Unit 1- Location Photography- 1- Different Light Sources

Objects lit by Fluorescent, incandescent, sodium, and halogen/tungsten

For this part of the brief i had to produce photographs for each type of lighting. Although it says objects, we were told in the assingnment briefing that they can be people, the main thing here is about the effects of the different light sources rather than what we photograph.

1. Find and photograph an object lit by the following light sources;

Fluorescent, incandescent, sodium (street light) and halogen/tungsten (site lamp/work lamp)

Each light source has quite different qualities and will have a different effect on my photographs.

Fluorescent

Firstly i needed to research this in order to know how to photograph it and what it might be appropriate for as far as a subject was concerned.

According to Wikepedia Fluorescence is:

"the emission of visible light by a substance that has absorbed light of a different wavelength"

and a fluorescent light is:

"A fluorescent lamp or fluorescent tube is a gas-discharge lamp that uses electricity to excite mercury vapor. The excited mercury atoms produce short-wave ultraviolet light that then causes a phosphor to fluoresce, producing visible light. A fluorescent lamp converts electrical power into useful light more efficiently than an incandescent lamp".

Photo by Christian Taube taken from wikepedia

This shows various types of fluorescent lights.

Fluorescent tubes are sometimes used in studios for Black and White Photography, although they dont always produce the most accurate results there are also more modern and portable versions of the tubes which are hand torches that use LED units, because they are small and portable they can be useful for small set-ups.

For my flourescent photos i decided to use the continuous lights in the studio, i had a few attempts at this but not always deliberately. For the group task we did, i thought it would be good to use the continuous lights as we wanted quite a cold feel and also didnt want to use flash as this would give a burst of light, we needed, quite shadowed areas to make it work.

Here are a few examples of the photos i took, (both myself and Faye took photos with our own cameras whilst Ryan modelled for us)

F5.6, 1/60 Sec,ISO 640, handheld, un-edited.

This one was shot with the continuous lights in the studio and you can tell i haven't edited the white balance on this one as i wanted to show what the Fluorescent looked like without editing. I think it worked really well for what we were doing as it gave us more control over the light, because it was continuous we could see it as we were framing up the shot, unlike with flash, as until it fires and you check the image on your LCD screen you can't really see the effect.

The downside to using these continuous lights is that they aren't very bright and you can't adjust the power, so you have to use fairly slow shutter speeds and a higher ISO than i would usually like to use. When photographing people it is un-practical in most situations to use a slow shutter speed as they can't keep still for long you are bound to get some motion blur.

This image is under-exposed but that is what we wanted, the theme we chose (if you cant tell) was clockwork orange, for more on this see my post on the group task.

F5.6, 1/50 Sec, ISO 1000, handheld, un-edited.

Here is another example of the same setup but using different settings here to try to get more exposure and give detail to the left side as this was where the false eyelashes were (which was a big part of the photo).

On this one though i have used the slider in Lightroom to warm it up a little, i wanted to experiment with the various white balances to demonstrate that even when you take a photo with Fluorescent which has a very cold feel to it you can very easily warm this up in post production. It is the other qualities of the light that remain.

I also booked the studio and attempted some macro shots for my objects brief, i was using flowers for this and thought i would try to use the continuous fluorescent lights for this as not only would this be better as the heat of a flash would damage the flowers, but also i thought given the colour of the flowers fluorescent would compliment and maybe enhance the images.

This reference photo shows the setup i used

F7.1, 1/125 Sec, ISO 200, handheld, unedited.

This was taken with macro tubes attached to my lens, although this is under exposed so here is a better example:

F5.6, 1/80 Sec, ISO 1000, handheld, un-edited.

When using macro rings the aperture was automatically set to the widest and i was unable to  control this myself, which is certainly less than ideal when shooting anything, but i was able to set the shutter speed and ISO appropriately in order to still get a good shot.

I really like the effect of the fluorescent light with this flower, it really brings out the colour.

Also as i read that fluorescent is good for black and white photography i wanted to convert one of my images to B&W to see what this looks like.

F5.6, 1/80 Sec, ISO 1000, handheld, un-edited.

I really like this in Black and White, i think you can tell looking at it what light i used- or maybe thats just because i know?!

F5.6, 1/125 Sec, ISO 1000, handheld, unedited.

With this image you can't tell as much that it was taken with fluorescent lighting because of the tones in the flower, i think that it is exaggerated in the previous shot beacuse of the blue- purple tones and fluorescent just works with this.

Incandescent

I have here researched incandescent although i already knew roughly what it was i wanted a more technical explanation for it.

