Wednesday/Thursday October 20th/21st Light: How images Form Wednesday/Thursday October 20th/21st

Light Itself Light is fundamental to Photography Using light, you can show up some chosen aspects of a subject and suppress other aspects. How can a professional photographer manipulate light in a studio?

Shadows Light travels in straight lines and in all directions from a light source. This means that if you have direct light from a ‘compact’ source such as a sun in a clear sky, a candle, or bare light bulb, then the light is harsh and objects will have sharp edged shadows You can manipulate harsh light using a medium such as tracing paper. This will give your object a soft graduated shadow.

When light reaches a surface When light reaches a surface – maybe a building or a landscape or someone’s face – what happens next depends on the texture, tone and color of the material, and the angle and color content of the light itself. If your light strikes the shiny surface at right angles, it is reflected backward along its original path. You get a patch of glare, for example, when flash-on camera shots are taken flat-on towards a polished glass window or gloss-painted wall.

Practice Grab your cameras Practice taking photos through glass or on a shiny surface. What happens? What can you do to get rid of the glare?

When Light reaches a surface If the light is angled, it reflects off a shiny surface at the same angle. Try to arrange your lighting direction or camera viewpoint to bounce glare light away when photographing a highly reflective surface. Practice!