Rembrandt lighting:

Rembrandt lighting is a form of art that takes advantage of one light and one reflector or sometimes two separate lights. It’s a known technique because it forms images that look both noticeable yet logical. It’s mainly famed by a triangle that is lit-up underneath the subject’s eye on the side of the face that is less illuminated.

The set up for Rembrandt lighting

Own experiments of Rembrandt lighting

Experiment 1:

Editing process:

For this picture I decreased exposure to make the picture a little darker to highlight the Rembrandt lighting on the left side of her face (-0.61) and blacks (-56) to make the darks in the picture lighter.

This was the only editing I did to this picture because I believe that this photo needed little editing to it as it already represented that Rembrandt lighting without it needing to be edited however I wanted to make the right side of the subjects face less bright and a little more warm.

Before (left) After (right):

Experiment 2:

Editing process:

For this picture I decreased exposure to make the picture a little darker to highlight the Rembrandt lighting on the left side of her face (-0.61) and blacks (-56) to make the darks in the picture lighter.

The editing for this picture is the exact same as the first experiment as I liked how the experiment turned out. I strongly believe that adding this small amount of editing hugely improved and enhanced the picture but still showed the sole purposed of the picture which was showing the art of Rembrandt lighting.

Before (left) and After (right)

Experiment 3

Editing process:

For this picture, I desaturated it (-100) to create diversity within my pictures and because I liked how the picture looked in black and white especially because it made the left side of the darker part of subject face even darker which was what I wanted to improve in this picture using editing.

Before (left) After (right)

Experiment 4:

Editing process: For this picture I didn’t edit a single thing in this picture. I thought that the picture really showed that Rembrandt lighting where a triangle like shape formed on the left side of the subject face or wherever the key light wasn’t directly facing at, hence why I didn’t feel the need to edit it.

Presentation of outcomes:

Evaluation and Critique:

Overall I strongly believe that all my pictures showed Rembrandt lighting. I came out with a diverse set of pictures. My pictures diversity include, black and white picture, pictures where lots of the subjects body is showing and pictures where it is a shoulder shot. This shows that I can be creative and produce a variety of different type of pictures that show Rembrandt lighting.

A strength I had was the fact that I was able to show that triangle figure below the less illuminated parts of the subject’s face. In all of my pictures I am able to show this perfectly which is something I am greatly proud of because it shows that I am able to replicate the famous triangle shape on the subjects face.

However a way I could have improved my pictures is by successfully creating an all black background which would greatly impact my pictures and make that triangle more evident and deep. In some of my pictures, I felt that the triangle and the other parts of the picture that are meant to be really dark are not as dark as I wanted them to be. I could improve this by using a black curtain in the background or by decreasing my ISO to around 100-125 so that it would make the background completely black and therefore make that triangle darker and even more evident.

Chiaroscuro is an Italian word that translates to Light and Dark. The effect is created by a light across the subject that goes in one direction and then a lit background positioned so that it is in a reverse direction. Ideally, the subject should go to black on the side that is unlit and it should stay the same for the background. The subject’s outline or shape, is clearly described because of the lit background even though its black on the unlit side. The word chiaroscuro came from painting. It was a job that joined a very strong contrasts of light and dark in an image so that it created a sense of volume and shape.

The setup for Chiaroscuro lighting.

Own experiments of Chiaroscuro lighting

Experiment 1:

Experiment 2:

Experiment 3:

Editing process: For these three pictures I kept them just as they are. I didn’t edit them because I though that it perfectly represented Chiaroscuro lighting as it shows the dark background and the illumination of the subject’s face. Although the background could possibly be darker, editing it would negatively effect the subjects illuminated face. So changing this picture would only do harm to it and strip that Chiaroscuro lighting from it.

Experiment 4:

For this picture I kept it just as it was because I think that shows chiaroscuro lighting because of the black background and the illuminated face.

Experiment 5:

For this picture, I desaturated it (-100) to create diversity within my pictures and because I liked how the picture looked in black and white especially with the illuminated face and the dark background.

Presentation of outcomes

Evaluation and Critique.

Overall, I think my pictures look great. I believe that in most of my pictures I was able to show that chiaroscuro lighting that we we’re meant to show. My pictures have that black background that chiaroscuro is meant to have and that illuminated face.

The quality of my pictures are high. They are focused and have no type of blurry parts showing in the pictures and due to this the quality of my pictures is good.

