ASSIGNMENT 3

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Assignment 3: The Quality of Light

In the last assignment I suggested that it is not the subject that is important, but how you photograph it. Arguable, but work with me. I want you to be clear on the difference between making a powerful image, and simply recording a powerful thing. The difference is in how we photograph. We’ve explored perspective and framing, and the pictorial use of apertures and shutter speeds. In this assignment we will explore how the quality of light influences the evocative qualities of an image.

In filmmaking there is a saying, “Don’t tell what you can show.” In other words, don’t use dialog to explain what is going on, if you can convey it with an image. One of the most important tools for conveying a feeling is the quality of light in the scene. Imagine the same diner in a small Kansas town, it might be a place for: a happy sunny Sunday morning breakfast after church, or a cold and lonely place for a stranger to drink coffee at two a.m. on a rainy night, or the innocent romance of a teenage date on a Saturday afternoon, or a steamy rendezvous for a passionate late night couple, or an anxious Monday morning cup of coffee while searching the classifieds for a job when rent is past due. Sure, the actor has a sad, happy, etc. expression… but what explains the mood is the quality of light in the diner.

What I want you to explore is how the quality of light can express the mood in a scene. That filmmaker might have to build a set, and you can stage something too. But also feel free to look for scenes and situations where the lighting creates a mood. And don’t forget to use framing and perspective and apertures and shutter speeds and…

*** What I don’t want: pictures made by using laser pointers or flashlights, pictures of lights, lamps, candles, headlights, sunsets; i.e. pictures of the lights themselves. I also don’t want pictures of abstract shadow patterns, interesting though they may be.

I want pictures where the quality of light in the scene helps express the mood of the scene. We want to allude, evoke, imply, suggest, rather than document the facts of what we photograph.

You are also free to use photoshop...crop, color correct, sharpen etc.....but don't use photoshop to do the atmospheric lighting for you...and NO DESATURATED IMAGES OR FILTERS. Use only the tools we have covered in class thus far!! Regarding cropping or Photoshop… grades are based on the quality of the image, not on how extensively Photoshop is used. And try to compose best in camera.

Again, photograph 8 or so different ideas and shoot 5 - 10 frames on each idea – edit from over 200 frames. Print two different images for critique
DUE AT CRITIQUE:
2 8X10 OR LARGER PRINTS
CONTACT SHEETS WITH 200 OR MORE IMAGES


And turn off the flash! Remember – you can’t see the quality of light the flash will create – I want you to learn to see light!

Express your idea by exploiting the quality of light.
And have fun!