Art 338 Studio Lighting FA 2021

Project 2: The Human Form

Dates:

Proposal: Monday 11/8

Initial critique, graded: Monday, 11/22

Final critique, Wednesday, 12/1

COVID statement.

Vaccination greatly reduces risks associated with COVID.

Photographing a model who is not wearing a mask carries additional risk of transmission. Please make sure that all persons in the lighting studio are wearing masks. Please open doors and windows to increase ventilation. Please be sure that you or your model do not have COVID symptoms. A mannequin may be used in place of a human subject.

Alternative project. Alternatively, you may elect to do a second still life project instead. Please inform instructor of your plans by 11/8

Project Description

Create a body of work that explores the human form in a meaningful way. These can be portraits, abstractions of the body, theatrical, conceptual, or other. Work toward a cohesive group of images that are aesthetically and conceptually related.

Your project should evidence at least two (2) shooting sessions per week. Plan to submit between 10-15 final images (jpegs 1200) and full resolution prints.

Create most appropriate studio lighting design to support your images.

Work will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Original, inspiring, and creative idea/vision/approach
Quality of lighting design
Quality of photographic design
Technical (camera, lighting, file management, etc.)
Consistent weekly work and overall growth of the project
Deliverables (prints, files, etc.)

Assignment 10: Portraits with auxiliary light setup (hair lights and kicker)

Due: Monday 11/15

Create a multiple strobe lighting design with the following lights. Ratios are provided as suggested starting points. Don't forget to smile!

Document/photograph each light as you progressively add to the overall design, as shown in the pictures below.

Dark background/ low key
Main light...find optimal placement. Maintain for all shots. Build exposure around optimized f-stop.
Fill light... start with 1:2 or 1:4 as desired/optimized
Hair light...1:2 or 1:4 as desired/optimized
Kicker (s). Use one kicker or two. For two kickers, use one per each side of the face. 1:2 or 1:4 as desired/optimized
Background light... create a spot (as in demo image) or a wash / gradient of light. Place brightness no lighter than middle gray. Use reflective meter reading of the background.

Short light for key, no fill

Add fill, 1:2 or 1:4

Add hair light, 1:2 or 1:4

Add kicker(s), 1:2 or 1:4

Add background. In this case the brightest part of the spot was 1:2 from key light

Assignment 9: Lighting Ratios

Individual Work Due: Monday 11/8

COVID statement. Photographing a model who is not wearing a mask carries additional risk of transmission. Please make sure that all persons in the lighting studio are wearing masks. Please open doors and windows to increase ventilation. Please be sure that you or your model do not have COVID symptoms. Vaccination greatly reduces the risk of sickness. A mannequin may be used in place of a human subject.

Set up an appealing portrait
Consider model posing, style, outfit, etc.
Arrange key light for side light, Rembrandt, or short lighting...explore and decide, sticking with it for the whole exercise. Beauty lighting doesn't work so well for this exercise
Shoot five variations, showing the following lighting ratios: 1:1; 1:2; 1:4; 1:8; 1:16
Shoot ISO 200, recommended, to avoid fill light "bottoming out" before you get to higher ratios. Remember that fill light can be moved further away to reduce intensity.

1:1

1:2

1:4

1:8

1:16

Individual Work Due: Monday 11/8

Set up an appealing portrait
Consider model posing, style, outfit, etc.
Arrange key light for side light, Rembrandt, or short lighting...explore and decide, sticking with it for the whole exercise. Beauty lighting doesn't work so well for this exercise
Shoot five variations, showing the following lighting ratios: 1:1; 1:2; 1:4; 1:8; 1:16
Shoot ISO 200, recommended, to avoid fill light "bottoming out" before you get to higher ratios. Remember that fill light can be moved further away to reduce intensity.

Example 1:

key:fill

f11:f11

f11:f8

f11:f5.6

f11:f4.0

f11:f2.8

Example 2, to work with fill light that has "bottomed out."

key:fill

f8:f8

f8:f5.6

f8:f4.0

f8:f2.8

f11:f2.8 (increase shooting f-stop to f11 to preserve ratio). In this case the key light is turned up one full stop (from f8 to f11), while the fill remains on f2.8 (the lowest possible setting).

Assignment 8: Light Directions, Portrait #1

Demo: Monday 10/18
Individual Work: Wednesday 10/27

This portrait exercise explores how placement of the key light can affect the rendering of the face. This is one of the most important concepts of portrait lighting design.

Please take care that safe COVID protocols are followed

COVID statement. Photographing a model who is not wearing a mask carries additional risk of transmission. Please make sure that all persons in the lighting studio are wearing masks. Please be sure that you or your model do not have COVID symptoms. If all participants in the photo shoot are vaccinated, risk of COVID is reduced substantially. Please open doors and windows to increase ventilation. A mannequin may be used in place of a human subject.

Take your time. Correct light position, exposure, appropriate f-stop, focus are all important.

