Testing the light was the theme of this project! Ever since COVID lockdown began, I decided to brush up on my knowledge! When you’re at a standstill, what else to do but to find ways to grow!
So, I decided to take a lighting course to learn and to increase my abilities or arsenal of weapons! As a natural-light photographer, there will be times when natural-light isn’t always available! What would be the best way to supplement light? That’s what I needed to learn!
Literally when I decided on what I needed to do, Caroline Tran’s Lighting Mastermind popped up onto my social media. When you’re in need, why not learn from one of the best! As one of her first assignments, she asked the students to freeze motion. After one half-failed attempt, I reported back and got advice on how to improve! 🙂 This was the result!
Before
LIGHT TEST #1: NOT ENOUGH LIGHT
Without a doubt, these photos were not entirely a fail, she’s adorable – but there wasn’t enough light on her face and the contrast was high – vs. light & airy! This photo was taken during the afternoon. The light wasn’t strong and so when the light entered, it tappered off to the right – even though the walls were white. It just wasn’t enough. Additionally, the color of the bedspread did not help with reflecting the light up onto her face.
To remedy all the mistakes, i did a second testing the light run! And, like I said, with some critique, this is my result :).
After
LIGHT TEST #2: Learning how to add more light
This second trial of testing the light was done after I made a few changes.
- These photos were taken during the morning when there was ample light coming into the room.
- I changed the sheets to be more reflective.
- As a supplement, I used a reflector on the left hand corner to reflect incoming light up into her face! It increased the light on her face, therefore reducing the contrasts and shadows!
Kersplat!! 🙂
What a difference right? When you have enough light or able to supplement, it makes a whole lot of difference how the light works when you can learn to control it!
