Light changes throughout the day. Unlike studio lighting, we cannot control it. We frequently have to wait until the right time of day and the best light. For this exercise we are asked to look at what happens to light from dawn to dusk on a sunny day photographing one scene. We are asked to take at least one photograph per hour and keep a note of the exposure. From the results, we are ask to identify which photograph we prefer.
We are in Brittany, France for this exercise in Locquirec. We are looking out over the sea. It is warm and humid at the end of July. The Nikon was set up on a tripod to photograph the selected scene and put into time elapse mode for 24 hours and programmed to take a photo every 30 mins. I used "Sunseeker Light" App on my iPhone to check the current solar path for the location together with sunrise and sunset and twilight times. Daylight duration in France at this time of year is some 15 hours. The chosen results are below.
At dawn it was misty as the sun came up but the light was warm. The fifteen photographs that have been selected range from 7am until 10.30pm. The iso is constant at 400. Exposure starts at f6.7 @ 1/180th at 7am then goes to f11 @ 1/500th to mid morning and then f13 @ 1/750 for the middle part of the day, going back to f11 @1/500th, then falling at 8pm to f9.5 @1/350th, at 10pm f4 @1/60th and finally f2.8 @1/4 and 10.30pm. The camera, set on Programme, has handled the images well and adjusted for the varying conditions.
My favourite images are the mid late evening ones where we are getting into the 'golden hour' and this preference confirms what I have read about shooting early in day and/or later in the day. The evening shots are warmer and the scene is more attractive. These shots are straight out of camera and can be enlarged by clicking on them. Doing this exercise and studying the images has made me more aware of how the light changes during the day and in the future will enable me to select the best times to shoot a scene through judging the light and the movement of the shadows.
We are in Brittany, France for this exercise in Locquirec. We are looking out over the sea. It is warm and humid at the end of July. The Nikon was set up on a tripod to photograph the selected scene and put into time elapse mode for 24 hours and programmed to take a photo every 30 mins. I used "Sunseeker Light" App on my iPhone to check the current solar path for the location together with sunrise and sunset and twilight times. Daylight duration in France at this time of year is some 15 hours. The chosen results are below.
At dawn it was misty as the sun came up but the light was warm. The fifteen photographs that have been selected range from 7am until 10.30pm. The iso is constant at 400. Exposure starts at f6.7 @ 1/180th at 7am then goes to f11 @ 1/500th to mid morning and then f13 @ 1/750 for the middle part of the day, going back to f11 @1/500th, then falling at 8pm to f9.5 @1/350th, at 10pm f4 @1/60th and finally f2.8 @1/4 and 10.30pm. The camera, set on Programme, has handled the images well and adjusted for the varying conditions.
My favourite images are the mid late evening ones where we are getting into the 'golden hour' and this preference confirms what I have read about shooting early in day and/or later in the day. The evening shots are warmer and the scene is more attractive. These shots are straight out of camera and can be enlarged by clicking on them. Doing this exercise and studying the images has made me more aware of how the light changes during the day and in the future will enable me to select the best times to shoot a scene through judging the light and the movement of the shadows.
The next exercise was to demonstrate the advantages of shooting when the sun is low and as a guide, the course manual describes this as usually within two hours of sunrise and sunset, except in winter when it is low for much of the day. We were asked to photograph an object in sunlight towards the end of the day from the front, rear and side and to try and get rim lighting on one of the photographs. A glass of red wine in a glass was the chosen subject.
The first image below is with frontal lighting and the reflection gives an indication of the camera position. It's a warm image as one would expect.
The second image is with the sun coming from the rear as backlighting and is shining through the glass. This was a difficult shot to take and expose as we did not want the sun pointing directly into the camera lens. The exposure has been set to expose the wine correctly but this could have also been the typical silhouette photograph.
The third image is with side lighting with the sun to the left. The sun is lighting the red wine and as a result the right had side of the glass is not as dark as it would be with a solid subject. For added interest, as with the first image, a shadow images has been captured to make the image more interesting.
The final image is an attempt to photograph rim lighting (edge lighting) on the glass and I feel this has been moderately successful. On some of the images on this part of the shoot the rim lighting influenced both side edges of the glass but this was the chosen image with the rim lighting on the left hand side of the glass. A dark background shows up rim lighting more clearly and I have reduced the light falling on the background in this instance.
All the images were captured in pone shoot and aperture priority was chosen at f2.8, iso 4000 with shutter speeds being 1/.1000 plus. This was an interesting exercise and makes one more aware of moving 360 degrees around a subject to find the right camera position. Images can be enlarged by clicking on them.