I found this on Wikepedia:

"The incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is a source of electric light that works by incandescence (a general term for heat-driven light emissions which includes the simple case of black body radiation). An electric current passes through a thin filament, heating it until it produces light. The enclosing glass bulb prevents the oxygen in air from reaching the hot filament, which otherwise would be destroyed rapidly by oxidation. Incandescent bulbs are also sometimes called electric lamps, a term also applied to the original arc lamps".

Im sure i have mentioned before that i am not that keen on using Wikepedia but it is very convenient as almost everything comes up on there, but where possible i check this information on another site too.

Picture taken from Wikepedia

An incandescent light is most commonly used in the home and gives off a yellow-ish light which has quite a warm feel to it.

John has encouraged us where possible to try to produce photos in our picture projects that we can use for one of the brief's as this saves us doing twice the work, i didnt really want to do this as i felt a bit like it was cheating and would make me produce less work, but for the project- reflection i ended up producing a photograph using incandescent lighting so thought i would use this.

My original idea was an image of someone reflecting, a man looking at his hands looking guilty. Then, i dont know if it was because it was around the time of haloween or because my imagination went wild, i decided i wanted a horror photo and something depicted a man that has just murdered someone- or at least drawn blood!

For my photo i used a summerhouse, there was no light in there apart from an up-lit lamp and i couldnt use that as it wasn't easy to move. But, i had taken a lamp with me from my bedroom, it had a spotlight bulb in it so it was quite diectional which is what i wanted, i decided to light him from underneath as i remembered a photograph i saw that Jill Greenberg did of John McCain where she had lit him from underneath and the lighting alone gave him a very sinister and monster-like feel which is exactly what i was going for.

Here is the photo:

Photograph by Jill Greenberg

F4, 1/25 Sec, ISO 640, handheld, un-edited.

This was using directional lighting from underneath, but i didn't like the photo, the light was to close to the model and too obvious.

I put the light on top of a cupboard and pointed it directly at the models face. It was by chance that whilst i was setting up my tripod i noticed the reflection in the TV and as the theme was reflection i thought this was perfect. I got him to keep turning the knife until it reflected the light and almost glowed.

F4.5, 1/3 Sec, ISO 640, tripod, edited in LR.

I have edited this in Lightroom by increasing the blacks so that the shadows were darker, i think this created a more sinister feel to it as often the appeal with a photograph isn't what you can see but what you can't see.

This is the same photo as above but has been edited differently in Lightroom, i added an aged photo preset then i increased the blacks, also i didnt export this with a watermark as the detail of the image goes right to the edges i felt the watermark got in the way.

I have done a seperate post on my reflection theme so please see this post for more detail and examples.

Sodium

Sodium lights are  most commonly street lights and produce an Orange coloured light.

When i looked it up on Wikepedia i found this explanation:

"A Sodium vapor lamp is a gas discharge lamp which uses sodium in an excited state to produce light. There are two varieties of such lamps: low pressure and high pressure. Because sodium vapor lamps cause less light pollution than mercury-vapor lamps, many cities that have large astronomical observatories employ them".

Firstly i decided to take some photos under sodium lights as part of my research, this was easier as street lights are very accessable.

F4, 1/10 Sec, ISO 1600, handheld, un-edited.

This is just outside my house, it was very dark and the Sodium street light was the only source of light, i had to use a slow shutter speed and the widest aperture, along with a high ISO to get this image, given the slow shutter speed and the fact it was handheld i am surprised it isn't blurry.

F5.6, 1/5 Sec, ISO 400, handheld, un-edited.

This is just another example of the sodium lighting, this image is a lot darker because i have used a faster shutter speed but this is just an example of the lighting so it isnt that important at this stage.

F5.6, 1/2 Sec, ISO 1600, handheld, un-edited.

F5.6, 0.6 Sec, ISO 1600, handheld, un-edited.

F5.6, 0.6 Sec, ISO 1600, handheld, un-edited.

This photo is of raindrops on a silver car, because the sodium street light is the only form of lighting it gives the image an orange and warm tinge.

More Examples of Sodium Lighting

I went to London and as i got off the coach i took this photo, i was in a rush so wasn't thinking about the composition, i just saw the lighting and took a quick shot.

F5, 1/50 Sec, ISO 1000, handheld, un-edited.

F4, 1/30 Sec, ISO 1000, handheld, un-edited.

Whilst in London i was walking around and i saw this tunnel across the road so decided to take a few photos, i wasn't sure why i liked it until afterwards when i thought about some of the things i like to photograph, i think it was the apparent age of the tunnel that attracted me, it was quite rustic and the sodium lights only added to it, plus it was perfect for part of my brief.

F5.6, 1/60 Sec, ISO 1600, handheld, edited in LR.

