Contrast and shadow fill

Exercise: Contrast and shadow fill (11 Photographs)

In the last exercise we looked at the lighting angle and how lighting the subject from different positions had a marked difference on the final photograph. As you saw in the last photograph of that series, when the sculpture was lit from above, the face was in total shadow. 

This exercise demonstrates how by using reflectors in addition to the studio lights you can control the amount of contrast within the photograph. Contrast is the difference between light and shade in a photograph. 

The set up for this exercise was similar to the previous one, photograph a still life composition. I used another sculpture for this, the curves would demonstrate contrast and shadow fill to best effect. 

1/160 sec @ f10 ISO 200
Fig 1 

As stated this set up was similar to before, the camera was mounted on a tripod and at the same level as the sculpture. The studio light which was placed 90 degrees to the left of the camera. 

The first photograph was taken with a naked light. The harsh shadow has been produced to the right of the sculpture. The combination of highlight and shadow in this instance does not show dimension. The hard shadow distracts from the primary subject. 

1/160 sec @ f10 ISO 200
Fig 2 

For the next photograph I fitted a diffuser to the light. As we have seen in the previous exercises this has the effect of softening the shadows. 

However in this case even the broader diffused light has done little to lighten the shadows on the right. 

1/160 sec @ f10 ISO 200
Fig 3 

Staying with the diffused light from the left, in this photograph I positioned a white reflector, 1 metre to the right of the sculpture. 

This resulted in a slight increase in the light to the right, but not enough to bring out any detail in the shadow area. 

1/160 sec @ f10 ISO 200
Fig 4 

Bringing the diffuser closer to the subject, in this case 0.5 metre, has resulted in a noticeable difference in the light present in the shadow area. 

Why is this? The reflected light is obviously brighter, but how much brighter?

The inverse square law states ' That intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the light source'

Taking that equation and applying it to our set up, the reflected light in this photograph is four times brighter than the previous photograph when the reflector was 1 metre away.  

1/160 sec @ f10 IOS 200
Fig 5

The next photograph was taken with the reflector to the right now covered with tin foil, the dull side facing the subject. 

With the foil reflector 0.5 metre away the amount of light reaching the subject is about the same as the previous photograph. 

The only difference I can see is that the reflected light is more or less the same as the studio light, whereas the reflected light of Fig 4 is whiter, as a white reflector was used.

1/160 sec @ f10 ISO 200
Fig 6

For this photograph the foil was turned around so that the shiny side was towards the subject. 

The shiny side of the foil is towards the subject causing the light to be more tightly focused and not diffused as per Fig 5 therefore the subject is brighter in some area of the shadows and darker in others.  

1/160 sec @ f10 ISO 200
Fig 7

For the final photograph of this exercise the tin foil was scrunched up and then flatten out again and used with the shiny side to the subject. 

The reflected light has been diffused as the light is now going off in many directions, resulting in a softer light. The subject is now being lit from many angles. 

Arranging the results in order of contrast from the one with the biggest difference between the lit and shaded parts to the least is as follows:

• Fig 1 has the biggest difference between light and dark, naked light, no diffuser.
• Fig 2 light with diffuser
• Fig 3 reflector at 1 m
• Fig 6 foil reflector shiny side to subject
• Fig 7 crumpled foil reflector towards the subject
• Fig 5 foil reflector dull side towards the subject
• Fig 4 reflector 0.5 m away from subject has the least contrast

The results of this series of photographs worked out pretty much as I had expected and gave me an insight into direct reflections and the quality of light depending on the distance from the subject.

I repeated this exercise, this time using the studio light without diffuser. The results were exactly same as I had found previously.