Working with light - Photography

In this workshop we used just simple techniques of lighting to help change the view of our objects.

Examples of what we used to create interesting light:

- Simple black/white chairs to change the background

- Torches to cast shadows onto and around our objects.

- Bags, clothing, tables to create shapes with shadows

In this photo (above) I placed the teddy on a table by a window and used a phone torch to cast shadow of the table backwards this made the background geometric with the blacks of shadow and highlight dividing up the image and drawing attention to the teddy because where it is, is overlapping two different changes in light bringing it forwards. I was inspired by the Art Director Fabien Baron to create this crisp clean cut photo of my teddy.

In this photo I experimented with using two different light sources. I used natural light coming from the right and my phone torch coming from the left. This meant I could create abstract shadows of the teddy in the background. Furthermore the natural light was very cold and the torch light (tungsten) was warm making the teddy have changing colours on it body.

I took these two photos to experiment how different backgrounds can portray the mood and feel of an object. The dark background (left) creates a soulful and moody look on the teddy bear. But on the right it seems much more joyous and happy. For these two photos I was inspired by Irving Penn to use different backgrounds and lighting to evoke different feeling from the viewers of the photograph.

'Italian Sill life', Irving Penn, 1981