ASSIGNMENT 7: DISCOVERING LIGHT

THOUGHTS: I was nervous to do this assignment after the chaos last week. I've made simple small-scale studios for video projects in the past, and they have never been very successful. I was quite surprised when my first few photos looked good. I think it's easier with still photography since you don't have to worry about moving off the background. I struggled a bit with getting decent light from my dull, yellow tinted flashlight. During the shoot, I remembered that my phone has a flashlight, so I began using that, with much better results. Even though it was dreary outside, the light from my living room window was ample.

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LESSONS LEARNED: My makeshift aluminum foil reflector helped a little, but not much. If I ever wanted to do this on a regular basis, I would invest in a real reflector. I also struggled with backlighting, In the space I had, it was difficult to get a light back there without having it show in the frame. A larger "studio" area could have helped with that, but for this assignment I kept it within the constraints of my poster board background.

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I've also noticed how much better my photos turn out when using a tripod. I generally only use it when I need to take a photo with a slow shutter speed, or in situations like this where I want the setup to stay mostly the same. However, I tend to have shaky hands, so I may start using this when I do outdoor, walkabout-type photo shoots as well.

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GOING FORWARD: In future photo shoots, I'll try to pay more attention to light sources, and use a reflector as needed. I really liked how the photos I took with side lighting looked, so I will probably try to incorporate that technique into more photos in the future as well.