Create portfolio worthy portraits that explore the following:

Fairly tight framing that features head and shoulders, without cutting off the head
Low-key background with well-considered spot light on background.
Thoughtful styling...put in some planning with outfits, hair, accessories, etc.
Use of single key light source
Use reflector fill card

For each of the following. Explore how a reflector can be useful to control shadow depth

Explore 45/45 lighting, sometimes known as Rembrandt, achieving what is commonly referred to as the "key triangle." Submit 2 versions; one with hard light, one with soft box.
Beauty lighting (top, front) (soft box only)
Short Lighting (soft box only)
Broad Lighting (soft box only)
Side/split lighting (soft box only)
Side, profile view (soft box only)

REMBRANDT LIGHTING examples

Rembrandt Lighting, hard/direct light, no fill

Rembrandt Lighting, hard/direct light, with fill

Rembrandt Lighting, soft box

Rembrandt Lighting

BEAUTY/BUTTERFLY LIGHTING examples

Beauty Lighting

SHORT LIGHTING examples

Short Lighting

BROAD LIGHTING examples

Broad Lighting

SIDE/SPLIT LIGHTING examples

Side (or split) Lighting

SIDE PROFILE LIGHTING examples

Side Profile Lighting

Assignment 7: black line and white line (transparent) glass

Due: Monday, 10/11. Upload jpegs into UA Box, as per usual

If you don't know how to approach it, glass can difficult to photograph because it is transparent. In order to "see" the glass, we need to exploit either reflections on the surface of the glass, or variations in glass thickness (which may show up as dark lines). These two methods for photographing glass are thus called white-line and black-line methods.

Referring to class demo, create expressive explorations of both dark-line glass and white-line glass approaches. Be selective with glass choices, arrangement and lighting design to create something exciting. We will also use a reflective table surface, created with a piece of Plexiglass on top of black velvet. For this exercise, stick to relatively transparent glass objects only, such as glasses, vases. Color glass is okay, provided that it is not so dark that you can't see through it. Try several examples of each, with different arrangements, as you like!

Note that this assignment uses transparent glass. Eventually, if you find yourself wanting to shoot opaque color glass (like a red wine bottle), say for your upcoming still life project, you would likely shoot that with the white-line technique, combined with more advanced approaches.

Technical hint: Meter the soft box with a reflective meter reading (no dome), setting the strobe power to 3 stops brighter than your shooting f-stop. For instance, if your camera is set to f11, set the power of the strobe to read f32 (f11->f16->f22->f32 = 3 stops) with a reflective meter reading. Yes, it's unusual; you are metering the light itself with reflective meter reading. Why? Because the light itself is appearing in your photograph, as either the background or a reflected highlight.

Another hint: Use a long zoom setting on your lens. This will make the background appear larger. Also, if required, move your glassware a tad closer to the background, so that the background fills the frame. You should not see the edges of the soft box and/or the black foam core in your frame.

Pertinent Reading: Chapter 7

Note, some key terminology in the book differs from what I commonly use, but it is describing the same thing. Reading the chapter should make this clear

FYI, these are equivalent / interchangeable terms:

Black-Line Glass (Chris) = "White Field Lighting" (Book)

White-Line Glass (Chris) = "Black Field Lighting" (Book)

Examples:

black line glass

white line glass

Project 1: Still Life Series

This is a multi-week, individual project where you will be creating a group of images within the general category of "Still Life," using the studio lighting techniques taught thus far in the course.

Plan for your images to engage a specific concept, idea, or subject matter in an artful, compelling way. The subject matter should be something that you find meaningful or fascinating, so that it will sustain your interest for several weeks, and inspire photographs that you will be proud of. Usually, tapping into personal interests can be a great way to do this.

The concept, idea, or subject matter should be expansive enough to inspire work over three weeks of shooting, and to allow for multiple finished works within the theme, creating a coherent series of related images.

This project will run through most of October. The expectation is for steady, consistent, shooting sessions in the studio every week. Sign up for studio times early and do not delay your shooting to just prior to critique(s).

Over the course of the project you will be shooting many variations. Keep all variations, delete nothing. From these, submit 6-10 strongest images, after consulting with instructor. Print all, letter size, for final critique. Shoot RAW and focus carefully to ensure that the image will hold up through enlargement. We may be able to run 1-2 larger prints for everyone!

This project will have several important phases and check-points:

Written proposal and discussion with instructor. Due: Wednesday, October 6th. ZOOM

A 1-2 page description of your project as you see it, initially. Please upload a word file or pdf to UA box by class time.

Describe the concept, ideas, and subject you will engage.
Research and find at least two still life photographic artists (well-known, established photographers) who's work may inspire your project. You might consider focusing on 1-2 individual pieces by your chosen artists. These examples should be properly referenced. Start with examples from the class blog and/or Lens Culture or Lenscratch. Images may be included in your proposal on additional pages.
One of the examples above should also relate to your subject/concept/set-up. Chose this artist because you admire how they tackled a subject similar to what you will be engaging. What do you gain from learning about their work? What can use use for inspiration?
One of the examples above should relate to lighting design. Choose this artist because you admire how they use light/lighting. The subject matter could be very different than your own. Focus on the lighting. How do you think they accomplished their lighting design. How is it active/passive/etc., and what might you glean from that?
Based on (above) propose a general lighting design/approach

Phase 1: Initial explorations. Due: Wednesday, October 13th (critique)

Based on the working example/demo from class, begin your explorations. Arrange your chosen subject. Explore a few options for your surface/background treatment. For each, also explore a range of lighting variations that best reveal/expresses your subject, based on your proposal
Plan to share your work in critique, to receive feedback.

Phase 2: Refine and build-out. Due: Wednesday, October 27th (critique)

Based on feedback from critique, refine and build-out the majority of your shooting.
Plan to share your progress and discuss plans for remaining studio sessions. At least 70%-80% of shooting should be completed during this two-week phase
Critique

Phase 3: Finalize and print. Due: Wednesday, November 3rd (critique)

Complete any reshoots
Optimize/edit full resolution print files
Print 6-10 images (discuss with instructor about how many prints will best represent your project)
One file prepared for large-format printing