However in some of my pictures I feel like they could show more of that illuminated part on the face and also have a more evident dark side on the face. For an example on my experiment 4, the left side of the face could have been darker by moving the key light more to the right side of the subjects face and same goes for fifth experiment. Adjustments like this would’ve massively impacted the photo and increased that chiaroscuro lighting slight more.

Another improvement I could’ve done in my 1-3 experiments was the fact that the background could’ve been a little darker. The way I could make the background darker is putting a black curtain in the background to make sure that the background is fully black. I could also bring the key light closer to me from where I was taking the picture and also bring the key light closer to the subjects face and facing it more so that it was closer to the centre of their face but not completely centred to the subjects face.

What is lighting?

lighting is the meaning where the light source can be natural or artificial in relation to the position of your subject.

• Why do we use studio lighting?

It allows photographers to enable a significant number of photographs and ensure complete light solidity in colour, exposure, and image quality.

• What is the difference between 1-2-3 point lighting and what does each technique provide / solve

• What is fill lighting?

If there is two lights present then the second light after setting up the key light will be what is called a fill light.

This is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the so called ‘key light’. The fill is usually softer and less brighter than the key.

The three pictures I want to present are,

Compare and contrast your work to your artist reference and Evaluation and Critique

As seen from my previous blogs, the one artist that I explored was Vanessa Winship who is the artist I want to compare her work with mine and who’s work that inspired me to produce my own type of work from her work.

Her work is raw. It’s close up, showing the flaws and beauties of a being. Her concept made me inspired so I decided that I wanted to show that rawness in my pictures like she did. Some of her pictures aren’t as close up which I admired because of how she was able to capture the background whilst capturing her subject as a whole.

In colour wise, my picture imitate her’s. I edited my pictures so that they were black and white just like most of her work. I think that the fact that her work is in black and white creates this dramatic effect. However her work has tendencies of showing what the real life looks like, my work wasn’t based off that. In my work i wanted to somehow show that reflection of the past. By using a subject who is a child, i was able to reflect that child figure that people have within them without realising. Showing a child in a park really reflects how things have changed and how missing being a child who went to the park constantly with no worries in the world is very real.

Photographing a subject in a hair salon was with intention of showing an appreciation towards people who work in a salon/hairdressers. I believe that Vanessas Winship’s work shows this sense of under appreciation towards human beings and how unique every single one of them are. As someone who’s mum is a hairdresser, it’s frustrating seeing how under appreciated hairdressers are. How hard working they are and how they aren’t just hairdressers, they are friends and someone who listens to their clients. They give their all and all they get are unrealistic expectation’s. Photographing a hairdresser proudly representing her work shows how genuinely unique and hardworking hairdressers are. I wanted bring awareness to peoples work, especially hairdressers.

Furthermore, I think my work really shows the inspiration that I had from Winship’s work through the use of the subject and the environment they are surrounded by just like Vanessa did. Winship shows the environment that the subject is surrounded by but doesn’t make the environment the main sight. In all her work it is evident that she wanted the subject to be the main attraction and that’s what I did with my work. As seen in my three photos at the start of the blog, the environment surrounding the subject is evident but the main ‘deal’ is the subject. I really liked how Winship did that and I think that I will use that in future projects.

When it comes to my work in general, I think that I did good, of course it can have some improvements but overall my final outcomes were good. One success I had with my final outcomes was how evident the environment related to the subject. For an example, the first picture above where the child is on the slide, I think that it is very clear where the child is and what they are doing. I think that it perfectly represents a child. She is smiling like a child would be in a park and although it isn’t as formal as environmental pictures should be I think that the fact that she’s smiling shows how real the picture is.

Another strength I had with my final outcomes was how still the pictures were. In the three picture above, none of them have blurred parts from movement which is exactly what environmental picture should be like. They shouldn’t show any type of movement. So when it comes to cancelling any type of movement in my pictures, I think I managed to do that.

However a weakness I had within my final outcomes was how in one or two pictures, I felt like the pictures weren’t as focused as they should be. This isn’t good as it doesn’t show this sense of professionality that it should show. This could have been improved by changing the focal lens so that the picture would come out more clear or coming closer to the subject.

image final selection

Image Editing

For all of my pictures i kept the editing the same, i decreased the saturation to -100 because i wanted to transform it into black and white to show the inspiration from the artist Vanessa Winship.

