This post by
@RyanB in the Darkfield Lighting challenge thread interests me
“Thanks Gary, I have to say that this challenge has been my favourite so far as it was completely new to me whereas I had dabbled/ experimented with the others before (without knowing what they were ). Before the challenges all my experimentation also relied heavily on post processing so with the aim of these to get it all right in camera I feel they are really upping my admittedly amateur skill level.”
Ignoring the American miss-spelling of my Welsh name
I think that it’s worth a comment, but in this thread, which is really more for general discussion of these challenges.
So far, we’ve touched on a few very basic lighting techniques. People of my generation, who learned lighting whilst working for large firms, are getting thin on the ground and most photographers today don’t know the terms because of the lack of formal training, and there is also some confusion because most people learn (to some extent) from YouTube videos of very variable quality and many of the presenters don’t use the correct terminology either, but none of this matters. What does matter is having an understanding of different lighting techniques, regardless of what people call them.
Nearly all of these lighting techniques are subject-agnostic, I’m using them to photograph static subjects for two reasons – it’s easier for me, and static subjects don’t move, but most of them work perfectly well with people too.
Now, post-processing is effectively banned in these challenges, other than cropping to size and shape, because we want people to see what the camera records. One of my pet hates on forums is when people carry out post-processing on images that they are asking for advice on, because (good) post-processing hides the faults.
With knowledge and understanding of lighting techniques, extensive post-processing (which basically includes changes to the lighting and comping different elements together) is an unnecessary waste of time and effort, it’s always far easier, quicker and better to get it right in camera, as far as we can, but the reality is that some level of computer work is always essential. I don’t have a problem with the purists who want to shoot without using any computer work, but we can’t ignore the benefits of computer work if we want to achieve the high standards of today. I’m convinced that Ansel Adams would have used computers if they had been available in his day, instead of using his incredible enlarger skills. Even very simple things, like adjusting contrast, curves and getting rid of dirty marks is now essential for finished images.
And creative lighting techniques always show up every mark, every spot of dust and every bit of stray light. If we were doing product photography we would start off with brand-new and perfect products and spend a lot of time cleaning those products thoroughly before photographing them, but with these challenges we’re shooting whatever we have to hand, Interestingly,
@RyanB has posted another darkfield lighting shot here,
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/perfume-bottles.762536/#post-9531479 with a degree of retouching, and I think it’s excellent.
Moving on, I think that there’s only 1 more type of static shot that I can put forward using just one light, after that I think that we’ll have to introduce a second light – OK, there’s one more but it isn’t creative and probably not worth doing.
So,
I need some help for future challenges. I just don’t have the resources to photograph people easily, in particular, I want someone to photograph people both with and without fill flash shots outdoors in bright sunlight. And people who have powerful portable flash can perhaps do some shots that overpower the sun, although I appreciate that most members don't have the gear and will have to shoot in darker conditions.
I was out earlier today doing some clay shooting, nothing unusual in that and I did OK
But because, unusually, I had my youngest son and daughter with me I was going to do some fill flash shots, for a future challenge, but the bright sunlight just wasn’t there.
Creative lighting can be used outdoors, but I need other people to help with it . . .
Here’s an old photo that I think is lit fairly well, but we need new ones for these challenges.
These aren't "Garry Edwards lighting challenges, they're "Lighting forum lighting challenges" So - who wants to be the first volunteer?
