"Light" Reading

The experimenting continues.......

I took the opportunity last night of setting up a few different artefact’s into a scene.

I borrowed some old books, a skull, a quill, a pipe and a candelabra and built, what I thought was a reasonable composition.

I then set up some studio lights and lit the scene as a further experimentation into working with light.

I also decided to ditch the studio lights and light paint the scene too.

The reason for this was that I could make a comparison between the two and decide which one which one was best.

 

I took a series of 32 images, 29 of which were with studio lights and various artefact’s, and when I was happy with the composition and finished with the studio lights I decided to light paint the scene with a torch.

 

These were the 3 final images on the contact sheet.

 

 

The 2 final images that were used were DSC_6789 and DSC_6814

 

 

DSC_6789

 

Firstly, this image turned out quite well, it's well lit and there is separation between the candelabra and the background, the composition works well overall, the lighting is well balanced.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, there isn't enough detail in the skull's eye sockets and nose. This is caused by the angles of the studio lighting.

I do like the scene, but I think the scene can be improved by better lighting.

DSC_6814

Ok, this one is lit by torch light. The first thing that hits you when compared to the first one is the increased darkness of the image. This is caused by moving a single source through and over the image. i.e. the torch.

I think the dark image creates a much more atmospheric shot, with pools of light forcing you to look at each individual item within the shot, but returning to the many focus which is the centre of the image and the book.

I also like the increased detail in the skull, as the light having been directed into the eye and nose sockets shows detail and depth.

The pools of light separate both the candelabra and the skull from the background and there is a nice shadow cast by the torch light.

I am very happy with the final image and the composition, is there anything I would change about this one? Well no, I don't think so.

Camera details ~ Nikon D7000, Nikon 18-200 f3.5~ F5.6 Vr Lens, Tripod, 30 second exposure at f16, 100 ISO and auto white balance.