• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Become LIGHTING Master Lighting Achieve the depth and dimension of a Rembrandt painting with natural light sources BY MEGAN CIELOHA Rembrandt light might seem like a lofty, overly technical type of lighting situation to achieve, however it’s actually anything but. This light use, with the telltale triangle of light underneath the subject’s shadowed eye, can be achieved with one light source and a bit of patience. Garnering its name from the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, Rembrandt light takes advantage of the depth-producing characteristics of light that provide chiaroscuro, or clear tonal contrasts between highlight and shadow. These contrasts can be dramatic or quite delicate and subtle. Let’s take a look at a typical set up for achieving Rembrandt light and a few examples. The Director of Clickin Moms University, Megan lives in Lincoln, Calif. with her Air Force pilot husband and two sons. Megan THE BASIC SET UP for achieving Rembrandt light of the subject. In this image, I have my subject uses her Nikon D700 and various will include a window, or other light source, that placed in front of an east-facing window in the lenses to capture soft, clean, you can position your subject toward at an ap- early afternoon. I’ve closed the blinds, until only lifestyle photography. proximately 45-degree angle. The smaller your 18 inches of window remains uncovered, in order light source (relative to your subject) the harder to lessen the relative size of the light source and the light will be, and the more defined the con- intensify the play between light and shadow. trast between light and shadow. Should you wish In the resulting image, you can see the way to soften the shadows you could always add a shadows define the planes of my subject’s face, reflector, or other fill source, on the shadow side providing a modeling effect that makes the 54 myclickmagazine.com “These contrasts can be dramatic or quite delicate and subtle.” curves and dips of his cheek, nose and lips feel nose meet the shadow formed on the side of the almost “touchable.” The classic Rembrandt cheek, as the light falls off due to the roundness triangle will be no wider at the top than the sub- of the cheekbone. As you might guess, facial WORKSHOP ject’s eye and extend no longer at the bottom shape, positioning relative to light and strength Megan, the director of Clickin Moms than the lowest point of the subject’s nose. In of the light source all have an effect on the ease University, teaches "Shooting 201: Mastering order to achieve textbook Rembrandt light, you with which you can achieve Rembrandt light. Natural Light Indoors" clickinmoms.com/cmu will need to have a subject that follows direc- tions concerning very slight adjustments of head GEAR & SETTINGS angle. The goal is to have the shadow cast by the Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G AF lens, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 800 myclickmagazine.com 55 Become LIGHTING “The smaller your light source the harder the light will be …” GEAR & SETTINGS Nikon D700, Nikkor 105mm 2.8G AF lens, 1/200, ISO 6400, f/5.6 A few more examples of Rembrandt light achieved with one window as a light source. They follow the rules for Rembrandt light with varying levels of accuracy, but each image does make effective use of the chiaroscuro and doing so has resulted in images with lovely depth and dimension. C GEAR & SETTINGS Left to right: Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G AF lens, f/4.0, 1/80 ISO 400; Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G AF lens, f/1.4, 1/640 ISO 1600 56 myclickmagazine.com GEAR & SETTINGS Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF lens, f/3.2, 1/400, ISO 800 myclickmagazine.com 57 Become NATURAL LIGHT OneAre you getting Window, the most out of your windows? Five BY STACEY HASLEMLooks Whether you’re working in your own home, in a studio or in a client’s home, you can still achieve a variety of looks using the windows around you. Despite making the decision not to take commissioned photography work in 2011, I was determined to continue to grow as a photographer. As a mother of four, I was limited in my locations for shoots, but I didn’t want to feel the limits of the indoors in my work. So I spent the year focusing on taking advantage of window light in my home and learning to produce as much variety as possible. Stacey Haslem is a lifestyle and fine art photographer based in Northern I’m sharing five images using a favorite window of mine, but similar images can be captured with California. She mainly works with natural any window. Just so you know, I don’t have a big empty room I shoot in. I often move furniture around light but has experience with artificial so I can take advantage of the light as I did in most of these images. light. She has a strong predilection for black and white photography and thus it encompasses the majority of her work. LOOK ONE: Split Lighting Gear & Settings: Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G lens. ISO 500, 1/125, f/3.0. GET CREATIVE! Your only limits are your imagination. Going outside to capture the scene inside can give you a fresh perspective. Use your window as a frame for your composition. Use a pocket of light on the floor created by a window. A reflector is also a great tool to have handy indoors. I have been known to pull mine around all over the house. Use that odd little window that you may have in your Split lighting is perfect for creating a more serious atmosphere. When I think of split lighting, I rarely bathroom. The possibilities are endless! —S.H. think of smiles and laughter. I think pensive, moody, serious, etc. Posing for split light is rather simple. You want your subject’s cheek or line of sight to be parallel to the window and shoulders perpendicular to the window. The side of the face closest to the window will be lit and from the middle of the face over will fall to shadow. It is much more dramatic than 45 degree lighting. A little trick for this situation is to expose for the highlight side of the face. 50 myclickmagazine.com Become NATURAL LIGHT LOOK TWO: Silhouette Gear & Settings: Nikon D700 with Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G lens, ISO 200, 1/640, f/2.8. Another take on window light is creating a silhou- ette. This isn’t my favorite window for silhouettes because I have a play set right behind it. However, I made it the secondary subject by posing my son to convey him wishing to be outdoors. The key to a silhouette is underexposing your subject. In this image, it looks like it was dark in the room. In reality, the room is just as lit as it was in the other images. Underexposing the image brings back detail in the highlights/window and my subject became part of the shadow areas of the image. LOOK THREE: 45-Degree Lighting Gear & Settings: Nikon D700 with Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens. ISO 200, 1/320, f/1.4. A traditional approach to window light is placing your subject 45 degrees from your light source. In other words, the plane of your window is the zero degree line. Your subject will be placed left or right of the window at 45 degrees. In this situation the light falls nearly three quarters over the face/subject and then gradually falls into shadow. Your subject is nicely lit while some shadowing maintains depth in your image. 52 myclickmagazine.com LOOK FOUR: Backlighting Gear & Settings: Nikon D700 with Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G lens, ISO 1250, 1/200, f/4.0. Dreamy backlit images can be achieved indoors with window light. It’s just a matter of having a strong light source in your window and carefully placing your subject. The window I am working with faces south. The light is pretty strong mid- morning to mid-afternoon making it an ideal shooting period for backlight. I also open the blinds to let in as much light as possible. By placing my daughter between the camera and the win- dow, I have achieved rim light and a dreamier feel that I often envy in outdoor images. LOOK FIVE: Close-Up Gear & Settings: Nikon D700 with Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, ISO 125, 1/640, f/2.0. A window is like a giant soft box. The closer your subject is to the window, the softer the light is. Bringing your subject close to the window will create a glowing quality to the image. It also allows you to use the window and reflection in your composition. I love how it looks like my daughter has her hand pressed up against a little friend’s hand. Remember to expose for the highlight side of the face. C myclickmagazine.com 53 Become LIGHTING Shadow Dancing Lessons on capturing beautiful photographs in low light One candle in a power outage, the night light in a child’s dark room, the good washing over the bad. “The light in a dark scene is precious,” says Caroline Jensen, a Clickin Moms Pro from Westbrook, Minn. “On a bright day everything is overly lit; nothing stands out. On a gloomy day, a small shaft of light becomes a character in your story.” We asked Caroline and Atlanta-based Clickin Moms Pro Kate T.

Load more

  19

Copy Link