Lighting Ratios

I have learnt a lot recently from studio practice sessions about lighting, portrait lighting mainly. I've learnt about some of the styles of lighting and their uses, also about some of the technical aspects of lighting using key (the main light) and fill (secondary lights or reflectors) lights. Lighting ratios are the difference between the key and the fill lights. You can find out this ratio by using a light meter to measure the aperture value needed at the dark and the light areas, the number of stops difference is then converted into a ratio, so if there's only one stop difference it is 2:1 lighting ratio if their is two stops difference it is a 4:1 lighting ratio.This is because of the fact the light is either halved or doubled coming into the lens (see my post on aperture).

2:1 Ratio using Low Key Lighting.

1:1 Ratio using mid key lighting.


I have found this information I have learnt really useful and will be using it when I delve more into studio portrait photography.

One Day Brief

Today I was given a 'one day brief...' Well technically it was more like 9:45 till the 2:30 deadline. At the brief we were all given a fifty word story chosen at random, here is my story:

Her eyes flickered open, and she smiled warmly.

“Morning!”

“Morning,” I replied, pulling her closer.

“Sleep well?”

“Very.”

“Want something to eat?”

“No thanks.”

“A drink?”

I shook my head.

She was silent for a while, then said,

“I’m Jill by the way..”

“Mark.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

At first this story really confused me as to what images I could produce from the passage. I first thought about trying to find a bed and snapping some images there but that idea didn't seem really feasible. I then thought about taking really macro images of someone's face but to me that didn't, although it followed the story, seem very imaginative or creative and I wanted my images to be more of a journey or even a story rather than simply four images. So this led me to my third and final idea, to in a way carry the story on through my own visual interpretation. So here are the four images entitled 'The Morning After The Night Before'. 

These images tell the blurry tale of our characters journey to work the next day. Still slightly intoxicated from a night of drink and excess, these images show his journey from home to the train station. 

I really enjoyed this project, although challenging it let me get really creative in a short period of time. However the amount of time we had to do this project for me was perfect, I had ample time to submit them and have a nice break after! Looking back at this project I don't think I would have done much differently, In the future I'm looking forward to doing more one day briefs.

Aperture

Today we got a chance to firm up our knowledge on aperture; aperture directly controls the depth of field or amount of area of the image that is in focus. The aperture is basically the size of the hole that lets in light into the camera, this is measured in f-stops, the lowest f-stop number is 2, although it is the lowest number it is actually the widest aperture as the hole is biggest which gives a really shallow depth of field. As you go up a stop so from 2 to 2.8 you half the amount of light let in.An f-stop number of 64 however has a larger depth of field but is the smallest hole.

 This picture is shot with f 5.6 so only the finger tip is in focus.

The picture above is shot with f 22 so nearly the whole image is in focus.

A list of full f-stop numbers: 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11,16,22, 32, 45, 64

Learning about aperture really comes in handy when you start looking at lighting techniques and ratios.

Camera Obscura

At Featherstone castle we got a chance to make our very own camera obscurer. A camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. You can create this by blacking out a window then cutting a hole in it.

Blacking out the window.

Using a long exposure to produce this.

I never knew this was possible, and this concept really intrigues me. I could improve on the focus by adding in a screen and trying to find the focal length of the flipped image but to tell you the truth I like it in its natural form.

Featherstone Castle

Last week I got the chance to go to Featherstone castle, it was a great opportunity for a bit of bonding and some back to basics photography, using 35mm film cameras and canon 7d’s. It was fantastic to be able to devote my time to just photography, as I had no contact with the outside world… (What a shame). Here are a few totally unedited images. It was nice to be able to get back to basics and focus on in camera skills. Although the sky was rather dull and the light wasn’t ace, I still got a couple of nice shots.

Bit of Nature.

Messing with zoom burst in lowish light outside the mausoleum.

A Hobbit door.

I just liked the composition of this one, using thirds.

Mushroom composition.

Introduction

My name is Ben Plumridge-Gray, I am currently a photography student studying at Leeds College of Art. I feel I am interested in something which is built up from within the image, rather than just a superficial image, I have a need to look beyond the surface of any picture. I've spent many hours playing with cameras, composing subjects through angle and lighting and constantly expressing myself visually, I feel my skills have evolved and I have become a more accomplished photographer over the past few years. I am hoping to develop my skills further and share with you guys my experiences along the way!