ASSIGNMENT RESOURCE ONE: LIGHT
BACK TO HOMEWe are going to start this out with some lighting work.
A few variables that tend to be fixed in the lighting lexicon of food, texture, and still life.
The “circle of beauty” – back-light to side light.
Circle of beauty backlight:
And here is the Circle of beauty side light:
The vertical process remains the same. Whether from the back or overhead, having it be part of the circle of beauty is important. I refer to this one as the arc of beauty since it arches over the subject.
Using a window for light.
One of the easiest ways to use natural light is to use a window in your home or studio.
Here the window is used as a back light source.
And here the window is a side light source.
Notice how in the backlight situation, a scrim is used to soften and diffuse the light. This can be very important if you have random speculars from reflecting sources in the visibility of your set. It can also come in very handy when the sun comes directly into your room and is not a diffused source. The scrim can diffuse it and make the light more soft and even.
One of my favorite tools is the scrim from inside a 5-in-one. Here I have it clamped to a stand with the sun behind it. The light is very soft on the subject.
Another scrim mounted for shooting soft light in the harshest part of the day.
There is no size limit to the lighting gear. Here to very large scrims are softening the daylight from outside for a larger set shoot.
In the example above, the photographer is using the softbox as a window replacement. Fill cards and reflectors remain the same.
Using a scrim instead of a window means you can shoot at any time of the day. And then enjoy those wings with a cold beer… heh.
Scrim lighting can scale.This is a large table of food for Martha Stewart Magazine shot with continuous and scrimmed sun lighting.
USING ONE LIGHT: ONE
USING ONE LIGHT: TWO