Natural Lighting | Workshop

For this workshop we split up into individual groups of 4 and we picked a lighting look from a booklet, that we were given, and we tried to recreate the look ourselves. I worked with Nisserin, Sammi and Imogen and we used one of our Lecture rooms to try and recreate the looks but with natural lighting. 

For the first shot, we used the window as the main lighting source to try and achieve a more realistic natural look. The light coming from the window was very bright and it made the shot look very over exposed. Due to it being natural, we weren't able to adjust the location of the light and we weren't able to decrease the light, so we had to use some gels and other pieces of material to help diffuse the light. We started by clipping a Gauze onto the blinds and rolling the blind down half way. This still didn't diffuse the light as much as we would've liked so we decided to add a ND Filter to the blind. This helped diffuse the light a lot and made it look a lot more realistic and natural. We then changed the aperture and ISO in the camera to make sure the colour was right and looked natural. The camera was set at F 6.7 | Shutter 1/100.

 

 

We then chose a picture from the booklet Fergus gave us and tried to recreate the look. We started by pulling down the blinds so we could work with the lighting rigs, as the natural lighting was very bright. In the original image there is a plant in the background that has been reflected through a shadow on the backdrop of the image. We wanted to recreate this so we used Imogen's coat and place it on a stand. We then added that into the background of our shot and placed a light on the far left hand side of the camera that would reflect the shadow of the coat onto the wall. This light is called the FILL light.

Then, closer on the left hand side of the camera, we placed another light that was directed to the table where Nisserin was sat. On this light was an ND filter to diffuse the bright orangey red colour. This light is called the KEY light.

Our third light was placed on the far right of the camera but it was behind the table. This was directed to the table, opposite the key light. Like the other light we added an ND filter to diffuse the colour and to decrease the brightness and overexposed areas that were occurring. Once we got the lights correct we adjusted the camera to F 11 | Shutter 1/50.

We then decided to see what it would look like with two people in the shot. So I joined Nisserin in the same set up to see the result of a  two person shot. My face isn't well lit, while Nisserin has some overexposed areas on her face. Due to the time restrictions we didn't have time to adjust the lights and make it correct, but we did discuss what we would do if we had the chance to. We said, we would close the barn doors a little more and maybe re position the lights so both people were being lit up.