Here is the final outcomes for all my pictures that were edited by decreasing the saturation to -100.

experimentation 

whilst editing these pictures i decided to experiment with diverse ways of desaturating the picture into black and white using the develop segment of lightroom.  

first experiment:

For this picture I decided that I wanted to decrease the whites (-100) to make the colour in the picture look a lot warmer to produce a more smoother black and white picture, blacks (-32) to make the picture darker and saturation (-100) to take all of the colour off of the picture. I increased the clarity (+30) to make the picture more clear and Dehaze (+100) to amplify colour and contrast where the photo appeared a little ‘washed out’. I liked the way this picture was edited but it was too dark for me.

second experiment:

For this picture I decreased, highlights (-89) to recover lost detail and darken the lighter parts of picture, shadows (-39) to make the picture darker, whites (-61) to make picture look warmer, blacks (-39) to make picture even darker and saturation (-100) to completely take the colour from the picture. I increased texture (+37)to add visual interest and clarity (+47) to make the image much more clearer. This picture was slightly lighter than the picture above but I didn’t like how pixilated the picture continued to be and how blurry it was even after adding clarity and interest.

Third/ last experiment:

For this final picture experiment I decreased highlights (-100) to recover lost details, shadows (-70) to make picture darker, whites (-56) to make picture look warmer, blacks (-26) to make picture darker and saturation (-100) to remove any colour from the picture. This picture turned out too grey. i also didn’t like how dark the persons face became and how little shadows are present in the picture therefore i didn’t like the finish product of this picture.

• who you are photographing

1. Sandwich shop workers
2. receptionist
3. hairdresser
4. a child in the park

• what/why you are photographing

1. Sandwich shop worker: I want to reveal how important their job is, they provide people with food without the buyer having to make a mess making the food. They allow people to have something they can grab and go. I want to reveal their hardworking.
2. Receptionist: receptionist are constantly busy and deal with different kinds of customers, rude, kind, ignorant etc. They are under appreciated and need more acknowledging. I want to appreciate and acknowledge their hard work.
3. Hairdresser: hairdressers endure a lot. They have to be hairdressers, therapist and basically a best friend to their customers. As someone who has worked and still works in a hairdresser, watching my boss have to deal with so much is exhausting. They change life’s. They make people feel good in their won skin through the use of hair.
4. A child in the park: I want to photograph a child in a park because it shows the true nature of a child. Seeing a child enjoy themselves in a park is kind of rare nowadays as lots of kids just want to stay home with their phones. I wanted to show what being a kid should truly be. Being a child means that you should enjoy the little things, not being aware of the bad in the world and having this innocent vision. I wanted to portray the true happiness of a child when they are in a park.

• when you are conducting the shoot

I plan to take these environmental portraits all in one day to get it out of the way. I will do it in a day where it isn’t rainy but isn’t too sunny. The day must be dry not humid s it doesn’t make the photo look weird. I will do it in a Saturday because its a day where people are still working and I’m off school

• where you are working/ location

1. sandwich shop workers: I will take the picture in the sandwich shop with two workers.
2. receptionist: the receptionist is also a hairdresser so will be taking the picture in a hairdresser where the reception is located.
3. hairdresser: I will take the picture in a hairdresser where the photo of the receptionist will be taken.
4. a child: the child will be taken photos of in a park.

• how you are going to produce the images (lighting / equipment etc)

1. camera
2. natural lighting and artificial lighting from inside the buildings
3. a whole park
4. Ipad for the receptionist
5. hairdryer
6. sandwich bar
7. adjusting aperture, shutter speed and ISO depending on how lit up the room is and basically changing all the above depending on the environment.

Contact sheets:

who is Vanessa Winship?

Vanessa Winship was born 1960 and is a British photographer who works on a series of long term projects of portrait, landscape, reportage and documentary photography.

Vanessa Winship studied film before teaching photography in London. She shortly joined Agence VU’ in 2005 and then began long-term projects in the Balkans with her husband, who is also a photographer called Georges Gerogiou. She prefers black and white and portrait format because it represents a bare and frontal. tone. She became known for her series on Anatolian schoolgirls in uniform, published in the book Sweet Nothings. Her work is raw, she doesn’t show this sweet and fluffy side to school girl, she extremely and methodically frames little girls who pose seriously, with serious eyes, clearly showing the backgrounds, etc classroom and mountainous.

In 2011, she began a trip to the United States that lead to the publication of the book ‘She Dances on Jackson’, whose title refers to a missed photograph. It was description of a scene she was unable to capture. Portraits, landscapes and urban views follow one another to form a poetic and melancholic vision of the country, made of details and interstices.

