Lighting

[Naomi]

The picture of my great-niece was taken in mid-afternoon of a cloudy winter’s day. I wish the fuzz from the scarf wasn’t on her face. I like to shoot on cloudy days because the colors seem so vivid by contrast.
The second shot was taken at mid-day in Morocco – the sun was quite bright.

[Duncan Rawlinson]

Very well done. Both photographs use diagonal lines as one of the primary elements and both showcase the use of different lighting styles. Your first image uses hard lighting but the lighting is angled in such a way that very few shadows are cast. There are obvious gradients in lighting (for example the lighting is slightly shadowed on the 1 wall on the tower), but the shadows are well organized and non-distracting.

This image uses strong lines and angles to create an interesting perspective. As the viewer it’s interesting because I feel that “looking up” feeling. This image also has great color control. You’ve limited your pallet to blue, white and brown. Great work.

Your second image is also very strong. The lighting is much softer but it’s not dull. It still fully illuminates your main object. You’ve also used the black fabric as a strong foreground object and another diagonal line. It’s a very interesting use of lines.

I only have 1 concern with this image. The nose of the baby is slightly “blown out”. The image. There is a complete loss of information on the end of the baby’s nose. Notice how it is completely white. You can notice it better when it is fully enlarged. This is referred to as being “blown out” or “burnt out”. It has to do with both lighting and your camera’s ability to handle dynamic range. You can learn more about this topic from a recent blog post we wrote here:

http://photographyicon.com/blog/2008/11/26/digital-cameras-latitude-dynamic-range/

Other than that, you’ve done a great job! Keep up the good work.

[Author]

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