This post is part of a series entitled A Year With My Camera.
Lesson 3.4 in my own words
- Strong light from one source creates high contrast and hard shadows
- Creates high dynamic range (HDR)
- image is very bright on the light source side
- very dark on the other side
- Occurs because the camera's sensors have a smaller dynamic range than the eye.
- Fill light is secondary lighting to soften contrast and shadows
- Reduces the HDR by reducing the dynamic range of the whole image
- Created by shining light onto the shadows
- Can be another light source
- Can be a reflector
This week's project
- Take 2 photos
- Photo 1
- Take a photo with strong directional light (bright sunlight)
- Note the strong shadows
- Photo 2
- Repeat the first photo with a reflector opposite the light source
- Note the softened shadows
- Bonus photos
- Experiment with the reflector closer or farther away
- Experiment with aluminum foil or a mirror
I used white poster board for a reflector.
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| Photo 1 - no reflector |
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| Photo 2 - with reflector |
For the bonus photos, I used the white poster board reflector, each time moving it a little closer to the subject.
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| Bonus photo 1 |
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| Bonus photo 2 |
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| Bonus photo 3 |
The closer the reflective surface, the brighter the dark side of the subject. In the third photo, it looks like the reflector was the primary light source.
What I learned
I usually try to avoid taking photos in the direct sunlight because of the contrast. Now, I understand why it seems so harsh and what to do about it.
2 comments:
I can kind of see it Leigh, but it is not terribly obvious - I would not know to look for it unless you pointed it out.
TB, I agree it's subtle in those photos, especially because the shadows in the first photo aren't too bad. But I got the point of the lesson, which will come in handy in future. :)
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