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Chiaroscuro lighting

Chiaroscuro is a high-contrast lighting technique that utilises a low-key lighting setup to achieve contrast between the subject and a dark background.

photographs :

chiaroscuro lighting context/analysis :

Begin by defining your light source, a cardinal rule. Chiaroscuro is a symphony of five zones that flow into one another. These zones are the highlight, mid-tone, deep shadow, reflected light, and cast shadow.

Why should we use chiaroscuro?

chiaroscuro lighting is mainly used in film to create striking images or evoke a certain feeling. The contrast between light and shade can help frame a subject more prominently, drawing viewers’ eyes to things they might not focus on otherwise.#

chiaroscuro set up :

this is the setup you would need in order to get good photos of chiaroscuro photography.

my response :

contact sheet :

My best images :

Rembrandt Lighting

Rembrandt lighting is a technique for portrait photography named after Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, the great Dutch painter. It refers to a way of lighting a face so that an upside-down light triangle appears under the eyes of the subject.

Rembrandt lighting is characterized by an illuminated triangle under the eye of the person, particularly on the less illuminated side of the face. It’s a popular technique because it creates images that look both dramatic yet natural.

Rembrandt photography :

Rembrandt context/analysis

Rembrandt lighting is a technique utilizing one light and one reflector or two separate lights. It’s a popular technique because it creates images that look both dramatic yet natural. It’s predominantly characterized by a lit-up triangle underneath the subject’s eye on the less illuminated area of the face.

Why was Rembrandt important?

Rembrandt Harmen zoon van Rijnprolific was seen as a painter, draftsman, and etcher, Rembrandt van Rijn is usually regarded as the greatest artist of Holland’s “Golden Age.” This technique was made during the Renaissance period, but Rembrandt then pushed t even further and used dramatic lighting to lure out the ‘psychological depth’ of his models.

what to use when taking photos in the style of Rembrandt :

you can use…

one type of lighting that is usually placed at a 45 degree angle on the side of your model, take photos from whichever side of your model that you would like the triangle shape to form on.

here are my camera settings :

My response :

contact sheet :

Best 3 images :

In my images I have used one type of continuous lighting placed at an angle to the side of my model, I asked my model to tilt her head slightly to give the Rembrandt effect where the triangle is visible on the right side of her face. This image is all natural colourings other then the editing which has been done to the images where I had changed the saturation, the dark and bright areas have been adjusted and I had cropped the images to fit a portrait shaped canvas. immediately with all these images my eye gets drawn straight to the lit up areas of the images.

Exploring lighting

In most cases we can make use of natural or available / ambient light but we must be aware of different kinds of natural light and learn how to exploit it thoughtfully and creatively.

Natural Lighting :

Natural light refers to the ambient light supplied by the sun or moon, not a camera flash or other artificial light sources. Natural light is also taken to include lights you’d find naturally in the environment, such as street lights, lamps, etc.

Ambient lighting :

Ambient light is any light a photographer or cinematographer did not bring to the shoot. Also known as available light, it’s any light that you haven’t set up yourself. 

artist reference

August Sander

Biography :

August Sander (17 November 1876 – 20 April 1964) was a German portrait and documentary photographer. Sander was born on November 17, 1876 in Herdorf. the son of a carpenter working in the mining industry. He had six siblings. While working at the local Herdorf iron-ore mine, Sander first learned about photography by assisting a photographer from Siegen who was also working for the mining company. With financial support from his uncle, he bought photographic equipment and set up his own darkroom.

Photos :

Photo Analysis :

August Sandler’s’ work is very interesting he uses people in different environments and captures them in the moment creating images that have a true meaning and story behind them, in all of his photos the person he is photographing is always in the centre or just slightly off centred causing them to be the main focus of the images and catching peoples attention to think about what he truly is capturing.

Environmental Portrait

what is environmental portraiture?

An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings. The term is most frequently used of a genre of photography.

By photographing a person in their natural surroundings, it is thought that you will be able to better illuminate their character, and therefore portray the essence of their personality, rather than merely a likeness of their physical features. It is also thought that by photographing a person in their natural surroundings, the subject will be more at ease, and so be more conducive to expressing themselves, as opposed to in a studio, which can be a rather intimidating and artificial experience.

Mood board

single object tools photoshoot :

Here is my first edit from my single objects tools photoshoot, from this photoshoot my images didn’t quite come out as I expected as they came out with a darker orange kind of tint on the images so I used Lightroom and changed the tint of the images to create the effect I originally wanted on the images.

For these final two images that I have edited I played around with the tint a bit more leaving a more blue kind of tint on my images which almost makes them stand out even more then my first pre-set I made.

these are my tools still life photos inspired by Darren Harvey-Reagan.

The New objectivity :

Albert Reneger Paszch :

the new objectivity in photography In their main concern with portraying reality objectively, they tended to be associated with the Verists. Their works are characterized by the use of sharp angles, impartial perspectives, visual clarity, and order.

What Albert Reneger Paszch preferred to photograph :

a lot of his photographs are very nostalgic looking and give an ominous feel within his images as they are all in black and white and all create a sense of comfort as the buildings he photographs are very still as he takes still life images in the real world moments.

His photos :

Albert has a famous book named “the world is beautiful”.

his work relates to this as a lot of his work captures the natural beauty of the world and what its like in day to day life captured in a calming sense.

Photoshoot One (still life photos and edits)

Lightroom Classic Experimentation :

annotation :

For the experimentation in this image I have changed some of the setting on the image such as the enhancement, the highlights, shadows and contrast to create a deeper, darker effect. For the next edit I am going to turn the image into a more ominous feeling to replicate walker Evans.

for this edit I have taken inspiration from Walker Evans by changing the photograph into black and white to represent his work. I also played around with the contrast and brightness of the image changing the blacks, whites and shadows within the image.

for this third edit again its not completely how I would have hoped it to turn out as you can see there is a grainy kind of background feel to it which makes the image not as clear and crisp as I would’ve hoped it to have turned out.

Here are my images, the ones selected in green are the images I feel have the best composition and ultimately just stand out better then the rest of the images.