Back to my Strobist Lessons then.

Lighting 102: Unit 2.1 - Apparent Light Size

I have always considered a Direct Flash to be a very Hard light source, but I've never really comsidered why. In this unit of Lighting 102, David has explained what it is that defines "Hard" or "Soft" light.

Basically there are 3 "Zones" of light on a subject when examined together will identify whether the light is soft or hard.


1 - The "Diffused Highlight"
2 - The "Shadow"
3 - The "Diffused Highlight to Shadow Transfer Area

The only one of these I didnt find self explanitory was the Diffused Highlight. Basically it's what would be considered the "Well Lit" area of the subject. The other two speak for themselves.

So, the bigger the "Diffused Highlight to Shadow Transfer Area" is, and therefore the more Gradiated the light will appear, the "Softer" the light is said to be. And the flip side of this is of course a very narrow transfer would be hard light.

Hard light will have very difinitive sharp edged Shadows.
Soft light will have very gradual edged Shadows.

Now, what causes this? Well initially I would have thought the Size of the light source, but it's not that simple. Thinking of the Sun for example. It's about as big as a light source is ever likely to get, however it's "Apparent Size" to me is tiny. (Ever pretended to hold the sun between a finger and a Thumb?)

It's the "Apparent" size of the Light Source with respect to the Subject that will determine whether the light is Hard or Soft. (Eureka Moment for me here)

To test this theory David suggested we shoot images of a piece of Fruit, and vary the apparent size of the light source.

Here goes: (Click for full size)





All in all, I think I've had a very successful result from this experiment, and it has definately changed how I think about how a light source (or the apparent size of it) will effect my subjects.

One other point David made on the forums was to keep an eye on the "Specular Highlight" (The reflection of the light source), and how it changed with each setup. Although it's pretty much blown out on my Images, it's clear to see the intensity of it reduces as the apparent light size increases.

Paypal Shmaypal !!

Things certainly appear to have slowed down regarding my producing Images lately. I've gone from a full Memory Card-per day, to no Images in nearly an entire week!

A major factor in this being the lovely British Weather we've been having lately(more Rain than I can remember for many years). In addition to that, I'm getting really frustrated trying to setup shots using the "Shoe Mount" method. It's great to start with, but it becomes laborious trying to get the correct positioning, especially when I'm also using a Sync Cord to fire it.

What I really need to get moving again (well in my mind anyway) is a Lightstand and a remote trigger. Now, I could use my Tripod if I could get my hands on a bloody Hot Shoe adaptor to enable me to fix the strobe on, however after trawling just about every Photog Shop in the South West, it seems clear no one ever has them in stock.

The easy solution of course is to but one off the Web..... or so you would think.

Unfortunately, my only option for purchasing from the Web is via Paypal. Having gone through the signup process, I then had to wait for them to deposit a few pence into my Bank Account for it to be "Verified". This finally happened today(After over a week). Yippee! Pity I now have to wait for "7-9 Working Days" for the funds to be transferred into the Paypal account :-(

One saving grace is that the Strobist lesson for this week does not involve shooting, so hopefully I'll have my gear in time for the next practical lesson.

This week's lesson, Lighting 102 - Position Review is very simply about trying to become more aware of lighting position in our day to day life, trying to identify what sort of natural ligting effects we find appealing. This is actually a great exercise for me as it's something I've been doing since I decided to get back into Photography. I have already identified many types of lighting situations I would love to be able to reproduce. Now I just have to figure out how to make them happen with unnatural light.

Practical 1.2 - Position / Distance

So, for this Tutorial, the end result was that we should be able to understand the following statements:-

1. Light has depth of field.
2. With enough light, you can turn a white wall black.

I have to say I'm pretty excited about this one, since I have always wondered how photographers manage to make a light background appear almost Black. I have done it myself on a couple of rare occasions, but only by pure chance. I'm really looking forward to being able to controll the effect at any given time.

The principle is based on something called "The inverse Square Law", which is something I vaguely recall from my School days in the Physics classroom. As David says, the laymans explaination is as follows:

"The closer you are to the light source, the more powerful the light. Get real close and it gets really powerful. Get far away, and it gets weaker."

Also,

"The closer you get to the light source, the quicker the lighting values change as you move in. When you get farther away, small differences in distance (from the light) become meaningless."

Well, that seems to make sense to me, but I must still admit, that the idea that this concept can actually make the background go "Black", still seems like a tall order to me.

So on to the testing. (Back in an Hour or so)

.......ok im back.

Wow! I'm really excited and impressed by the results from this. I cant wait to get my kids round at the weekent to play with this some more!