Front Rear Side Rim
The first image below is with frontal lighting and the reflection gives an indication of the camera position. It's a warm image as one would expect.
The second image is with the sun coming from the rear as backlighting and is shining through the glass. This was a difficult shot to take and expose as we did not want the sun pointing directly into the camera lens. The exposure has been set to expose the wine correctly but this could have also been the typical silhouette photograph.
The third image is with side lighting with the sun to the left. The sun is lighting the red wine and as a result the right had side of the glass is not as dark as it would be with a solid subject. For added interest, as with the first image, a shadow images has been captured to make the image more interesting.
The final image is an attempt to photograph rim lighting (edge lighting) on the glass and I feel this has been moderately successful. On some of the images on this part of the shoot the rim lighting influenced both side edges of the glass but this was the chosen image with the rim lighting on the left hand side of the glass. A dark background shows up rim lighting more clearly and I have reduced the light falling on the background in this instance.
All the images were captured in pone shoot and aperture priority was chosen at f2.8, iso 4000 with shutter speeds being 1/.1000 plus. This was an interesting exercise and makes one more aware of moving 360 degrees around a subject to find the right camera position. Images can be enlarged by clicking on them.
Front Rear Side Rim
The next exercise is about cloudy weather and rain. It is in three parts. All images below can be enlarged by clicking on them. For the first part we are asked to photograph the same view in sunlight and under cloud and to choose two or three different subjects. The brief for these exercises is to have the camera white balance on sunshine and to note the difference in exposures. ISO is constant at 400. We have selected three pairs from the shoot. The first pair is of Museum Avenue in Cardiff's civic centre. The first image with the sun is warmer, the road is lighter, the red car is more brilliant and the adjacent building casts a shadow across the road. In the second image the road is more grey and the image feels flat. The second image has one and two thirds more exposure.
Museum Avenue in Sun f9@1/320 Museum Avenue in shade f8@1/125
Museum Avenue in Sun f9@1/320 Museum Avenue in shade f8@1/125
The second pair from the shoot of sun and shade images is of a Cafe Nero Coffee in Trinity Street Cardiff. There is not too much difference in these two street scenes but once again, the image taken in sunshine is warmer and there is some nice backlighting coming through as we shoot towards the sun. The Old Library building is just a little lighter in the first image and in some ways I prefer the second image more of this historic building. However, the side of the building is in shade in the sunshine image so there is not a lot of difference. The second image has one stop more exposure.
Cafe Nero Coffee f9@1/500 Cafe Nero Coffee f9@1/250th
Cafe Nero Coffee f9@1/500 Cafe Nero Coffee f9@1/250th
In the third pair of images from the shoot on sun and shade we are in the Gorsedd Gardens. The first sunshine image has the sun coming from in front of us and it lightens the people walking through. The timing of the picture was designed to shoot the mother and child as they walked out of the shadow of a tree and into the sunshine. I prefer the sunshine image as it presents a more interesting view of the gardens. However, the exposure of the flowers seems better in the second image. The second image has one and two thirds more exposure.
Gorsedd Gardens f9@1/320 Gorsedd Gardens f8@1/125
Gorsedd Gardens f9@1/320 Gorsedd Gardens f8@1/125
The second part of this cloudy weather & rain exercise is to take three photographs outdoors on a cloudy overcast day. White balance and ISO remain as above. We are asked to look for subjects with some detail that has pronounced relief and also for an object with strong colour. The three images selected are below. The first image is a tree trunk where someone called Liam has carved their name. The second image is the leaf of a banana plant . The frame has been rotated to create more of a diagonal effect. Finally, the sort of tin can shot that has been done many times by photographers, but I did like the neutral greys of the stone work on the bottom of this monument and the colour aspect introduced by the black and red of the can.
The third part of this exercise was to take some photographs in the rain. Rain conditions are the time when many people put away their cameras but bad weather can offer some positive opportunities. The first image is of the handlebars of a bike which is parked up in pedestrianised area of the shopping centre. Thinking of the last part of the course on colour and the work we have done on shaped, I managed to "see" this colourful small part of an overall vista of parked up cycles. The second image is of a piece of street lighting furniture. I was attracted by the raindrops sitting on the top of the circular glass and chrome against a background of square street marble tiles which I have put out of focus, as in the previous shot, by using a wide aperture.
My conclusion to this section is that the Time of Day section seemed like a long series of exercise and we have explored light throughout the day, shooting with a low sun, and shooting in cloudy weather and rain -all with natural light. I have thought more about the quality of light and how it changes, the positioning of light and how even bad weather can enable us to produce interesting images and I will be able to apply some the the experiences of doing these exercises in my future work by being more aware of some of the traits and practicalities of natural lighting.