There are many possible techniques that can be used in a studio setup, these can be used to achieve various effects, such as minimising shadows, exaggerating shapes or highlighting certain areas of the frame.
One-point lighting:
We are used to seeing this type of lighting every day in nature, in the form of sunshine. A single source of light creates a very natural, sometimes dramatic look that will draw people’s attention to the single lighted person or surface. And if it’s good enough for nature, there will be times is will easily bee good enough for taking photos. As anyone can see with a walk around the park, a single source looks two dimensional or flat, and rarely hits people straight on, so it creates shadows.
Two-point lighting:
This lighting method is used when you want the subtleness of a single light source but you want the person/object to stand out, and appear more 3D. Its a great way to add depth to photos without going overboard. There is still quite a potential for shadowing if a person turns their head either direction, but where a little shadowing is okay, this can be an effective way to bring focus.
Three-point lighting:
Not everyone is happy with the shadows that two-point lighting can produce, so the obvious solution is to have two lighting points at the front with a back light to try get rid of the shadow.
I chose to change to the other side of the road and capture images from behind creating more of a story and understanding within my images. This angle creates perspective within the images showing different view points. There are two main intentional view points for these images. They are the two boys on the game controllers and the space invaders screen on the side of the building. The image creates a contrast with in because there is a dark and light side to the image creating a more visually interesting image. The main tonal color pallets for this image consist of a range of blues. The two boys stand out because they are on a lighter background making the viewer being drawn the them when when looking at the image.
You can see how modern day to day life is just passing by as the images are being taken from the visual interactions from the cars and a little girl entering the images wanting to have a go. These images are all about capturing what is naturally happening right that second, unplanned/ unstructured.
For the next images i chose to change vantage points to capture the interest of the children and what is happening with them. To me these images turned out really well the colors are vibrant and there are no blurred images. There is a lot of vertical features within these images which create structural vantage points for the image. The buildings in the background give the image depth creating a clear flow through the image following the path of the road.
Again i moved positioning so that I could capture the general public behind and there reactions to how the kids were doing in the games and the next lot of children waiting for there turn.
I chose to change angles so that i was behind the children can captured the Vodafone sign in the images. This gives the images context and gives the viewer more of an understanding as to why there are children playing giant space invaders near the side of the road. It also frames the picture crating a poster feel to the image or a advert for Vodafone. The contrast between the blue glass of the building and the red writing creates a focal point and main point of interest.
I wanted to capture the close up of the children's faces I used the portrait mode on my camera with a wide zoom lens to create the close up intimate feel towards the photos. These images were taken standing about 50 m away from the kids. I feel like these images are successful because you can see that they are clear and crisp the colors are bright and vibrant. I feel like the images create a real snap shot of what is actually going on and the children's real moods. You can see that I have changed the zoom of the lens in the images to create different out comes and see how the zoom effects the initial image. Creating a more diverse set of images.
Tony Ray-Jones