when using flash lighting you have two exposures - the natural ambient exposure and the flash exposure.

There are a couple of easy options for fixing harsh flash lighting (as in your example) depending on whether you are using ETTL or Manual mode for the flash, both of which give far greater control than just adding a soft cover. In manual mode you can simply adjust the flash power up or down (down in this case) without touching the ambient exposure. If in ETTL mode, you can simply adjust the flash exposure compensation up or down just like you can adjust the ambient exposure up or down.

Ambient and flash exposures are separate and can be adjusted individually without affecting the other to get the lighting/look/effect you want from the scene being photographed.

Anyway, just some food for thought if you add to or update your document.

[kdcintx]

Thanks Clive for a concise and easy to understand article with good example photos.

[pontiac1940]

Thanks for your comments. 

Bailey, thanks for the comments. I am unlikely to update this in the near future.

" ..you are discussing flash lighting which is different to natural lighting." Yes, obviously, but the four sample photos showed a very "every day" situation and in this case mentioning fill flash was important. 

Thanks all. 

Clive

[hmca]

Easy to read with great examples, thanks for sharing Clive. I have this article saved for future reference as well.

In response to my baseball image you made this comment: "Lovely baseball photo Helen! The hard contrast adds to the mystique as do the signatures. These are not just baseballs...they have a story. "
With reference to this article, I am thinking that perhaps the photo could have been improved with shooting the image at another time or from a different vantage point. I would be interested in suggestions as to what
I should/could have considered when taking the picture. I don't mean to put you on the spot and am happy to use my picture as an example. I thought of sending you a PM but then I would be the only one benefitting from
your response. So please feel free to offer an honest critique. The picture was taken for this assignment:

[pontiac1940]

Helen

Thanks for asking.
It is a nice photo, as you posted, for the reasons stated. You could try different lighting and compositions and see if you like anything better. One supposes that most photos could be "improved" a small but by changing one or two things. The dark in photo does add to the mystique.

I made two minor changes in the bottom image: lightened the shadows and the lights a tiny bit. Maybe an improvement ... or not. It would be very easy to blow out the white of the baseballs. If these were shot on a table near a window (is that natural window light?) you might try holding a white board on the left side and filling the back of the balls a tiny amount...not sure. (You could still maintain the overall dark background.) But lightening the left sides of the balls might take away from the high contrast effect. 

BTW, Coroplast sign board makes a great lightweight white reflector...you want the white versus the translucent milky board. A 4' by 8' sheet is too large for most, but some shop sell part sheets. Cuts with a utility knife and weighs nothing. 

Hard to make other suggestions..major changes would make it a different photo. And if you are happy with the original that is all that counts. I like it. 

What do others think? 

Clive
  

[hmca]

Thanks, Clive. Yes, it was window light and after looking at it on the computer I wondered about the dark shadow on the one ball in particular. I often take pictures and don't really "see" them till they're on the computer screen. I like your edit which seems to have a slightly warmer tone in addition to the changes you mentioned.

After reading your article, I wondered if I should have used a flash......I have a piece of foam board but never thought of using it. I will have to look for the kind of board that you mentioned. As to the part about being happy with the image.....that's a rare occurrence. Thank you so much for taking the time to critique the photo.

[pontiac1940]

Thanks Hellen. You are welcome..just an old guy's opinion. 

" I wondered if I should have used a flash" Not for this affect..even with a soft box cover. BUT you might try shooting these in the dark using a tripod, small aperture, low ISO and 1 or 2 second speed...and paint the balls with a small LED flashlight. Trial and error. The baseballs will have to be a few feet in front of background so the back remains dark. They could be set on a piece of black cloth. Painting with LEDs can be effective. I have a sample image on one of my many hard drives ...  will look.

Clive 

[pontiac1940]

Found one set ... ten years ago last Tuesday. 

The black bottom mixing bowl could be covered with flat black cloth. As I recall, after trial and error, I decided on a shutter speed that worked then turned the flashlight on the subject in the dark and then took the exposure...these were at 1/5 second or so. I checked the EXIF info and what I said first was not correct...the exposures were not 1 to 2 seconds...but could be.  

This might work for the baseballs. Try it. 

Clive

[Bailey]

Using 1 or multiple flash lights can give you many more options to create artistic effects, especially if you can also fire your flash while it is off camera (preferably wireless).

You could use natural light as the key light and the flash for fill light. You could darken the room and use the flash as the key light and experiment with different locations for the flash.

If you have high speed sync available on the flash, then you could use a faster shutter speed than the 1/200s sync speed on most cameras to finely control the ambient exposure and play with the flash exposure to create a stunning effect.

The bottom line here is to try/experiment with different shooting angles and lighting combinations.

But the most important part is to have fun doing it

[BuckSkin]

Nov 30, 2018 17:44:13 GMT hmca said:

I would be interested in suggestions as to what
I should/could have considered when taking the picture.

My unlearned opinion is humble indeed; but, I think that it would be very hard to improve upon your first example posted here; to my eye, you have well accomplished your assignment.
You can make it different, but I don't think better.