Here is a composite I made up with the setup's and resulting Images:



Top Image:
Flash 1/4 Power - 50mm Zoom
Distance - 3 Meters
1/200 f7.1 iso200

Center Image:
Flash 1/16 Power - 50mm Zoom
Distance 1.5 Meters
1/200 f7.1 iso200

Bottom Image:
Flash 1/64 Power - 50mm Zoom
Distance 12 Inches
1/200 f11 iso200

I'm finding this really interesting, and I feel like a whole world of possibilities has just opened up for me. I would never have dreamed of getting a Flash within a foot of a subjects face, I just always assumed it would have destroyed the Image. Oh how my kids will love me this weekend. Mwahahahahaa!

Original Tutorial - Lighting 102: 1.2 - Position Distance

Practical 1 - Position (Angle)

Armed with my new Strobe, I plunged right in with the first of the practical lessons from Lighting 102: Unit 1.1 - Position (Angle). I have to say at this point I'm hugely excited about my new Strobe. In total I have taken 463 Images tonight testing out different ideas :-)

None of the Images were Earth shattering to say the least, but I was more interested in the effects of the light than the technical quality of the Image, so I feel I have benefitted hugely from my evening's endeavours.

For the first time ever, I can see ways to reproduce some of the lighting effects of the coolest shots I have seen other Photog's create, and I cant tell you how excited I am about that. Only problem is, now I "need" another 2 Strobes and all the gadgetry that goes along with them hehe.

So, the idea of the exercise tonight in David's words..

"the idea at this point is not to create flattering light for a subject, but to explore the way off-axis light reveals and defines an object."

Let me introduce you to Caeser:

This shot was taken with the Strobe as if it was mounted on the Camera Hotshoe. Nothing special here, this is what I've been used to for a long time now. Flat, uninteresting, little substance.

This shot was with the Strobe at about 45 Degrees Left. Hard to see with the small image, but it definately adds an element of Spatial Awareness to the Image. Also the texture and softnessof his Fur is much more apparent. His features have become much more interesting.

As with the above Image, but 45 Degrees Right. Same effect (Obviously).

Strobe at Right angles to my Subject. I really liked this, again it added a lot of interest, and a "moody" feeling in my opinion. This is definately a setup I will be playing with in the future.

This was looking at the subject from the perspective of the light source. Each time I moved the Strobe I was trying to envisage what the light could "See", and my guesses at the results were surprisingly accurate :-)

The Strobe here was hidden directly behing Caesar, and aimed at the backdrop. The moment I saw this, I could feel the Pounds slipping from my wallet as I realised how much I now want a second Strobe hehe.

After completing these shots, I set myself an exercise of "Targeting" the shadow. So I would pick a point on the Backdrop, and just by guesswork try to make the shadow on the image end at that exact spot. Was very tricky when using my Trainer as a light stand, but by the time I finished I was getting pretty good at it, and I'm happy with my progress.

I knew that getting the Falsh "off" Camera would have a drastic impact on the Images, and now I can see first hand just how much more revealing it can be. I also feel better equipped since doing this tonight to reverse engineer other peoples Images.

A huge Success.

My Gear (Lack of)

It has become apparent very quickly that my current lack of gear is going to cause me more headaches than I'm prepared to put up with (I refer to my lack of adjustable Strobes).

Just recently I aquired a Canon EOS 400d Kit from Jessops. I love everything about the kit with exception to the really naff Jessops 300AFDC Strobe. It has no Manual capability at all, and no Sync socket.

In an attempt to bolster the kit I purchased a PC Sync Adaptor kit (Including Cable), however this left me with only one option to adjust the Strobe power which was the distance from the subject. As mentioned by David in Strobist 101, this was going to be very frustrating, and I have to admit I have been tearing my Hair out ever since.

This has left me no option but to dig into the very depths of my pockets to aquire at least one new strobe. My starting point was in town this morning visiting all the local Pawn shops and "Cash Converters". I came accross a Nikon SB-25 which was listed at #89.00, however after some hard bargaining, I managed to get a deal at #45.00, which I thought was a good price for what appears to be a well looked after Strobe.

So, I'm really excited about my new Strobe, and I feel like part of the Strobist movement already (Yay!), but I still need to get a stand and possibly some Ebay triggers(Once they verify my account). I do believe with my current setup that I can at least make a start on Lighting 102: Unit 1.1 - Position (Angle).

My next post will show my results from the lesson :-)

Introduction

Hi there.

I'm Scott Thomson, and over the coming weeks I will be Blogging my progress in learning to use "Off Camera" Flash, whilst following the Strobist Tutorials created by David over at the Strobist "Lighting 102" Blog.