Week 4 Assignment

Part Two

It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to photograph three times in three different lighting configurations but I decided to settle on painting hanging on my kitchen wall.  It is hanging in a place that allowed me to easily configure many different lighting situations and I thought my plant curled around it added interesting focus points as well. 

#1

In photo #1, I simply used my husband's large flashlight and had him hold it directly underneath the painting pointing upward.  I also turned off all of the other lighting in the surrounding rooms.  I played around with different positions underneath the painting such as placing it a few inches from the wall, placing it a foot or so from the wall, and I tried canting it toward the painting from underneath.  I also took a few shots with a white pillow case placed over the flashlight to act as a "diffuser."  In the end, I simply placed it directly underneath, against the wall with no diffuser material over it.  The shadows portrayed also add volume to the photograph.  Some parts of the painting are dark and some really bright which I think, coupled with the shadows, makes for an interesting photo. 

#2

In this photo, I took another tip from the reading and used some crumpled up tin foil however I did not used it the way described.  I crumpled it up and then spread it out and again tried bouncing the light of the flashlight off of it.  I took several photos that way and was not satisfied with the results.  I noticed after un-crumpling it that there were a few holes and tears in the foil.  I then had my husband place the flashlight behind the foil and shine it toward the painting from an angle approximately 3 feet away and down to the right of the painting.  I snapped a few that way and chose this one to portray.  The shadows of the plant are more crisp than in photo #1 and even though there is some direct light from the flashlight, parts of the foil blocked some light and gave it some interesting shadowing over the painting itself. 



#3

I really wanted to portray this final photo with natural sunlight as there is a window that receives morning light nearby.  The weather however had other ideas and I was stuck with an overcast morning.  Instead I used the kitchen lights available to me later in the day and since they are on a dimmer switch, I played with various settings until I decided I liked this one the best.  The light bulbs in the kitchen lights I used are simply 12 watt halogen bulbs inside a glass casing which softens them. 

I broke out and dusted of an old tripod I hadn't used in ages which really seemed to help steady my shot.  I have a feeling I'll be using it a lot more now!