These projects have mainly been in the Eastern European part of the world but also in the USA. Vanessa created lots of books and some include Schwarzes Meer (2007), Sweet Nothings (2008) and She Dances on Jackson (2013).

Her first exhibition was at Fundación Mapfre gallery in Madrid in 2014. Her actual first major in UK solo exhibition was at a famous Barbican Art Gallery in London (2018) Her work has also been exhibited twice in the National Portrait Gallery in London and noticeably in Rencontres d’Arles in France.

Vanessa has won two World Press Photo Awards, ‘Photographer of the Year’ at the Sony World Photography Awards, the HCB Award (the first woman to do so) and in 2018 an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society. She is a member of Agence Vu photography agency.

Mood board

Jason Jackson.

Jason Jackson is a visual artist specializing in photography. Originally he was hailing from Riverhead, New York, however he has resided in Harlem for over 20 years. Jackson is extremely talented at illustrating current events through the lens of candid and spontaneous moments of everyday life. Most of his work is mainly based on Documentarian, Street, Travel and Portrait Photographer. He has lots of work where he shows an environmental portrait.

Some of his work is in black and white which I quite liked and want to use as an editing technique in my photos. His work is quite raw and harsh and tends to show the political climate and culture all around the world. He quotes “Shoot with authenticity and let the picture tell the story.” which really inspired me when it came to think about how I was shooting my pictures and really allowed me to be engaged in my work.

He also says, “Also, being a Black photographer I do believe that I have an obligation and responsibility to capture the “Black experience” in my work.

Some of his pictures,

Jackson did lots lots of projects, these are some of the names of his projects:

• NYC STREETS.
• Black Lives Matter, NYC.
• NYC COLOUR.
• EL Rostro Flea Market.
• Mermaid Parade.
• Loisaida Street Festival.
• Street Gymnasts of Madrid

NYC STREETS

Black lives matter, NYC

NYC COLOUR

EL Rostro Flea Market.

Mermaid Parade.

Loisaida Street Festival.

Street Gymnasts of Madrid

Image analysis of one of the pictures above.

Technical: The lighting in the pictures seems to be taken with natural lighting. You can see that it is taken outside where light from the sun was very present. Even if the picture is edited in black and white, it is evident that the picture was well lit. The picture is extremely focused. You can tell the shutter speed is high because this picture is candid but also professional so to freeze the moment/movement, shutter speed needs to be increased. This picture also has depth of field and is quite soft. The picture has good exposure because, even though it was edited in black and white the light in this picture is truly clear. The trees are blurred and not focused. The people are the focus especially the man in the Centre sitting down. Lastly the picture has a cold tone to it because of the black and white.  

Contextual & Conceptual: Although the context of this picture is not clear even after much research, El Rastro Flea Market is a market in Madrid which is among the most popular open-air flea markets in the city. It is held on Sundays and public vacations and offers a wide variety of products. The market is known for its variety of new and previously owned products, as well as the many antique shops surrounding the area. In my understanding, this picture shows a sense of sonder. Sonder means the profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passing in the street, has a life as complex as one’s own, which they are constantly living despite one’s personal lack of awareness of it. The man is the symbol of sonder. As you can see in the picture, everyone is in their own life, living and constructing their own life without worrying about other people’s lives, focusing on themselves. The man symbolises how just stopping for a moment and becoming uncomfortably aware from your surroundings, you realise that you are not the only one living and doing your own thing. The man is procrastinating about something, or he was tired and exhausted of sitting all day waiting for some type of income from the things he is selling on the floor but not having any luck because of people’s ignorance and self-absorbance.

Visual:

• Color: black and white, however there are some lighter white and blacks. It is not just bland, black, and white without shading. It has shading.  
• Tone: the tone in this picture varies, there are some light tones but some tones that are quite dark, mostly seen in clothes that are dark colored or just black.  
• Texture: The picture has a variety of textures. On the back, where there are trees, it is evident that the trees are quite blurred so not as focused but then if you look where the man is sitting in the center, the picture is much sharper and has more depth.  
• Form: the picture is overall 3D,  
• Pattern: in this picture there is quite a lot of repetition. There are lots of people, a lot of them are doing something, busy. There are lots of trees too.  
• Space: The space in this picture is quite full. There is not any part of the picture where there is a certain stillness to it. It is busy and chaotic.  
• Composition: This picture does not have any type of organization because it is a candid picture not professional, so the photographer did not organize it or purposefully set up the background like that. Some parts of people are not in frame so again it means that the setting was not organized. This photo was taken from eye level and has contrast between different shades of black and white. It does not follow the rule of thirds as lots of the space in the picture is full, so it does not the subject in the left or right third of an image, leaving the other two thirds more open.  

