Lighting and Impulse

Credit goes to Amber Fox and Understanding Composition by PhotoZy of the Facebook group High School Photography Educators for the lesson idea, resources and WAGOLL images.

Lighting

In this exercise, you’ll experiment with different characteristics of light and see firsthand how they influence your composition. Pick up that camera and let’s do it. This stuff is important!

Grab a few eggs. This is your subject. Now you’re going to seek out different types of light to shoot them under. With each shot, consider how the composition of your scene changes in terms of mood, visibility, context, lines, and so on. Have a quick read of this article that shows some lovely examples.
Set up a scene, with a backdrop of some sort. You can use the inside of a jacket, or a piece of white paper and create a mini studio. White works best so you can see the shadows.
Alter the intensity of the light in your scene by using the flashlight, or the flashlight on your phone or by using a desk lamp in your room.
Alter the direction of the light by moving your light source, or changing the position you’re shooting them from. You could start with side lighting, and then move around to turn it into backlighting.
With your egg you will take pictures that illustrate:

Side lighting
Front lighting
Overhead lighting
Back lighting

6. Essentially you are shining your light from the side, then from the front, then from overhead, then from the back. As you try each direction, take notice of the placement of the tones, as well as the proportion of each. And make sure to look at the shadow cast by the egg or action figure as well, both it’s direction and size.

7. Then with your egg(s) you will use your light source to create examples of hard and soft light.

8. So use your flashlight on your phone and shine it directly at the egg or action figure from about a foot away. This is hard light.

9. Then put a piece of white paper in between it, to diffuse the light and making your light source essentially larger, the light will become softer. Your shadows should look lighter and edges softer.

Hard lighting (without the paper to diffuse the light)
Soft lighting (with the paper to diffuse the light)

10. Covert your photos to BLACK AND WHITE. sing your phone or Snapseed.

11. Create a COLLAGE of your eggs illustrating the 6 different types of light and label them according to what sort of light you captured using your phone or PicCollage. Watch these YouTube videos which show you how to do this: Phone collage, PicCollage app.

12. REMEMBER, TO MAKE YOUR PHOTOS LOOK PRETTY.

WAGOLL

Below are examples of the collage of photographs you will create following this lesson:

Impulse Photo vs. a Photo telling a story

It is really important to think about your photoshoot before you pick up your camera and take photographs. You will get a much better photograph as a result. Gather props to tell a story and take it to the next level with editing. In this assignment you will create a little still life from which you are going to take some photographs.

Find a piece of fruit of a vegetable and lay it on a table or worktop near a window (for the lighting). Take a few photographs from different angles until you get an image you are happy with.
Now you are going to really think about 'setting up the scene'. Find other items like a chopping board and knife (check with an adult), maybe other pieces of fruit , a glass half filled with water. Set up the scene to 'tell a story' (a snack is being made etc). Then take some more photographs of your new scene from different angles until your get an image you are happy with.
Remember, the apple is your subject. When you have completed both photographs, create a side by side collage and study them. Watch these YouTube videos which show you how to do this: Phone collage, PicCollage app.
Go back to Google classroom and turn in your collage of two images. Include a brief note where you describe which one makes a stronger, more aesthetic statement about the apple?

Tips:

Be careful when choosing a background and make sure it is NOT DISTRACTING.
You can even create a little studio out of paper, or shoot with portrait mode or a large aperture (small number) to blur out the background.
Try to tell a story with your photo.

WAGOLL

Below are examples of the collage of photographs you will create following this lesson:

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