Available Light - Tungsten and Fluorescent (4.4a)

Requirement

• 3 images - Tungsten Light (1 scene x 3 WB settings) 
• 4/6 images - Fluorescent Light (2/3 scenes x 3 WB settings)

Purpose

• To learn how to minimise, if not avoid, colour casts from artificial light sources

Technical learning

• 2 distinct types of artificial light: (a) available light and (b) photographic light (e.g. flash)
• 'Available' light is artificial light used to illuminate interiors, buildings, etc, which is not specifically designed for photography
• It is of 3 types: (a) tungsten, (b) fluorescent and (c) vapour discharge 
• Tungsten - used as domestic lighting, it looks orange or yellow to the eye and reddish to the camera. Most cameras have a setting to correct this type of colour cast
• Fluorescent - commonly used to light public areas. It appears white to the eye and an uneven mixture of colours to the camera.  Most cameras also have a setting to correct this type of cast 
• Vapour Discharge- used mostly for street lighting, building or stadium floodlights. These are of several types: (a) Sodium Vapour lamps look yellow to the eye and photograph yellow or yellow-green. Since this light source has no blue, it cannot be corrected by adjusting White Balance. (b) Mercury Vapour lights look bluish white and photograph blue-green, requiring a red filter to correct. (c) Multi-Vapour lights also look bluish white but actually photograph as white light.

Exercise instructions

Part 1 - Interiors lit by Tungsten Light

• Wait until immediately after sunset (i.e. when the light outside is less intense than inside the room lit by tungsten bulbs)
• Stand close to the window and look outside for a minute until your eyes become adjusted to the external light. Then turn back towards the room. (a) What colour does the interior light seem to be (i.e. before your eyes adjust)? Then, when your eyes are adjusted to the light in the room, look outside again. (b) What colour does the exterior light seem to be?
• Next, measure exposures around the room using your camera's meter, particulalrly close to a reading lamp as well as in the darkest part of the room. At ISo 100, what are the shutter speeds between the brightest and darkest areas of the room?
• Now compose an image which includes the brightest and darkest parts of the room and the external view, and shoot 3 times with the following White Balance settings: Auto, Daylight, Tungsten
• Compare results

Part 2 - Interiors lit by Fluorescent Light

• Find 2 different scenes lit by fluorescent light
• Take 2/3 image at each location with the White Balance set to (a) Auto, (b) Fluorescent and, if possible, (c) and alternative Flurorescent
• Compare results (note: colour quality in all should look in some way unsatisfactory)

Images and review

Part 1 -  Tungsten Light

Didn't do this exercise

Part 2 - Fluorescent Light

Shop Window

Auto WB = 4,950k
Over yellow

Fluorescent 1 = 3,100k
Over blue

Fluorescent 2 = 3,800k
Close to human perception of
the colour of the light as it was
when image was taken

Time of Day - Cloudy Weather and Rain (4.3c)

Requirement

• 4/6 images - Sunlight vs. Cloud
• 2 images - Overcast
• 2 images - Rain

Purpose

• To practice the technique of making the most of prevailing weather conditions

Technical learning

• Clouds act both as a filter (they diffuse sunlight) and a reflector (if they are white and in the right part of the sky)
• Clouds are of numerous types, from fair weather to a featureless grey blanket
• Clouds covering the sun soften shadows, making the scene evenly lit, so that shapes appear less modelled

Exercise instructions

Part 1 - Sunlight vs. Cloud

• Shoot the same scene in sunlit and under cloud
• Choose 2 or 3 different subjects (e.g. building, person, street scene)
• Set White Balance to 'Daylight'
• What is the difference in exposure between the sunlit and cloudy conditions?
• Does the scene shot in cloudy conditions have a blue cast compared to the sunlit ones?

Part 2 - Overcast

• On an overcast day, take 2 images: (a) one containing detail with pronounced relief and (b) an object with a strong colour

Part 3 - Rain

• On a rainy day, pick scenes that flourish as photographs in such conditions, such as (a) reflections in puddles, surfaces, (b) raindrops on glass, (c) ripples as rain strikes pools of water, (d) misty appearance of landscapes, and (e) rainbows
• Tips: (i) stay under cover except whilst shooting, (ii) wipe lens and camera after each shot and (iii) use either a high ISO or tripod

Images and review

Part 1 - Sunlight vs. Cloud
Sunlit subjects have harder shadows and warmer light (more yellow), than overcast ones

Woodcarving in sunlight (WB = daylight)

Woodcarving in overcast conditions (WB = daylight)

Part 2 - Overcast

Makes colours less vibrant but increases visible detail due to even light

Autumn fields on an overcast day

Poppy field in overcast conditions

Part 3 - Rain

View through taxi window on a wet afternoon
Again shot hand held with a compact camera

London Eye reflected in puddle after rain
as seen from outside Royal Festival Hall

Time of Day - Variety with a Low Sun (4.3b)

Requirement

At least 4 images, 4 different directions of sunlight

Purpose

• To show the advantages of shooting when the sun is low and how to use camera angle to good effect

Technical learning

• In summer the sun is 'low' for 2 hours after and before sunrise and sunset respectively, in mid winter the sun is low throughout the day

Twilight

• Twilight, just before sunrise or after sunset, can provide interesting opportunities
• The best views are ones towards the brightest part of the horizon, which produces 2 particualr types of image: silhouette and colour
• For silhouettes: look for interesting shaoes towards the horizon (e.g. trees, mountains, buildings)
• For colour: look for broken cloud, which can create spectacular colours, although the effect is always unpredictable. Reflections in water can add drama. Sometimes at sunset the sky can flash briefly into life after the sun has lost its colour.

