Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I. People Lighting 14 slides Copyright © 2003 – 2009 Kenji Tachibana

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I People Lighting: R ecommendations: QualityUse a broad source (usually much larger than the subject) light such as Open-Shade found under a tree, next to a big structure, or under an overhang of a covered walkway or porch. Broad source light also means soft shadows. Avoid direct sunlight which is a point source and results in hard shadows. QuantityLimit your light to a single source. You must pay close attention to this especially in the real world where multiple light source is the default condition.

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I People Lighting: W arning: Don’t use… a)Direct sunlight, indoor incandescent, quartz, or fluorescent because they are usually too dim, harsh, and poor color. b)Multiple light sources situations due to possible ugly shadows and impossible to correct mixed color conditions.

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I People Lighting: Diagrams L ighting Direction: Use side-light to draw the forms on the face. Avoid the ‘flat’ front or ‘harsh’ top direction light. Also avoid light coming from the extreme side. Please study the light direction diagrams below. Side ViewTop View

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I People Lighting: M ore Recommendations: Squint-ViewUse it to see the kind of light and it’s direction. Also, make sure the light is rendering your subject and scene properly. CoverageLight for important facial and body details. But avoid highlighting the ear and other distracting features. And make sure that it’s also working in balance with the background. HeightThe catch light will give you clues to the correct height. If it’s too high, the eye(s) may be in shadow and without catch light. ShadowsOne sign of good lighting is not to notice any shadows. Shadows will be there but they make sense…

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I People Lighting: F inal Recommendations : RelativeBe familiar with lighting rules but don’t ‘light by the numbers’. Light using your eyes. Use the light to draw form and create beauty. Most people know when they see beauty. SkylightUse the broad, soft, and easy to work with light source. Make sure it is coming from the subject’s side but don’t get too extreme. Extreme side light will not produce catch light. IndoorArtificial light is not recommended. They are usually too hard and Auto WB will have difficulty achieving neutral or appealing color.

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I People Lighting: Relevant facts A rtificial Lighting: Light fall off It’s usually too dim for most people shooting purposes. And finding it as a single light source situation will be challenging. It also suffers from a hard to work with characteristic called light-falloff. As expected, light loses brightness (luminance) with distance. But it’s predictable. And the predictability matches the aperture numbers as shown below… 2.8 ft. – 1 stop loss – 4 ft. – 1 stop loss – 5.6 ft. – 1 stop loss – 8 ft.

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I People Lighting: Relevant facts L ight Falloff: Mapped to F/stop numbers Light source : 2.8’ away. – 1 stop loss – 4’ away – 1 stop loss – 5.6’ away Whether using artificial house (indoor) light or electronic flash, the falloff rules are the same. Light decrease in brightness in a predictable way which can be mapped to the aperture numbers. This predictability is very handy when working with an auxiliary electronic flash… in the future?

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I People Lighting: Useful facts L ight Falloff: Distances Range of 2.8’ to 4’ 1-stop light loss in 1.2 feet 4’ to 5.6’ 1.6 feet 5.6’ to 8’ 2.4 feet 8’ to 11’ 3.0 feet 11’ to 16’ 5.0 feet 16’ to 22’ 6.0 feet 22’ to 32’10 feet

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I People Lighting: Useful facts L ight Falloff: Useable subject/light distance ranges 5.6’ to 8’ = 2.4’ – 7’ is the bare minimum light distance 8’ to 11’ = 3’ – 10’ is the minimum light distance 11’ to 16’ = 5’ - 14’ is a good working distance 16’ to 22’ = 6’- 19’ result in too much light loss 14’ might be a good working distance for the light. But unless you are using high powered photo floods or studio type electronic flash, the light level is probably too low.

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Background: B ackground: Reminders 1.Keep it simple. 2.Make it meaningful. 3.Create a feeling of space. 4.Place it between 6 – 12 feet behind the subject. 5.The general tone should be no lighter than the highlight side of the face if possible. 6.The general tone should not be darker than the shadow side of the face if possible. 7.Put it believably out-of-focus – don’t stop down too far.

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Background: Relationship to aperture B ackground: Believably out-of-focus Selective focus is a technique often associated with portraits. It is achieved using shallow DOF. So the rule would be to use an aperture stopped down by.3 to.7 from ‘wide open’. to.7 from ‘wide open’. If the maximum aperture is 2.8, shoot using f/3.5.

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Summary S ome Conclusions: Lighting for people can be a tricky business because they come in all manner of shapes, sizes, color, and tone. And more often then not, you end up shooting a group of people which gets even more complicated. For this and other practical reason, don’t get too tricky with lighting. Avoid flat front lighting but don’t get the lighting too far off to the side. And by all means, keep it to medium soft. Soft lighting is forgiving to both the photographer and the subject.

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Summary A rt 115: Art 114 is not a lighting class. formulas or tricks. If you choose lighting as your learning focus in Art 115 or 116, that is what you will learn about… Art 115 and/or 116 is much more customizable to your particular needs…

Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I x End