Project Development - Week 7

This week I had the chance to go into the photography studio to have the opportunity to experiment with some lights. The tutor, Jurian, gave me some paperwork with some examples of techniques that I could use for my final project. I will explore some methods such as key light, fill light and backlight.

The key light is the primary light that illuminates the subject. The fill light is just added on the opposite side to illuminate the shadows made by the key light. Backlight helps to separate the subject from the background, and it also helps with the shape and depth.

The first experiment I did was the Rembrandt lighting portrait technique. A small inverted triangle of light is situated just under the subject eye. It is an easy exercise due to the few materials that I need to achieve the task. However, it takes some time to get the right light and have everything adjusted for the photoshoot. For this exercise, I have used a key light and a silver reflector. 

Please see below an example of how I have displayed the studio for this experiment. 

The light on the right is the key light that illuminates the subject. On the left side, I have the silver reflector to use some of the light from the key light back into the shadowy areas on the subject.

In the beginning, I felt a bit confused as I did not have many experiences in the studio. But having some learning materials and the induction that I had, I could feel more comfortable in there. I started to move things around to find a suitable layout for this task. 

I have already had some feedback about some of the pics, and I need to create some depth between the subject and the background to have more light on the subject. This will help me in the future experiments that I will do for the project.

Second I have tried another technique with a Key light and a fill light where my subject is more illuminated and with not many shadows if we compare with the exercise above. For this, I have used a key light and a fill light. This exercise was easier if I thought about the light that I had not to move around that much to get a good shoot. However, I had to work more on the manual features in my cameras, such as ISO, Aperture and shutter speed.

We can see the key light on the left side to illuminate the subjects but still have some shadows on the right side. For that, adding a fill light could help fill up these shadowy places.

As a photographer, I am used to mainly doing outdoor photography such as landscape and architecture photography. Going into the studio was a challenge for me. Still, I felt excellent while doing this experiment. I prefer to work with some shadows rather than the key light and low light that brings much light to the subject.

I like to show some dramatic style and shadows in my pictures, just bringing the correct detail into it. I will have many works ahead, but it was an excellent start to understand some techniques I will use in my career. 

I have shot around 400 pictures that I will use in my contact sheets and show how I have found the light technique that I explained above and my project's development.