Lenses and colour

• Wide angle lenses capture vibrant colours, whilst telephoto ones mute them 

Direction of light

• Front: shows intense impact of sunlight, but take care not to include own shadow unintentionally
• Side: presents the subject partially lit, partially in shadow, so consider carefully the choice of exposure as the averaging effect of the meter is likely to over-expose the highlights
• Back: creates silhouettes, so consider using brackets to be able to select which image achieve the best result in terms of detail in the shadows
• Edge: shows the impact of light falling on the edge of the subject (without the sun being in the frame), so needs a draker background to isolate this effect

Exercise instructions

• Select any sunlit subject
• Take several images with different directions of light (side, side, back, edge)
• Produce 4 as a final result

Images and review

Verdi - project revisited

I didn't like the images of the soap stone Buddha so repeated the exercise just before submitting my assignment. This time I used a bust of Verdi, the composer (bought in an Oxfam shop for £1.99 for the purpose and cleaned up by gentle bleaching). I shot these images in a makeshift outdoor studio used black card as a negative space.

Facing Sun

Backlit by sun

Side lit at 90 degrees

Facing 3 quaters away from the sun

Soap stone Buddha - first attempt at exercise

Shot at 18.00, early April, sun at elevation of c 15°, using roof of silver car as stand both to catch the sun and to enhance light source. 

Front
Reveals nearly all the detail,
lightens and adds yellow
to reddish brown soap stone

Back
Creates a near silhouette

Side
Reveals texture of figurine,
most faithful rendition of colour

Edge
Used reflection of sun from metal to
create star effect over statue's shoulder

Time of Day - Light Throughout The Day (4.3a)

Requirement

12 images, 1 scene at regular intervals

Purpose

• To study how the quality of light changes throughout the day
• To practice the essential skill of judging how light and shadow will move over a scene

Technical Learning

• The movement of the sun during the course of a day creates options for using the changing quality of light, especially in the early morning and late afternoon or evening

Exercise Instructions

• Choose a bright sunny day (or bright parts of different days)
• Select a scene with a definite subject which will catch the sunlight even when the sun is close to the horizon
• Shoot this scene from dawn to dusk
• Take at least one image per hour, more during the start and end of the day when the light is changing faster
• Use the same composition for each image
• Visit the scene before the day of the shoot to establish the requirements of the exercise. You need to work how light and shadow will move during the course of the day, taking into account that shadows lengthen as the sun falls
• Decide what the ideal light conditions will be
• Which image do you prefer?, which was the best moment? is this the moment you thought it would be?, if not, why not?

Images and Review

How I came to shoot this
I doubted if circumstances would ever allow me to do this project as instructed. Finding a sunny day largely free of commitments as well as a scene that was both suitable for the exercise and accessible seemed improbable. Then on a holiday I found the balcony of my hotel room offered a view almost due north of La Concha, a mountain in Andalucia (if I leaned out slightly). As it was mid March, the day was almost 12 hours from sunrise at 7.30 to 19.20. The forecast was for a sunny day after several of mixed weather. Now or never. Go for it!

I also used Golden Hour, an App on my phone to identify the elevation of the sun and its direction to help read what my light source was doing to my subject.

Images

07.35 - Sunrise
Tip of mountain caught by emerging light,
largely just a shape against the blue sky

Elevation of Sun - 1 º (above horizon)
Direction of Sun - 93 º (almost due East)

07.45
A little more detail revealed...

Elevation of Sun  - 3 º

08.00
And so on..
Trees in foreground are now strongly lit,
weak golden light

Elevation of Sun - 5 º

08.15
Details of the mountain structure are starting emerge
as highlights against the dominant shadows

Elevation of Sun - 8 º

08.30
And so on at pace...

Elevation of Sun - 11 º

08.45
Passing cloud steps in between subject and
sun on its journey from East to South,
Much detail lost for the moment

Elevation of Sun - 15 º

09.00
Details of contours starting to emerge
from the shadows

Elevation of Sun - 18 º

09.30
And so on...

Elevation of Sun - 23 º

10.00
Becoming less contrasty

Elevation of Sun - 29 º

10.30
And so on...

Elevation of Sun - 36 º

11.00
Detail in contours starting to fade as the subject
becomes evenly lit from the front and high in
the sky

Elevation of Sun - 40 º

13.35
Sun at its peak elevation and just past due South,
Strong white light, details of mountain
contours largely bleached out

Elevation of Sun - 50 º

15.15
Little change from previous image
except for shadow of a cloud caught
by sun as its heads from South to West

Elevation of Sun - 50 º

16.30
Shadows of passing clouds add erratic 
modelling of the mountain shape

Elevation of Sun - 32 º

17.00

Elevation of Sun - 27 º

17.30
As the sun moves west and falls, the shape of
of the mountain starts to re-emerge with
the arrival of shadow.
Temporary haze reduces intensity of light

Elevation of Sun - 22 º

17.45
Haze passed increasing light intensity,
Modelling of mountain texture continues

Elevation of Sun - 19 º

18.00
And so on...

Elevation of Sun - 16 º

18.15
Strong contrast reveals structure
of subject

Elevation of Sun - 13 º

18.30
And so on...

Elevation of Sun - 10 º

18.45
First signs of golden hour as the colour
temperature gets slightly warmer
Modelling of texture continues

Elevation of Sun - 7 º

19.00
And so on...

Elevation of Sun - 4 º

19.10
Intensifying of golden light but stronger contrast
throws deeper shadows  onto mountain,
hiding a lot of the detail 

Elevation of Sun - 2 º

19.15
Power of light on mountain now a spent force

Elevation of Sun - 1 º

19.20
Sunset, only the peak is now lit,
returns to a shape against the sky

Elevation of Sun - 0 º
Direction of Sun - 268 º (almost due West)