If we are going to make magazine covers and create photo essays that are print worthy, we need to start noticing how light falls on our subjects. Please start taking note of the light in your home, in your classroom, in your car, and everywhere. Look how the light falls on your girlfriend sitting in the passenger seat. How is it different when you look over your shoulder at the guy in the back? What if you stop the car and walk around to the passenger side and your girlfriend turns to look at you? How does the light change when she looks up at you or when she looks down? Where is your natural focus? Do you notice her eyelashes when she looks down or the way her hair falls over her face? These are the details you want to highlight and capture with natural light photography--in your choices of depth of field and in lighting and positioning of yourself and the subject.
It is easier, far easier, to see the light and take the picture than it is to create that same light for a portrait. But seeing the light is the place to start. Hopefully, you have begun to see the light with The Egg assignment. Now, let's start to control it.
For this assignment you will need:
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Either your I-phone or a DSLR
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A light source--natural or artificial
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A subject
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A Gobo (Google it!)
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A snoot (Google it!)
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A reflector
Your group assignment is to create portraits with the following types of portrait lighting. We need 4 people to a group because for each shot you will need a photographer, a subject, and possibly two light controllers.
Flat or front lighting
Rim lighting or Rake lighting
Rembrandt lighting
Broad light
Loop light
Butterfly light
Split light
Back light
You can find good descriptions of Rembrandt, Split, Broad, Loop, and Butterfly lighting at this link.
Another useful, but seriously UGLY lesson in lighting can be found here.
Back, Rim, and Side lighting can be found here.
Each of you will take turns as photographer. Do NOT leave anyone out! When finished photographing, follow the correct procedures for saving, naming and storing your file. Choose your best portrait and edit a copy in RAW. Edit exposure, white balance, any color casts, contrast and saturation.
For the last 10 points of your grade, demonstrate your setup for each type of lighting. You can do this by drawing a diagram for each setup or photographing the setup. Include the diagram alongside each portrait.