{"id":656,"date":"2007-12-10T13:01:41","date_gmt":"2007-12-10T04:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-12-10\/656"},"modified":"2007-12-10T13:02:30","modified_gmt":"2007-12-10T04:02:30","slug":"the-most-difficult-aspect-of-photographic-lighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-12-10\/656","title":{"rendered":"The Most Difficult Aspect of Photographic Lighting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f\/4.5, ISO 200 —\nfull exif<\/a><\/span>\nChinese Cabbage in Fumie's Kitchen<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

While Fumie was cooking dinner the other day, the proportions of a Chinese cabbage<\/a>\n(hakusai<\/i> – \u767d\u83dc)<\/span> in the kitchen caught my eye. I thought<\/span> it\nwas beautiful, so wanted to try my hand at photographing it.<\/p>\n\n

The difficulty in many aspects of photography – as in life –\nis knowing first what you want to accomplish, and then how to go about it.\nUnlike my earlier water-glass shots<\/a> where I\njust<\/span> copied someone else's setup, in this case, I had an<\/span> immediate gut\ninstinct about what I wanted<\/span> to do, and, especially after having read Light — Science and\nMagic<\/a>, I knew exactly<\/span> how to approach it. The problem<\/span> this time was the\nthird step: actually putting a plan<\/span> into action.<\/p>\n\n

Metaphorically speaking, it's as if I knew<\/span> I needed<\/span> to hammer a nail<\/span>\ninto the wall, which itself should be a simple<\/span> task, but in my case, all I\nhad<\/span> on hand to complete the task was a broken<\/span> umbrella and a slightly<\/span>-ripe\nbanana. In photography – as in life – not having the proper\ntools can make an otherwise simple task gruesomely frustrating.<\/p>\n\n

I got the shot I wanted, but it's almost<\/s> comical how I eventually<\/span>\ndid it...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nThe Setup<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I knew that I wanted the light to come from above and slightly forward,\nand that I wanted<\/span> a diffuser<\/span> in between to soften the light. So, here's how it went...<\/p>\n\n

I took a tray that had a slatted grill-like top and short legs, and\npropped it up on four up-ended tissue boxes so that it was well above the\ncabbage. On top of<\/span> the tray I then<\/span> lay a tissue,<\/span> which acted as my\ndiffuser. If I could<\/span> then position the flash above the tissue and aim it\ndown, the light would filter through and illuminate the cabbage below. From\nthe cabbage's perspective, light would engulf it from the entire surface of\nthe tissue, bathing it in a light<\/span> that softened the harsh shadows that the\nbare, small flash area would normally create. But since<\/span> the bulk of the\nlight would come from above, there was enough “direction” to the light to\ncreate shadows in the many veins and ripples of the cabbage, giving it\ndefinition.<\/p>\n\n

The next step was to actually get the flash up there. I didn't<\/span> feel like\ndrilling a hole<\/span> in my kitchen ceiling, so I had<\/span> to jury-rig something. I ended<\/span> up taking a cheap<\/span> tripod and attaching a lighting<\/span> umbrella clamp to\nit, then extended the closed umbrella out from it like an arm. Onto this\narm I rubber<\/span>-banded my SB-800 flash unit. To keep the<\/span> thing from tipping\nover, I had one<\/span> leg in the sink and another had a heavy<\/span> beanbag draped over\nfor support. (The SB-800 was controled remotely by my Nikon D200, with its\non-board flash acting in Commander Mode.)<\/p>\n\n

To keep the background from being cluttered, I propped<\/span> a large<\/span> futon\nmattress well behind the cabbage. Then, to block light from “spilling” from\nthe flash to the mattress and the counter behind the cabbage, I taped<\/span> a\nsheet<\/span> of paper onto the back edge of the flash and let it hang down to the\ntray. (It ended up not blocking enough light, so I eventually<\/span> added a big<\/span>\nsheet of heavy cardboard, which did the trick. Still, I wish I<\/span> would have\nhad a black<\/span> cloth for the background.)<\/p>\n\n

I also draped a sheet in front of the flash, as a precaution<\/span> against\nflare from light shining directly into the camera lens.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a><\/div>\n\n

I took a few test shots, and after adding the extra cardboard, I felt that<\/span> the shadow under the cabbage was a bit<\/span> too harsh for a pleasing<\/span>\nbalance, so I added<\/span> some aluminum foil on the sides to reflect a bit<\/span> of the\nwasted side light back into the scene. This filled in the shadows just a\nbit,<\/span> and I got<\/span> the result I wanted.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Not having the proper equipment turned a 10<\/span>-minute task into a 45<\/span>-minute\ntask:<\/p>\n\n\n
Thinking about desired result<\/td> 10<\/td> seconds<\/td><\/tr>\n
Thinking about the theory of how to do it<\/td> 10<\/td> seconds<\/td><\/tr>\n
Actually figuring out the mechanics of doing it<\/td> 25<\/b><\/td> minutes<\/b><\/td><\/tr>\n
Test shots, adjusting flash output, tinkering, final shot<\/td> 16<\/td> minutes<\/td><\/tr>\n
Putting stuff away<\/td> 5<\/td> minutes<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/table>\n\n

The moral here, of course, is that I should<\/span> go out and buy a bunch<\/span> of\nlighting equipment. The problem<\/span> is that the moment something is labeled\n“for photographers”, they add a zero<\/span> to the price, and maybe a second<\/span> zero\nif it's for lighting. I was at<\/span> a huge\ncamera store<\/a> last month and considered some $50 “photographers gloves”\n(gloves that allow some of the fingers easier access to camera controls),\nbut $50 for a pair<\/span> of gloves is just too much. Last week, I found<\/span> the same\npair of gloves for $8 at a home<\/span> center, the only difference being the\nlabel.<\/p>\n\n

Another example is that a cheap lighting stand to hold an off-camera\nflash might run $60 here, but a cheap<\/span> $9 tripod can do the same task, as seen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Last week at the home center, I also found<\/span> a bunch<\/span> of small clips<\/a>, stands<\/a>,\nand bendy\nthings<\/a> intended for point-of-purchase displays (to hold price\/info\ncards, etc.). At only a<\/span> couple of bucks each, I picked<\/span> up a few.<\/span> They\nwouldn't have helped much with this shot, but I'm sure they'll come in\nhandy some day.<\/p>\n\n\n