F5.6, 1/60 Sec, ISO 1600, handheld, edited in LR.

F5.6, 1/60 Sec, ISO 1600, handheld, edited in LR.

Here i have used the Adjustment brush to decrease the exposure at the end of the tunnel and make it appear dark, i did like the idea of light at the end of the tunnel but because the people are relaxed as they are walking toward the end i dont think this works. If they were running toward the end of the tunnel and the light it could appear that they were running from somehting in the tunnel.

Instead i thought that the black at the end of the tunnel worked better as it made it look more sinister.

When i see a tunnel like this i cant help but feel a little nostalgic because of its age and it felt a bit creepy to be in there also, another thing that perhaps adds to this is the fact that it is very close to the London Dungeons, this to me adds to the sinister feel.

I have also de-saturated it very slightly to reduce the orange tinge, this made it appear more 'real'. I then applied a very subtle vignette but didnt want this to be visible, just enough to darken the edges.

Halogen/Tungsten

I think Halogen/tungsten is possibly the most difficult light source to cover as it is the least accesible.

I researched it and found this definition:

"A halogen lamp is an incandescent lamp in which a tungsten filament is sealed into a compact transparent envelope filled with an inert gas and a small amount of halogen such as iodine or bromine".

Here is a link to the Wikepedia page i found this

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Global_Support/uk?utm_source=2009_Notice43&utm_medium=sitenotice&utm_campaign=fundraiser2009&target=Support_Wikipedia2

I have used Halogen/tungsten lighting before, in the studio with a model i used natural light from the skylight and a work lamp lied on the floor next to the model all of the images have been very slightly warmed up in Lighroom but that is the only editing i did.

These were taken at the beginning of my course and at which point i was only just getting used to my camera so there are a few things noticable that could have been better, such as the slow shutter speed- i should have used a tripod with speeds this slow, and the F number could have gone down to 5.6- the lowest on the lens i had, this would have allowed me more light and i could have used a faster shutter speed instead.

Here are the best 3 whilst using this light source:

F6.3, 1/25, ISO 500, handheld, edited in LR.

F6.3, 1/25, ISO 500, handheld, edited in LR.

F6.3, 1/25, ISO 500, handheld, edited in LR.

I really like these images, it was the first time i had ever photographed a proper model in the studio before and it gave me more confidence in working with people as something i previously struggled with was giving direction to people when i was taking their photograph, i think now i am more confident i know what looks good i find it easier to direct someone, although i know there is still a lot to learn!

It felt a bit like a cheat to just use photos i had already taken, especially because when i took them i didn't have the brief in mind at all.

So i decided to try to produce some more photos in the studio using the Halogen/tungsten worklamps.

I was doing a shoot anyway for another part of my brief so decided i would incorporate this.

I knew that it would be quite dark and i would have to use really slow shutter speeds or high ISO's if i used just the lamps- they weren't very bright, and I quite liked the way that the light worked with the natural light in the previous shots.

So i got to the studio early, as it goes dark early in the afternoon at this time of year, and i used the skylight for the natural light and placed my model/s underneath this with the lamps, one at either side.

F5.6, 1/80 Sec, ISO 800, handheld, un-edited.

This has just been cropped in LR and i have set the white balance to daylight to show the light as it was as much as possible.

F5.6, 1/80 Sec, ISO 800, handheld, un-edited.

Here is another example and again i have set the White Balance to Daylight.

F5.6, 1/80 Sec, ISO 800, handheld, un-edited.

Here i have changed the white balance to Tungsten, as you can see it has made the image very blue.

F5.6, 1/80 Sec, ISO 800, handheld, edited.

Here i used the slider in Lightroom to warm up the image. 

F5.6, 1/80 Sec, ISO 800, handheld, edited.

This is Black and White version and i have reduced the clarity to give it a more dreamy feel, i am happy with this although i appreciate it doesn't necessarily show of the lighting i have used which is why i have shown earlier examples.

Comparisons

I didn't feel it was obvious enough to show examples of all 4 light sources like this as they have each had different treatment in post production so it is difficult (in my opinion) to clearly see the difference between the light sources.

Of course, there is the obvious colour of each light source- sodium appears orange and Incandescent appears yellow for example. But there are other charachteristics that each light source has so i thought i would take 4 photos- one from each and set the white balance to daylight on them all, then show them along side each other.

Fluorescent- Daylight balanced

Incandescent- Daylight balanced

Sodium- Daylight balanced

Halogen/Tungsten- Daylight balanced

Here it is obvious, the difference between each one- mainly the colour. But this creates a different atmosphere in each image.

I think a better way to compare each light would be to use a small object and keep this the same through the 4 lights and compare them, it is harder to compare when using a different object/model each time.