What is a environmental portrait?

Environmental portrait photography is the art of taking pictures that is used to tell a person’s story via its connection to what they are surrounded (environment) by in the picture. This connection regularly reviews the message that the environmental portrait photographer wants the viewer’s eye to receive.

Environment portrait is not as important for the end result as it is for other types of images that are produced. Environmental portrait photos can be obtained by doing either a candid or a staged photoshoot. However staged pictures are much more professional than candid pictures because most of the times candid pictures are taken there is movement which is not really professional.

Still life

Still life tools

Virtual Gallery and evaluation

Evaluation:

My intentions for these photos was to produce a diverse set of photos that still followed the theme that I was asked to follow. For an example, for the still life arrangement of objects , I had a diverse set of objects yet they all connected to each other, how? well I wanted to create a mysterious/crime story with the arranged objects. The use of the hat was to show someone hiding their identity, the car to show that it can be used to flee, the class bottle like object was to show that maybe alcohol was involved, the food was to portray stolen goods, the candle was to imply that it was a dark crime and finally the animal was to show that an animal was involved in this dark crime.

For the tools I didn’t have a theme or story I wanted to show, I was inspired by Walker Evans work but I also wanted to corporate some of Darren Harvey-Regan work into my photoshoot. Like Walker Evans wanted to show was the simplicity yet beauties of common tools. I was able to show that. I took pictures of single tools, made sure that when I was editing them I was showing the details just like Walker yet I didn’t have the old look with my photos, I made them look more modern just like Darren’s by having a white and clear background instead of a black and white background like Walker.

I learnt a lot of things when it comes to practical. I learned how aperture, shutter speed and ISO is so important when taking photos. Setting them to the right setting is extremely important and is dependant on what types of photoshoots are being shoot. For an example if you want to photoshoot something that is moving, you should have a slower shutter speed. A lower shutter speed will also help create a darker scenery and having a higher shutter speed will illuminate the photo, increasing the lighting in the photo. If you are photographing a something, depending on how much or how little lighting there is, you should change the ISO. If the aperture is too low, the depth of field is low which is good for photos that are close ups but not good for photos that have need to be taken with a higher depth of field.

Theory wise, I learnt that almost everything, if not, everything has meaning when it comes to photography. When I was researching about the theory part in Still Life, I found out that in Northern European Renaissance was an idea that people love the pleasures of life, the things that make them feel important or wealthy, and yet it all means nothing because time soon passes and we die. Objects that were used to represent this was things like skulls which meant, ‘the certainty of mortality’ and burnt candles, ‘the passing of time’. Everything in photography has meaning. Although Still Life in before the 20th century meant various things, from the 20th and to 21st century, Still life is more of a reflection of an artists style and because of this Still Life paintings in the 20th century became more abstract and unrealistic images.

I learnt that most famous photographers photos expressed their views or shouted for ‘help’ using photography. For an example, Walker Evans, who was one of the photographer that we researched and had to produce photos based off of his work, was a talented photographer who expressed the effects of the depression and telling the story of the Americans in working class. His project. ‘beauties of common tools’, showed the simplicity yet hard working side of common tools. I think he did that to show people a different way of viewing working class. The working class are just like common tools, they are hard working yet they are so underappreciated. I strongly believe that, he was trying to show that with his project ‘beauties of common tools’. So I learnt photographer work always have some type of meaning, even if some have more depth than others.

Lastly, I learnt that presenting your project is very important because you provide a clear, detailed representation of what you want people to see your work as. If you don’t properly present your photos then its most likely that people won’t care for your work, but if you present your work with such creativity yet simplicity, it is more likely that people will appreciate your work and clearly see your vision.

These were the links that helped me understand more about the context of still life and links that inspired me to produce my final products.

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/evan/hd_evan.htm

https://prezi.com/broeh2z4cj4k/history-of-still-life-painting/

https://www.harveyregan.co.uk/

https://fotoform.co/walker-evans-beauties-of-the-common-tool#:~:text=Beauties%20of%20the%20Common%20Tool%3A%20a%20portfolio%20by%20Walker%20Evans,as%20the%20ordinary%20hand%20tool.