Lighting Final

Artificial

Artificial

Existing

Natural

My little sister Katy Anne is such a wonderful part of my life.  She is constantly sweet, patient, and ready to help someone.  She is involved in many activities, such as piano, karate, and gymnastics.  Another large part of her life is being outdoors.  She often goes for walks in the woods and explores.  I purposely photographed her in a skirt and rain boots.  When my mom once asked her why she was outside in a skirt and cape, to which she replied, "It's more magical this way".  Her rain boots help to show her carefree, adventurous nature, and she is always prepared for anything.  Katy Anne loves all animals, but elephants are her favorite.  She has amassed a large collection, which she keeps tidy at all times.  She also adores our cat, Nutmeg.  I photographed her in her pajamas because I love how cute they are.  I often see her and Mark (my younger brother) running around in their pajamas before bed.  One of my favorite things to do when I have free time is braid her hair.  Her hair is thick and straight so I can absent-mindedly experiment different braids on her.  In the photograph with existing light, she was reading.  She loves to read, and is currently reading Peter Pan, which was one of my favorite books as a child.  I also like the lighting best in this picture, because I personally favor existing light.  I tried to pick settings with an ample amount of light though, because Katy Anne has a scintillating personality.  She is incredibly cheerful, however, she is also calm and thoughtful.  Often, she will will sit somewhere and simply think.  She isn't chatty, however, what she says is worth listening to.  As a result, in her portraits I tried to show both sides of her.  This unit has showed me a lot about how the lighting of a photograph can change the mood of a picture.  I know now that artificial light makes the subject look more dramatic, and this is why I love the lighting in the last picture.  I feel that the dramatic effect of the lighting emphasizes the seriousness of Katy Anne's attitude towards music.  And if I use more natural light, then the subject will look more natural.  Since I am an optimistic person as well, I usually like to photograph with more light.        

Lighting Final Project Contact Sheet

Silhouettes

I love this style of photography so much.  I much prefer it to taking portrait shots.  I've never really been talented with technology or photoshop so it was really nice to be able to learn something new like this.  I loved learning how to use the layers.  I had no idea that this kind of editing was possible on a regular computer, let alone that I could learn how to do it.  However, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcomes.  I wasn't a huge fan of the solid or patterned backgrounds, and my favorite is the custom shape one.

Lighting Project

Butterfly

Loop

Rembrant

Split

Silhouette

Sunlight

Shade

Front

45 Degree

Side

Back

Direct Light

Shade (soft)

Multiple (hard)

Multiple (soft)

Multiple (board)

I learned how different sources of light and different kinds of light can make people look different.  I personally like the more natural light, but my favorite is probably existing or shade because not only does it look natural but it is softer and more flattering than direct sunlight.  I wish that we could have taken more pictures with the softer kind of light.  My suggestion is to have a partner who is willing to make different expressions.  I took some pictures with my friends in the morning, but it was in the beginning so I did them wrong and couldn't use them.  However, their facial expressions were much more interesting since they were comfortable with me.